Russia on the Black Sea and Sea of Azof

INTRODUCTION.

My original intention was to have compiled a summary of the history of the Caucasus, where I spent nearly three years, and to which a short account of the Crimea would only have served as an introduction. The increasing interest attaching to the latter subject, however, made me pay more attention to it; so that I now offer to the public some notices on that country and the shores of the Sea of Azof, without being able to add anything upon what I hoped to make the main subject of my inquiry. Some chapters upon the Caucasus are already partly written, but I have not had sufficient time to prepare them for insertion in the present volume, although intimately connected with it. They relate to a country replete with the deepest interest, and I hope that, ere long, some more competent hand than mine may vindicate the character of those heroic mountaineers, whom many are accustomed unjustly to stigmatize as barbarians. Though unlettered, they possess equal claims to our admiration with our own Saxon and Norman ancestors, or with the Swiss in the days of Tell, for they possess that stubborn love of independence and that “spirit of divinest liberty,” which is the root of all good.

When peace shall be made, it will be most fortunate should we be able to secure the freedom of the Eastern coast of the Black Sea by treaty, for the independence of that country would form one of the best securities against Russian aggression. At the Caucasus Russia may be said to end, and a new class of nationalities to begin, and she can only desire to possess that mountain range with the intention of extending her conquests beyond it.

The Caucasus, that is, the mountain range itself, and the countries that lie at the foot of them, to the north and south, are the most convenient entrance to the heart of the great table-land of Asia, which, when once thoroughly subdued, might constitute an impregnable citadel whence Russia would be enabled to extend her influence and dominion in every direction. The Caucasus is the real citadel of Russian power in the South and East, although as yet beleaguered by the nations from which it has been partially wrested. Russia has surrounded it by an army of 170,000⁠[4] men, and carefully keeps its inhabitants from communication with civilized Europe. We have never acknowledged the sovereignty of the Russians over this territory, nor over the Christian provinces to the south of the Caucasus. If her blockade were permanently removed from the eastern coast of the Black Sea, and the brave inhabitants of the mountains allowed to carry on a liberal commerce with Europe, their energies would be quickly turned from war to peaceful arts.

Those who designate the Circassians as mere warlike barbarians should remember that we ourselves were but warlike semi-barbarians in the early ages of our history, and that the manly character which made us so formidable in the days of the Plantagenets enabled us ultimately, with better directed energies, to raise our great commercial empire in the eighteenth century. The Circassians and the other mountain tribes resemble us in many particulars: they debate every great affair in a national council; they venerate the ancient usages and ordinances which form their constitution; and they have the same gradation of ranks and aristocratic feelings which distinguish ourselves.

Above all points of resemblance to us, they have clung to their independence with Anglo-Saxon tenacity; and shall we, when peace shall be made, allow their rude and gigantic enemy again to surround them with her liberated forces, till she exterminate them by brute power, and no memorial be left of unsuccessful virtue save that which history will assuredly record in their favour?

We acknowledged the independence of the Colonies of Spanish America while they were still struggling with the mother country; we went still further with Greece, for we gave them active assistance, having not only the French, but the very Russians themselves for our allies. Surely, then, there exist far more cogent reasons for assisting the Circassians, who have never been conquered by the Russians. Up to the breaking out of the present war the Russians had only an ever-disputed possession of the actual ground occupied by their fortifications and protected by their cannon, and they have been constantly resisted by the mountaineers, who have ever refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Emperor.

The coast of Circassia is now free, and all that is required is that it should be kept so, without being again subjected to a barbarous blockade. If a consul were placed there, and merchants encouraged to frequent it, its gallant inhabitants would soon yield to the civilizing influences of Europe, and engage themselves in developing its boundless resources.

We may rest satisfied that the freedom of the Caucasus will form an important element towards the diminution of Russian influence in the East.

I agree with Mr. Gladstone in thinking we must look for future security not only by reducing the power of Russia, but by raising that of Turkey and the other independent peoples bordering on the Black Sea. Free communication and free trade once firmly established there, the question might be considered as in a great measure settled. It is true that you cannot impose free trade upon Russia, who occupies half the coasts of the Black Sea; but you may claim your right to traffic with the Circassians on the east coast of that sea, and protect your commerce there by an authorized agent. So great are the advantages of unrestricted trade—so much does commerce strengthen and civilize, that the liberal tariff of Turkey, and the opening of the Principalities (as stated in App. E), have been, in an indirect manner, the cause of the present war; for, with freedom of trade, the Christian subjects of the Porte, for some years before the commencement of hostilities, had so much increased in importance and wealth, that they excited the jealousy of Russia, and she feared that if she did not claim in time a closer protectorate over them, they might escape her altogether. I say this, assuming it to have always been a cardinal point in the politics of Russia, in due time, to advance her empire to Constantinople and Athens.

Although I believe the whole Russian nation to be bent upon certain measures of territorial aggrandizement, I have not failed to acknowledge in my notices the general pacific character of the people. They are not a martial nation; that is, they are not a nation which takes delight in war for the sake of braving its dangers and revelling in its excitement; but theirs is the patient, enduring, indomitable courage which will face any dangers to compass certain ends. The Russian nation has been misdirected by its rulers as to the true objects of national glory, and by an exorbitant tariff and other measures has been kept from mixing with other European nations, lest it should learn juster ideas of the points in which true glory and prosperity consist, and become impatient of a military organization, the object of which is to carry out indefinite schemes of conquest.

I have lived among the Russians, and I have learnt to respect them as a strong, earnest, unprejudiced people, with a great principle of growth in them, and who will work out the defects of their character, and become some day an honour to civilization. They were the only nation in the world, I believe, with whom we had never been at war.⁠[5] None can more deeply regret than I do that we have been obliged now to try their mettle.

We must remember that we have a Court to deal with which combines the deep calculation of Europe with the wiles of Asiatic intrigue, and that we shall assuredly be over-reached, if we do not insist upon sufficient guarantees. We must also remember that the conquest of Constantinople is the settled determination of Russia, and has been the prime object of ambition to that country ever since the ninth century, when the Russian fleets first appeared before its walls; and that, if we are determined (as I hope is the case) that they shall never possess it, we must take care, whenever peace shall be made, that it be rendered perfectly secure, and the approaches to it guarded with the greatest possible care.

If we yield, as Mr. Gladstone and his friends wish us to do, to the first offers of Russia, we shall fail in our paramount object, and become the laughing-stock of the world. The lives of the brave will have been wasted, and the successes we have gained will be of no avail; Russia, at the first favourable opportunity, will renew the struggle, with the advantages of railroads and all modern inventions. In dealing with so subtle an enemy it will be wise not to hesitate, but push on, and, treating Russia as she wished to treat Turkey, require from her effectual guarantees that she will not again disturb by her ambition the peace of Europe.

The supineness and indecision of the European Powers for the last thirty years have enabled Russia to take up an insolent position towards Europe; and the fears of our own imaginations have contributed to swell the prestige of the Colossus of the North, and to render his intrigues successful. Our statesmen are now fully convinced of the gravity of our position, and the extent of Russian intrigue both in Asia and in Germany. I had myself personal experience of it last year in the latter country. In returning from India in March, 1854, I spent a day at the little German state of ———— —— ——, to visit a German friend well versed in the secret politics of his country. He told me how ashamed he was of his countrymen, who were false to their true interests, and cowered beneath the power of Russia. In the morning, when he came to breakfast with me in my hotel, an officer took him aside to speak to him. When my friend returned to me, he said, “You would not believe yesterday the degree of influence which Russia exercises in Germany; you have here a proof of it. That officer who took me aside commands the —— troops, and he called me aside to show me a diamond ring and an autograph letter from the Emperor of Russia, flattering him, and conferring upon him an order. That man is henceforward the devoted servant of Russia.” My friend, who is himself a distinguished littérateur, assured me that there were nearly two thousand literary persons in Germany who openly received their quarterly pensions at the Russian embassies to uphold Russian interests. He even authorized me to authenticate these statements by the use of his name, which nevertheless I refrain from doing.

As so much is now said by some parties respecting the supposed fairness and moderation of Russia, I will relate two anecdotes of what happened under my own cognizance in the East. When the Russians seized, about the year 1840, the island of Ashtoráda, near Asterabad, at the south-east corner of the Caspian Sea, which they have since fortified and garrisoned, and when they explored with steamers the Gourgan and Atrak, rivers flowing exclusively through the Persian territory, but leading in the direction of the best road to India, there was one Turcoman Chief resolutely hostile to them, whom they could neither frighten nor seduce. One night, therefore, troops were disembarked, his house was surrounded, and he and all his sons were carried off and conveyed into the interior of Russia, whence, at the prayer of a very influential personage, his place of exile was changed to Tiflis, where I knew him.

The second is a more daring violation of the territory of the same power, with whom, be it remembered, we have a treaty of alliance, and at the court of which we have long had a minister constantly residing. A certain member of the Georgian royal family, Suleiman Khan,⁠[6] lived in the Persian provinces ceded to Russia in 1828, and having an inveterate enmity to that power, he refused to remain there when they became Russian, and fled into a remote part of Persia. After many years he thought he might venture to come and live at Tabreez, the capital of Azerbiján, and near his own country. He had sounded the Russian consulate, and found them apparently favourable, and when he arrived he was invited to dinner by the Russian Consul-General. Everything passed off very agreeably until after dinner, when, as he was sitting on a sofa with the Consul, drinking his coffee, the latter begged to be excused for an instant, and left the room. Immediately upon his quitting, a file of Russians appeared at the door, with their pieces levelled at the Khan, and the Consul, from behind them, told him he was extremely sorry that he was obliged to treat a guest in so uncourteous a manner, but that he must execute his orders, that Suleiman Khan must consider himself a prisoner, and prepare instantly to be conveyed into the interior of Russia.

This fact was told me by the English Consul at Tabreez, when I arrived at that city some short time after this event had occurred, and I dined with the Russian Consul in question, now holding a high post in Russian diplomacy, in the very room where it happened. Of course, when proceedings of this sort were overlooked by our Government, there is no wonder that Russia grew emboldened, and believed that no European power dared to interfere with her.

We have begun at last, after thousands of lives and millions of treasure have been expended in attacking the only strong position of Russia in the Black Sea, to attack some of the long line of vulnerable points which she presents. Our successes at Kertch, Berdiansk, Mariopol, Taganrok, and Soujuk Caleh have been as easy as they have been important, and we have now only to continue the same course of action.

I can state, on the authority of persons intimately acquainted with those countries, in answer to what Mr. Cobden said in the House of Commons, that the blow we struck in the Sea of Azof has been the severest which we have dealt to Russian power—that all the stores we destroyed at Kertch belonged to the Government, and not to private individuals, and that the same was the case with every bag of flour and oats destroyed at Berdiansk, Mariopol, and Taganrok. The Russian Government, as is well known, has always supplied Sevastopol and their other fortresses on the coast of the Black Sea with stores and ammunition from the interior of the country by means of the Sea of Azof, as is explained in my work. It is known that they had just completed large purchases of stores for Sevastopol which we intercepted in our late expedition, so that the merchants had received their money, and the loss wholly fell on the Government.⁠[7] If our fleet had penetrated to Rostof, we should probably have destroyed a still larger amount of stores, and at the latter place the shot and shells which are brought down there from the foundry at Lugan, and from Siberia, for transmission to the Russian fortresses in the Black Sea. Perhaps this may be reserved for another expedition; for close to Rostof are Novo Tcherkask, the capital of the Don Cossacks, and Naketchiván, an Armenian town, and the head-quarters of many Armenian houses deeply engaged in supplying the commissariat of the Russian army. From the eastern coast of the Sea of Azof may also be obtained large herds of fine horses for our cavalry, and fat beasts for the subsistence of our army.

The taking of Anapa will allow the Circassians to overspread the country as far as the Bosphorus, and even to cross it and assist us in the Crimea, a part of which they formerly occupied, and from which some of their noblest families make it their boast to have come.

From Soujuk Caleb it is now friendly country to Ekaterinodár on the Kuban, the capital of the Black Sea Cossacks; and if judicious persons be sent to treat with the Circassians, a long line of easy and important victories will be opened to us. But in the East, still more than in the West, everything depends upon a judicious selection of agents; and it is especially necessary, among free mountaineers, to gain their confidence by kind, considerate conduct, and to persuade them that you have no projects for your own aggrandizement, but wish, by confirming their independence and adding to their strength, to render them a strong bulwark against Russian aggression.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Note.—In the Map, Cape Kazantip is represented as fortified by the Russians. This is an error; the fortifications were meant to have been marked near Arabat.

CONTENTS.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CRIMEA, AND THE SHORES OF THE SEA OF AZOF. — CHAPTER I. THE CRIMEA.

General description of the Crimea—Mountains—Rivers—Ancient name—Boundaries—The Steppes to the north connected with it—The roads—Bereslaf—Kherson; its foundation and importance—Gloubóky—Perversion of names by the Russians—Nicolaief, head-quarters of Black Sea fleet, described—Odessa—Definition of New Russia—Limits of ancient Scythia—The dominions of the Khans of the Crimea—The Zaporogue Cossacks.

The peninsula of the Crimea is a southern portion of the Steppes of Russia, raised by volcanic action out of nearly the centre of the Black Sea. It is about 200 miles across in a direct line from Cape Karamroún on the western side above Eupatoria to Cape Fanar, the furthest point eastward on the Straits of Kertch, and 125 miles from Perecop to Cape Kíkineis on the southern coast. It contains a population of about 200,000 inhabitants, and covers an area of 10,050 English square miles.

The Tauric range of mountains runs east and west along the southern coast from Balaclava to Theodosia, and generally within a few hundred yards of the shore, which, being protected by them from the northern winds, enjoys a delicious climate, like that of southern Italy. But this mild temperature is confined to the narrow strip of land along the coast which is shut in by the mountains, and to the north of them the weather shows severe alternations of heat and cold, and the snow in some seasons covers the ground for a considerable time in winter. The mountains themselves occupy a large space, and rise to a height of from 1000 to 5000 feet. They are generally flat-topped or dome-shaped, and hold within their range high elevated plains called Yailas. Their summits reveal granite and other primitive rocks, and on their northern sides lie, like a mantle, the Steppes, which constitute all the northern portion, and nearly two-thirds of the area, of the whole peninsula.

These steppes gradually incline downwards towards the north, and hence received from the later Greeks the name of “ta climata,” or the inclines.⁠[8] The following are the principal rivers:—Eastward, the Salghír, the Bulganak, the three Andols, the Tchoroksou, the Soubashi, and the Karagos, which flow into the Shiváshe or great lagoon on the east, improperly called the Putrid Sea; and on the westward, the western Bulganak, the Alma, the Katcha, and the Belbek, which discharge their waters into the long open bay at the head of which stands Eupatoria.

The peninsula of the Crimea was known to the Greeks under the name of the Taurica Chersonesus, and in the middle ages was called Gothia. It is now called either the Tauride (a version of its first appellation), or more commonly Crimea, from the famous city of Eski Krim, near Theodosia, which was built by the Tatars in the thirteenth century, and is now a ruin.

The Crimea is joined to the main land by the narrow isthmus of Perecop, on each side of which there is a very shallow sea. To the north of it the dreary plains of Russia extend interminably, on the west to Bessarabia and the Ukraine, and on the east to Tatary and Siberia. There has in all times been a connexion between the Steppes to the north of Perecop and the peninsula of the Crimea itself, and they have both generally been in the possession of the same people. A portion of the Steppes, bounded by Bereslaf, Alexandropol, and Mariopol, are now included in the Russian government of the Tauride. As the character of the Steppes is very peculiar, and they form, as I have said, about two-thirds even of the whole peninsula of the Crimea, I have thrown together in the next chapter some general observations upon them.

I will now say a few words about the road between Perecop and Odessa, and the principal towns through which it passes. The whole distance is 352 miles,⁠[9] and there are post-horses along the road, which runs entirely through the Steppes. Road, however, properly speaking, there is none; for even outside the gates of Odessa the traveller follows the track of those that have preceded him, and in dry weather bowls rapidly along, but is arrested by the slightest fall of rain. I left Odessa, in the year 1843, in the commencement of August, in a light britska drawn by three horses, and in consequence of a slight shower of rain in the morning I was stopped half-way in the rich loam of the Steppes, and was obliged to pass the night there, and send on to the next station for three fresh horses to pull my carriage through the heavy ground.

The road from Perecop to Bereslaf, on the banks of the Dniepr, runs 52½ miles across a perfectly flat country, where the soil is not fertile. The latter town is situated on the right bank of the Dniepr, which is precipitous and very much higher than the left bank, which is shelving, and this peculiarity is found in all the rivers of the south of Russia.

Bereslaf owes its importance to its situation at a point where the Dniepr is crossed by a wooden bridge. In the Greek period it was called Miletopol, and in later times it belonged to the Zaporogue Cossacks till their conquest by the Russians.⁠[10]

From Bereslaf to Kherson is 47 miles, and the road runs along the bank of the Dniepr. The town of Kherson is the capital of the government of the same name, which is bounded by the governments of the Tauride, Ekaterinoslaf, Kief, and Podolia, touching also at some points on Moldavia, Bessarabia, and the Black Sea. The north and north-west parts of the government of Kherson are very fertile, and produce great quantities of wheat; although the soil becomes dry and sandy on approaching the Black Sea. Before its conquest by the Russians this was the country of the Nogai Tatars, who were also called Precopian Tatars, but none of their tribes now remain to the westward of the Dniepr. The population of the government of Kherson now amounts to between 300,000 and 400,000, and is composed of Russians, Armenians, Jews, Germans, and Bulgarians. The town of Kherson is situated on the north bank of the Dniepr,⁠[11] which here spreads out into a wide kind of lagoon, 11 miles in breadth. This is filled with low islands, which are often covered with water, and render the passage difficult and dangerous. The town was founded in the desert in 1778, by Catherine II., and was the first commercial port which the Russians established on the Black Sea. This was four years after the Treaty of Kainardji, by which the Black Sea was opened for the first time to any European nation, after having been shut up for 300 years, since the conquest of Constantinople.⁠[12]

Kherson is situated at about 50 miles from the sea, and the water is too shallow to allow large vessels to approach it. These load and discharge their cargoes at Gloubóky, which is many miles below Kherson and the mouths of the Dniepr. Kherson continued to increase till the foundation of Odessa, eighteen years afterwards, in 1796. It was both the commercial and naval centre of the Russians when they first reached the Black Sea in their conquests; but, as the commercial affairs were transplanted to Odessa, so their naval arsenal, with the admiralty and the dockyards, were removed to Nicolaief a few years earlier.⁠[13] The name of Kherson was given to the new town because it was erroneously supposed to stand on the site of the ancient Greek colony of that name, the ruins of which are to be seen close to Sevastopol, and similar mistakes are common in the case of many other Russian towns founded about the same time. Thus Sevastopol itself bears the name of the old Greek city on the shores of Abkhazia; the ruins of the real Eupatoria are at a long distance from the place which now bears its name; and nothing but a Tatar village of the name of Hadjibey ever stood on those steppes where Odessa is supposed to renew the memory of the ancient Odessus.

Nicolaief is the only town of the slightest importance on the dreary road from Kherson to Odessa, and is 40 miles from the former, and 77 miles from the latter place.⁠[14] It stands in the open Steppe, at the confluence of the Boug and the Ingoul, on the left bank of the former river, and 22 miles from its mouth. The Boug is here a noble stream, a mile and a half broad,⁠[15] and so deep that the largest men-of-war can ascend and descend after taking out their guns. Its right bank is deep and precipitous, and the left bank low and shelving, a peculiarity, as I have before remarked, of all the rivers of Southern Russia. This was likewise found to be the case at the Alma. This town was founded in 1791, and intended to replace Kherson as the head-quarters of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. It is simply a naval arsenal, and contains a population of 10,000 or 12,000 persons, entirely occupied in the government establishments. There are here immense storehouses and dockyards, in which all the Russian fleet in the Black Sea is built.⁠[16] The timber for ship-building comes chiefly down the Dniepr to Kherson, and from thence to Nicolaief. All the vessels constructed here are transported empty down the river to Gloubóky or Otchákow, and proceed from thence to the Black Sea on wooden frames called camels, because of a sandbank near Kilboroún, and they take in their cannon and tackle at Sevastopol. The town is quite undefended except by a wall, which has been built not for military but police purposes, to prevent peculation and smuggling, by allowing no ingress or egress without permission. There is no good water⁠[17] at Nicolaief, as that of the rivers is often brackish, as is also that which is obtained from wells, but an excellent spring has been found at some distance from the town, the water of which has now been introduced and fills a large reservoir, which holds a sufficient quantity for a much larger population than now inhabits Nicolaief.⁠[18]

From Nicolaief to Odessa the country is very desert and uncultivated; for the old Tatar population has disappeared, and new settlers have not arrived in sufficient numbers to occupy their place. It is only at the last stage from Odessa that the country bears at all the aspect of civilization.

Odessa, situated on a barren Steppe, is the second commercial port in the Russian empire. It was the last town founded by the Empress Catherine II. in 1796, a few months before her death; and although its situation is not the best that could have been chosen, still its position as a débouché for the Polish provinces, and its privileges as a free port, have made it rapidly increase up to the present time. Odessa is the residence of the Governor-General of New Russia, and the real capital of all Southern Russia—that is to say, the largest money centre, and the town to which all look up as the richest and most refined in the empire after Petersburg and Moscow. New Russia comprehends the governments of Kherson, Ekaterinoslaf, and the Tauride, or the vast territory which has been conquered from nomade nations within the last century, and is as yet thinly peopled with fixed inhabitants. All these countries have the same interests, and require special attention, and for these reasons the governors of them do not correspond with the ministers at Petersburg, as is the case with the other governments of the Russian empire, but are referred to the Governor-General of New Russia,⁠[19] who resides among them at Odessa, and can naturally pay a more immediate attention to their wants than distant ministers.

New Russia, as the name denotes, has been recently acquired. This country, with Bessarabia, nearly agrees with the limits of ancient Scythia in the time of Herodotus, who describes it as extending from the Ister (Danube) to the Tanais (Don), and as being watered by eight rivers, of which the Tanais was the last. Scythia, then, appears to have been bounded by the Danube on the south-west. To the north the whole of the Boug ran through Scythia; and beyond the Don, to the east, the Scythian population ended, and the Sauromatæ occupied the Steppes between the Caspian and Black Sea. The latter people are supposed by some to be the same as the Sarmatæ, or Sarmatians, the ancestors of the Poles. The southern part of Scythia, between Kherson and Perecop, was inhabited by a fixed population, called the Agricultural Scythians; and the Royal Scythians were to the east, near the Don; and the Nomade Scythians along the whole country to the north. From the third to the sixth century, when the barbarians pressed forwards to occupy the defenceless provinces of the Roman empire, these plains were the high road of nations, and were occupied by a succession of nomade peoples during the whole period of the Byzantine empire, until they fell into the hands of the Tatars and the Ukraine Cossacks, called Zaporogues, from whom the Russians conquered them in the latter half of the last century. Several Nogai Tatar tribes regularly divided the whole of the southern portion of it, from the Dniestr to the Don, and all were under the dominion of the Khan of the Crimea, and constituted the largest portion of his territory. At the end of the seventeenth century these Tatars were known in Europe by the name of the Precopian Tatars, or the Tatars of Perecop.⁠[20]

The nearest regular nations to these on the north were the Poles and the Russians, of which the Poles were three centuries ago the more important and powerful people; but both were then much smaller nations and occupied far less territory than they now do. Between them and the Tatars there was an immense tract of waste land called the Ukraine, which in Russian means the march, or border land. Upon this a fugitive population of all sorts settled themselves, and took as their head-quarters the rapids of the Dniepr, where that river for about 70 miles falls over a succession of vast granite blocks, which impede the navigation of the river, and have caused the formation of numerous islands, difficult of access. From this cause the mixed population who took refuge there were called Zaporogues, or the people who lived at the falls, from two Russian words, “za,” at, “porohi,” the falls; and they were also called Cossacks, or Kazaks, as the word is pronounced in Russian and Tatar. This is an appellation of uncertain origin, and known over a vast extent of country on the confines of Europe and Asia. The Zaporogues were called Kazak, and so were the people who lived on the Don, and these two communities were of decided Russian origin. This name was also well known among Asiatic nations, for the Tcherkess in early times were called Kazaks, and Wood found it in use as far as the banks of the Oxus. It is not considered as a complimentary term, and the Cossacks of the Don call themselves the Donskoi, or the people of the Don, and consider the other as a reproach.

The Zaporogue Cossacks then inhabited the march between the Tatars and the Poles and Russians, and thus resembled the border people of England and Scotland. In the reign of Sigismund I., King of Poland, the last of the race of Jagellon, who died in 1572, the Cossacks were first taken into pay and armed against the Tatars, and a Polish officer was appointed their governor; and in the reign of Stephen Batory, which began three years after the death of Sigismund, they were regularly brought under military discipline. Much that is fabulous has been related of this people, and they have been described as a nation who admitted no women to live among them, as the Amazons near the Sea of Azof banished all men; and imagination had embellished their history as early as the seventeenth century.⁠[21] “They were, however,” says Chevalier, who wrote a history of the Cossack war, which was published at Paris in 1663, “only a military body, and not a nation, as some have imagined. We cannot compare them better than to the Franc archers established in France by Charles VII. They made periodical naval expeditions against the Turks, and have even advanced within two leagues of Constantinople. Their rendezvous was the islands of the Dniepr, and when winter approached they returned to their homes. They generally mustered 5000 or 6000 men: their boats were sixty feet long, with ten or twelve oars on each side, but this must be understood only of their war-boats.”

In short, they were pirates after the manner of our forefathers, the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Danes.

The father of John Sobieski commanded the Cossacks, and gives the following account of them:—

“They are chiefly of Russian origin, though many criminal refugees from Poland, Germany, and other countries are to be found among them. They profess the religion of the Greek Church; and have their fixed residence in their naturally fortified places, watered by the Dniepr. Their business is war, and when they are shut up, as it were, in their nest,⁠[22] they consider it illegal to neglect athletic sports for any other pursuits. They live sparingly by hunting and fishing, and they support their wives and families by plunder. They are governed by a prefect, whose sceptre is a reed, and who is chosen in a tumultuous manner. He has absolute power of life and death, and has four counsellors to assist him. The Poles have given them the town of Trychtymirow in Kiovia. Long habit has fitted them for maritime warfare. They use boats, in the side of which they can occasionally fasten flat bundles of reeds to buoy them up and resist the violence of the waves and winds. With these boats they sail with great rapidity, and very often take the laden Turkish vessels. Not many of them use lances (framlis), but they are all furnished with arquebuses (sclopetis); and in this kind of warfare the kings of Poland can match the infantry of all the monarchs of the world. They fortify their camp with waggons ranged in several rows; this they call ‘tabor,’ and make them their last refuge from an overbearing enemy. The Poles were obliged to furnish them with arms, provisions, and forage for their horses.”

Such were the men whom Batory enlisted in the Polish service. In the year 1556 he divided them into six regiments, and appointed superior and subordinate officers over them. They were then only infantry, says Chevalier, but Batory joined to them 2000 horse, and in a short time they consisted chiefly of cavalry. Their chief was called the hetman, or ataman; and the king presented him with a flag, a horse-tail, a staff, and a mirror, as ensigns of authority.⁠[23] The Cossacks played an important part in all the wars that desolated these countries till they were subdued, in the last century, by Catherine II., and transplanted to the banks of the Kuban to keep in check the Circassians. They then lost the name of Zaporogues, and took that of Tchernomorski⁠[24] Cossacks, or Cossacks of the Black Sea, under which they are now fighting in the Russian armies before Sevastopol.

The authority of the khans of Crimea⁠[25] extended beyond Odessa to the Dniestr,⁠[26] which was in former times the limits of Moldavia, whose prince paid them tribute. To the north the Tatars were separated from the kingdom of Poland by the country of the Ukraine; and the Zaporogue Cossacks were organized by the Polish monarchs as a kind of military colonists to check their depredations. The Tatar sway was also extended along all the Steppes as far as the Don Cossacks, and then again beyond them to Circassia, and the power of the khans of Crimea long survived that of their brethren in Great Tatary. But when once the Russian people had begun to shake off their shameful servitude to the Tatars, which it is doubtful whether any other European nation placed in their position could have avoided, each generation saw them increase in power, till they had conquered Zaporogues, Poles, Don Cossacks, and Tatars, and turned these nations into obedient subjects and instruments for the further extension of their enormous empire.

CHAPTER II. THE STEPPES OF RUSSIA.

The vast plains which extend over one-fifth of the whole Russian empire in Europe,⁠[27] or more than twice the size of France, are known both to natives and foreigners by the name of the “Steppes,” and present a monotonous level from the confines of Moldavia to the high plateau of Central Asia.⁠[28] An imaginary line drawn through Krementchouk and the northern part of Tambof forms their limit to the north, and to the south they are bounded by the Black Sea and the Azof; they also extend over all the northern parts of the Crimean peninsula. After passing the Sea of Azof they expand to the south and occupy the space between the Azof and Caspian as far south as the Terek and the Kuban, which are the boundaries of Circassia, and very distinctly mark their limits in that direction. On the north they reach the Oural Mountains, and then crossing the river of that name they join the deserts of Tatary, and increase in breadth to the north and south as they approach the great Asiatic table-land. They are totally devoid of trees or shrubs, have a soil of varying fertility, and a very scanty population.

In the north of Russia the ground is naturally covered with trees and shrubs, and produces immense forests, but where the Steppes begin, the forests end. Much has been written on the causes of the treeless aspect of the Steppes, and on the possibility of covering them with forests by planting. Some consider that they were in ancient times covered with wood, which has been destroyed by the nomade peoples who in all ages have inhabited them. The authority of Strabo is used, who mentions the country between Perecop and the Dniepr under the name of Hylæa,⁠[29] because of its dense forests, although there is not now a shrub to be seen there; and Haxthausen says he observed in the government of Saratof, which belongs to the region of the Steppes, that the rivers Irguiss, Jároslaw, and Aktóuba were still bordered by splendid forests of oaks, beech, poplars, and willows, although pines were never to be met with.⁠[30] Murchison, however, with reason I venture to think, utterly disbelieves in the former existence of forests that have been destroyed, and thinks that the total absence of trees in Southern Russia results from general conditions of climate, and from the want of dew, which is the cause commonly assigned for it by the inhabitants of the country itself.

But if there be no trees or shrubs, the southern provinces of Russia enjoy a herbaceous vegetation of extreme richness, which occupies the soil with a vigour of growth which is rarely met with in Europe, and grasses, which in other places scarcely attain the height of a foot, are met with in the Steppes reaching upwards of six feet. The reason of this prolific vegetation is that the Steppes are mostly within the region of the celebrated tchorno-ziemé, or black earth, which is a deposit of amazing fertility, peculiar to the southern part of Russia. “The tchorno-zèm,” says Murchison,⁠[31] “has its northernmost limit defined by a waving line, which passing from near Kief and Tchérnigof, a little to the south of Líchvia, appears in 54° of north latitude in that tract, then advances in its course eastward to 57°, and occupies the left bank of the Volga west of Tcheboksar, between Nijny Novgorod and Kazan. In approaching the Ural chain we saw no black earth to the north of Kazan, but it was plentiful on the Kama and around Ufa. Again, on the Asiatic or Siberian side of the Ural Mountains, we travelled through one large mass of it near Kamensk, south of the Issetz river, in latitude 56° north, and through another between Miask and Troitsk. In the great Siberian plains we heard that it spreads over considerable spaces in the eastern, central, and southern parts of that region. Although we met with it occasionally in the low gorges of the Ural chain, and in the Bashkír country on both flanks of the southern Ural (in plateaux more than 1000 feet above the level of the sea), and also in the Steppes of the Kirguiss; we did not see it in the plains near Orenburg, nor to the south of that city. There is none to the south of Tzáritzin on the Volga, in the Steppes of the Kalmucks between that place and the mouth of the Don; and it is only in very limited patches along the Sea of Azof, or, in other words, on the southern face of that elevation between the Dniepr and the Don which constitutes what is commonly called the granitic Steppe. It occurs, however, in great thickness on the plateaux on the northern side of that axis, where it surmounts the carboniferous limestone with many seams of coal, so that it might at first sight be supposed to be produced by the decomposition of the subjacent carbonaceous strata. It lies, however, upon rocks of all ages, and occupies the centre of a trough, large as an European empire, having the detritus of the crystalline and older rocks for its northern, and the low granite Steppes and Caspian deposits for its southern limits.” It occupies an area of about 180 millions of acres in European Russia, and varies from a few feet to fifteen and twenty feet in thickness. “In travelling over these black tracts in a dry summer we were often,” says Murchison, “during a whole day, more or less surrounded by a cloud of black dust, arising from the dried up tchorno-zèm, which is of so subtile a nature as to rise up through the sod in rich grass countries under the stamp of the horses’ feet, and forms so dense a cloud that the traveller is often begrimed like a working collier.”

It is not the humus arising from decayed forests or vegetables during the present period of the world’s history, as no trace of trees, roots, or vegetable fibre is found in it in any part of the empire. In the northern parts of Russia, where the forests have been lately cleared, no vestige of it exists, while it abounds south of a certain line, or exactly in those extensive and steppe-like undulations which have been devoid of trees throughout all known time. Its extreme fertility is attributed to the unusually large quantity of nitrogen which it contains; and its origin is referred to the period when the Russian continent was still submerged, and the tchorno-ziemé (which Russian economists justly consider as one of the most precious treasures of the empire) was the mud at the bottom of a great internal sea. This union of the black earth with a temperate climate in the Steppes between the Dniestr and the Don already enables the inhabitants of those countries to send, as from Mariopol, the finest wheat to the European markets, and justifies economists in looking forward to this region as one destined to a brilliant future. On the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof and eastward of the Don the Steppes become less fertile, until, wearing a more and more barren aspect, they gradually get blended with the sandy deserts of Tatary. On the eastern shore of the Sea of Azof, in the countries of the Don and Tchernomorsky Cossacks,⁠[32] there is, however, some splendid land, and large quantities of corn and linseed are sent thence, northwards to Taganrok for exportation, and southwards to supply the army of the Caucasus. The Steppes are in parts covered with a rich herbage, on which feed large herds of horses, cattle, sheep, and camels. The upper layer of the soil of the Steppes presents a great variety in its composition, from lands impregnated with saline substances, and moving sands, to the mixtures most favourable to vegetation. As this upper layer rests upon a subsoil which does not easily permit infiltration, it is upon its thickness that depends its fertility; for, where it is not deep enough to retain humidity, the land becomes easily saturated by rain, and dried by evaporation. This circumstance is a great check to cultivation, because long droughts are common in these countries. All the Steppes are not in this disadvantageous position, although such is their predominant character in several governments to the south and east of the empire. This want of rain, and absence of natural means for retaining moisture, such as hills or trees, is one of the greatest calamities of the country; but the vegetation of that part of the Steppes which is only used for pasturage has a particular character which modifies the influence of the droughts. Nature here shows a wonderful variety of resources.

The vegetation of the spring lasts about three months, and if this period passes without abundant rains, the grass does not reach its natural height. It dries in a moment, when the stalk has all its richness, and thus forming a natural kind of hay, it offers to the cattle during nine months a very substantial food, and these pastures are in consequence particularly favourable to sheep. When, on the contrary, the rains of spring are very abundant, the vegetation becomes rank, and the grass sometimes reaches four times its natural height. In such seasons the “stipa capillata” springs up, the prickly fruit of which proves injurious to sheep by penetrating their flesh, and often causing their death. The pasture at the same time is less wholesome and nourishing: in short, by a singular contrast in this country, which is generally condemned for its droughts, the proprietors of the Steppes often prefer a dry season to one too rainy. The vegetation of the pasturing Steppes also presents another peculiarity, that the grass is not spread in an even manner over it, but in isolated spots, which form a kind of oases. The even turf is only found in very low valleys.

The Steppes are divided by one writer into “eternal Steppes” and “accidental Steppes:” the first are those where the layer of soil is so thin that they never can be cultivated, and trees will never be able to grow; while the others are highly favourable to agriculture, and some remains of ancient forests are found in the low valleys. In the Steppes near Taganrok, as long as they are uncultivated, there is a kind of natural rotation of crops. To the herbage, which sometimes is as high as a man’s waist, succeeds the next year a coarse weed called “bourian,” which rises to the height of three or four feet, and is cut to use as fuel. Though it burns very quickly, it serves for Russian stoves, which, heated for a quarter of an hour, will keep an apartment warm during the whole day. To the bourian succeeds a thin kind of grass, and then about the third year the pasture is again excellent. A considerable portion of the Steppes is cultivated, and, without any artificial means, produces some of the finest wheat known. A rest of one or two years suffices to restore to the ground its original fertility, and the enormous tracts of uncultivated land make it never necessary to overtax its powers. In other parts the cultivation of the Steppes differs from that of all other countries. Certain kinds of grain are sown for several years in succession, and then the ground is left fallow, and becomes covered with grass. The first year weeds spring up in abundance, and then in the second and third years the pasturage becomes excellent. When the soil seems sufficiently recovered, it is again ploughed. This agricultural cycle occupies from ten to fifteen years, according to the fertility of the soil.⁠[33]

M. Haxthausen divides the Steppes into five classes:

1. The tertiary calcareous formation predominates in Bessarabia, Kaddia, and a small part of the government of Kherson.

2. The chalk forms the base of the soil in the north, and embraces the Steppes of the governments of Kharkof, Woroneje, Tambof, a part of the country of the Cossacks of the Don, and the government of Saratof.

3. The granitic base, which is a spur from the Carpathians, extends along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof to the Caucasus.

4. The Steppes of alluvial deposit extend to the south-east along the Kuban and Terek, which run east and west at the foot of the northern slopes of the Caucasus.

5. The Steppes of saline base extend to the east as far as the river Jaik, which runs into the Caspian Sea on the north, and on which is situated Orenbourg.

The Steppes of the three first formations have a situation much higher above the level of the sea than the alluvial and saline steppes, which Pallas thinks evidently formed the bottom of the waters when the Caspian was united to the Black Sea. They are everywhere covered by a rich layer of humus, more or less thick. The alluvial Steppes are of extraordinary fertility wherever the soil is not covered with marshes.

The granitic Steppes are mostly covered with a thick short grass, while the chalky and calcareous Steppes produce herbage which reaches six or seven feet in height, and a profusion of beautiful varieties of wild flowers. The banks of the rivers are covered with reeds, which reach in the alluvial Steppes an enormous height. The cynarocephalus, a kind of reed, in German “kletten,” which is used as fuel, is found from thirty to forty feet in height. That portion of the country of the Steppes which is likely to be of great future importance is the one situated above the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof, between the Carpathian Mountains and the Don.

For a short period, in April and May, the Steppes present a beautiful appearance. The brilliant green of the rising crops of corn, and the fresh grass, intermingled with flowers of the most lively colours, are pleasing to the eye, and give a charm to the monotony of the scenery. A hot scorching sun, however, soon withers the grass, which assumes a brownish hue, and clouds of dust increase the dreariness and parched appearance of the Steppes. During the winter the ground is covered with snow, which at times lies several feet deep. Unimpeded by mountains, forests, or rising ground, the winds from the north-east, passing over many hundred miles of frozen ground, blow with resistless violence, and often uninterruptedly for several weeks. When the frost is severe, and the snow in a dry powdery state, the wind drifts it about and obscures the air. These snow-storms are called by the inhabitants “metel” or “boura,” and have often proved fatal to the half-frozen, blinded, and bewildered traveller, who, having lost his way, is wandering over the dreary icy Steppes in search of a place of refuge. Detached houses and whole villages are sometimes buried by the drifting snow, through which the inmates are obliged to cut their way. At times the traveller looks in vain for the solitary post-house at which he is always anxious to arrive, and learns only that he has reached his temporary resting-place by a slight rise in the snow, and by his sledge being overturned into a hole, through which he creeps down into the snug cottage, which is sometimes thus buried for several weeks. When the wind blows with violence, and the snow is drifted about in eddies, the storm has a singularly bewildering and stunning effect. The inhabitants themselves lose their way, and the herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, that happen to be surprised by it, become seized with a panic, and, rushing headlong before the gale, defy every obstacle that presents itself to their wild career. They are then inevitably lost, and, overcome by fatigue, they either perish in the snow, or meet their death by falling down the precipitous sides of some ravine. These ravines are called “Balkas,” and occur frequently in the Steppes that lie between the Dniestr and the Don. To the north of the Crimea they are most frequent, and in some parts follow each other in quick succession, and always in the direction from north to south.

The roads in Southern Russia are mere tracks, and those on which post communications are established have earth thrown up at their sides, and at intervals conical mounds of earth or stone to indicate the way. The bridges across the ravines are generally in such a dilapidated condition, that but few of them can be trusted.

The melting of the snow in the months of March and April changes the ravines into torrents, the waters of which, rushing with incredible violence, form an insurmountable obstacle to travellers. The ground, saturated with the melted snow, becomes so soft that light-laden waggons sink in it to the axletrees, and during this season it is not uncommon to meet the wrecks of many of them that could not be dragged through the mud, and have been abandoned. Post-carts,⁠[34] that convey but one or two persons besides the driver, of the lightest and smallest description, dragged by five horses, proceed only at a foot’s pace.

One of the few characteristic features of the Steppes is the number of tumuli or artificial mounds that are scattered over their surface, and in some localities, especially towards the Azof, they are found lying together in great numbers.⁠[35] These tumuli, or “kourgans” as they are called by the natives, are often found to contain valuable relics of early ages. There are other artificial mounds, similar to tumuli, in certain directions, at intervals of from one to three versts, extending over long lines of country, which are supposed to have served as watch-posts and beacons to the roving hordes who used to inhabit these plains. On each mound a watch-tower was probably erected, and a beacon prepared, which, when lighted at proper seasons, would serve either to guide them home from a predatory excursion, or give them timely notice of the approach of an enemy. During the summer months the well-known phenomenon called the “mirage” is often seen, and its effects are as beautiful and deceitful as those described in Africa. That part of the Steppes, called the Tchernomore, between the Kuban and the Don, with the exception of the districts in the immediate vicinity of the sea, is almost exclusively devoted to the rearing of horses, horned cattle, and sheep. From the Don westwards to the river Moloshna, the land is mostly used for tillage. From the Moloshna, again westwards to the Dniepr, the Steppes, principally inhabited by the Tatar Nogai tribes, are but little cultivated, and might afford pasturage to a far larger quantity of cattle and horses than now graze upon them.

The German colonies of the Moloshna, and others of less importance in the vicinity of Mariopol, may be well compared to oases in the desert. Their neat cottages, with well-built barns and out-houses, surrounded by trees and gardens, and by highly cultivated fields, bear the signs of wealth and comfort, and of the care bestowed upon them by an industrious and intelligent population. The German colonies form a striking contrast to the dreary country in which they are situated, and to the miserable Russian villages, and the still more wretched Tatar aouls, around them. Their situation is always well chosen on some sloping ground, on the border of one of the few rivulets that water the country. The population of the Steppes is of a mixed character, and is composed of Little Russians, Tatars, Greeks, Cossacks, German colonists, Kalmucks, and Armenians. Although living in the immediate vicinity of each other, they neither intermarry nor associate much with one another. They differ in religion and character and features and manners, and retain the distinctive stamp of their origin.

Game abounds on the Steppes. The large and small bustard are seen in flocks in the districts to the north of Crimea. The “streppet,” of a larger size and lighter hue than the grouse, the only English bird to which it can be compared, partridges, quails, hares, snipe, and woodcocks, are to be met with in great numbers, and are remarkable for their fine flavour. Wolves are scarce, and are never seen in packs as in Central and Northern Russia.

“Innumerable inhabitants of a smaller race people these immense plains. Among these is the suroke, or marmot of the Alps, which is seen in all parts of the Steppes, sitting erect near its burrow, and on the slightest alarm whistling very loud, and observing all around. It makes such extensive subterraneous chambers, that the ground is perforated in all directions, and the land destroyed, wherever the animal is found. The peasants universally give them the name of ‘Wastie.’

“The biroke is a grey animal, something like a wolf, very ferocious, and daring enough to attack a man. The Cossack peasants, armed with their lances, sally forth and chase it over their plains.

“The most numerous of all the animals of the Steppes are the suslics,⁠[36] which absolutely swarm in all the Steppes. They make a whistling noise like the suroke, but are much smaller, not being larger than a small weasel. They construct their habitations under ground with incredible quickness, excavating first of all a small cylindrical hole or well perpendicularly to the depth of three feet; thence, like a correct miner, shooting out levels, although rather in an ascending direction, to prevent being incommoded by water. At the extremity of his little gallery the suslic forms a very spacious chamber, to which, as to a granary, he brings every morning and evening all he can collect of favourite herbage, of corn, if it can be found, and roots, and other food. Nothing is more amusing than to observe the habits of this little animal. If any one approaches, it is seen sitting at the entrance of its little dwelling, erect upon its hind-feet, like the suroke, carefully watching all that is going on around it. Nothing annoys it so much as water; and if some be poured into its hole, it comes out and is easily caught.”⁠[37]

Such is a brief account of the Steppes which occupy a considerable portion of the Russian empire, and as they likewise form nearly two-thirds of the whole Crimea, and approach within a short distance of Sevastopol in the direction of Inkerman, this description in the main features will also apply to that peninsula.

CHAPTER III. FROM PERECOP TO SYMPHERÓPOL.

The isthmus of Perecop is about five miles broad, and stretches from the Bay of Karkiníte on the side of the Black Sea to the large lake called the Shiváshe, which is connected with the Sea of Azof by the strait of Yénitchi.

The isthmus is defended by an irregular fortress erected on the south side of a deep ditch, and protected by a high wall built of freestone, stretching right across the isthmus, which rises slightly in the middle. The fosse and the wall are said to have been formed in ancient times by the inhabitants of the peninsula to defend themselves against the incursions of the nomades of the Steppes. The taphros or ditch of the more ancient geographers, and the “new wall” of Ptolemy, lie about a mile and a half south of Perecop. According to Pliny,⁠[38] the Crimea was originally an island; and natural appearances which meet the eye seem to make this statement probable. It is related by one historian that in the tenth century the wall was razed to the ground, and a thick wood planted from sea to sea, through which ran two roads, one leading to the Cimmerian Bosphorus on the east, and the other to the ancient town of Kherson, near the south-west corner of the peninsula. The fosse was cleared out, and a stone wall, defended by towers, built by the Tatar khans of Crimea, about the end of the fifteenth century. The Russian name “Perecop” properly signifies a ditch or fosse cut across the road to prevent any further passage, and has been substituted for the Tatar name “Orkapou,” which denotes the gate of the isthmus.⁠[39]

The fortress, together with the whole line of fortification, was first taken in 1736, when Marshal Munich appeared before the lines with 54,000 men and 8000 waggons for munitions and baggage. The ditch was then 72 feet wide and 42 feet deep, and behind it rose a galionade 70 feet high. Six towers, built in stone, flanked the line, and served as bastions to the fortress of Orkapou, which rose behind them. A thousand Janissaries and 100,000 Tatars here opposed an obstinate but vain resistance to Munich, who after two days took the lines by assault, and, forty-eight hours afterwards, the town of Orkapou. Immediately afterwards General Leontief was sent with 10,000 infantry and 300 Cossacks to take the fortress of Kilboroún (Kinborn), which, situated on the mainland, rises at the extremity of the promontory of the same name, and commands the entrance of the lagoon into which the Dniepr and the Boug discharge their waters.⁠[40] Munich immediately pursued his march to Koslof (now Eupatoria), the second commercial town in Crimea, situated on the western coast of the peninsula, and, having taken it, its riches became a prey to the soldiers.

Exactly one month after their arrival at Perecop the Russian army appeared before the gates of Baktchéserai, which they utterly destroyed. Two thousand houses and the vast palace of the khans were burnt, and the rich library which had been collected by Selim Geray Khan, and that of the Jesuits, were reduced to ashes. The same fate awaited Akméshed (Sympherópol), where the palaces of the Kalga Sultan, and of the principal Mirzas to the number of 1800, were mercilessly given to the flames. Munich had intended also to seize Kaffa (Theodosia), the most important fortress of Crimea, when an illness obliged him to return to Perecop, where he received the news of the taking of Kilboroún. The town of Azof had been taken a short time before. The march of Munich across the beautiful plains of Crimea was marked by the burning of towns and ravages of all sorts, and the cruelties of which he was guilty have placed his name beside those of Louvois and Catinat, the devastators of the Palatinate. Before he left Crimea he razed the lines of Perecop and blew up the fortifications of the town.⁠[41]

At the present time there is a bridge across the fosse, and a stone gateway, which presents rather an interesting appearance as seen from the north. On either side are a few straggling houses, inhabited by Tatars, Jews, and Russians, most of whom derive their support from the salt-lakes in the vicinity. The principal part of the town is at a distance of about two miles further south, and goes by the name of the Armenian Bazar, from the country of its most numerous population. It contains a custom-house, and comptoirs for the brandy distilleries, and salt magazines, within it, a number of shops, and about 900 inhabitants. Here is a mosque with two minarets, and a Russian and an Armenian church. The quantity of salt exported by this route to Russia is immense. According to Vsevolovski more than 20,000 waggons are annually employed in the trade. They are drawn by oxen, and generally form large caravans, the sight of which affords an agreeable relief to the eye of the traveller when wearied by the continuous monotony of the Steppe. The salt is produced by evaporation on the surface of the lakes, some of which have a circumference of upwards of 20 versts, and are in general shallow, and have formerly had a communication with the sea. The soil is also strongly impregnated with saline properties, which it necessarily communicates to the vegetation; the Tatar cattle are, however, fond of it, and the sheep fatten equally with those fed on the produce of common earth.

Now, standing on the isthmus of Perecop, let us look first to the right, and follow the indentures of the coasts and the channel of the shallow sea that leads to it from Odessa; and then turn to the left, where equally shallow lagoons are interposed between the isthmus and the little strait of Yénitchi. The want of water on each side of the isthmus forms its strength, as it makes it equally difficult of approach for a land or a naval force. On the left side no vessels can approach it within a long distance, but on the side of the Black Sea there is deep water and good anchoring ground at a distance of about 20 miles. The gulf which runs up from the Black Sea to Perecop is called the Gulf of Karkiníte. It separates Crimea from the mainland, is open to the west and south-west, and 42 miles in width at its entrance. Its length, from Cape Karamroún, the most westerly point of Crimea, to the isthmus of Djaril Agátch, at the head of which there is 30 feet of water, is 60 miles. Up to this point, which is two-thirds of its total length to Perecop, it is navigable, and beyond it and the opposite promontory of Saribouláte, 40 miles from Cape Karamroún, vessels cannot pass. The depth round the promontory of Saribouláte is three fathoms, and beyond it only a few feet. The south coast of the Gulf of Karkiníte is formed of elevated plains, which are distinguished at a great distance, and its shore is bold and steep. The port of Akméshed in this gulf, at 12 miles from Cape Karamroún, is a great resort for navigators who run between Odessa and the Crimea. This anchorage is distinguished by a white tower erected on a cape to starboard on entering, and again by several buildings situated in the interior of the port, which is three-quarters of a mile in length, and its entrance between the capes is two-thirds of a mile broad.⁠[42] This anchorage offers four, three, and two fathoms, sandy bottom, and good holding-ground. A quarantine establishment is situated here; and to the east of this anchorage, along the beach which lines the south of the port, there is a picturesque village. On entering the port you can at once make the village, and the anchorage is at an equal distance from the two shores, at two and a half cables’ length from the beach, in five or six fathoms depth, and sandy bottom, exposed to the north and north-west. The creek described above is quite safe, and to the west of the village vessels are secure.

Cape Karamroún, the westernmost point of the Crimea, lies 12 miles south-west of Akméshed, and all along this interval the coast is safe, bold, and bordered by steep white rocks. At 3½ miles before arriving at Cape Karamroún is Cape Eskíforos, and in the interval the fertile little valley of Karadja. It is remarkable on account of its beach, its trees, and a little village, immediately opposite to which there is an anchorage in five and a half fathoms, sandy and muddy bottom. Here there is a lighthouse, 117½ feet above the level of the sea. The light is fixed, and can be seen at sea at a distance of 17 miles. A strong current runs here with the wind; and the sea at Eskíforos changes from a bright blue to a dirty and dark green colour, which increases in depth as Odessa is approached.⁠[43]

A long low spit of land runs along the northern side of the Gulf of Karkiníte, and terminates in a point, on which is placed the fortress of Kilboroún at the entrance of another gulf running parallel with that of Karkiníte. The promontory on which the fortress is placed is very low, almost on a level with the sea, and subject to inundations. The fortress of Otchákow commands the entrance of the lagoon of the Dniepr on the opposite side, and the distance between it and Kilboroún is only about 2¼ miles. This passage is very important, as into this gulf flow the great rivers of the Boug and Dniepr, and on the latter is situated the important town of Kherson, and on the former the great naval arsenal of Nicolaief, and the safety of both depends upon the passage of Kilboroún. The country between the Gulf of the Dniepr and the Gulf of Karkiníte was called Hylæa by the ancients, because of the woods by which it was then covered; these have entirely disappeared, and the whole country is now a bare and almost uninhabited Steppe.

The two great rivers of the Boug and the Dniepr, falling into the Gulf of the Dniepr, by their united currents flowing to the west, make a channel, the maximum depth of which is seventy-three feet.⁠[44] At sixteen miles to the east of Otchákow, and nine miles north-west of Cape Stanislas, the Boug discharges its water into the lagoon, which it shares with the Dniepr. This river, as far as Nicolaief, is from twenty to sixty feet in depth, and its width varies from one to three miles. The city of Nicolaief, which is the Russian arsenal for the Black Sea, is twenty miles from the mouth of the Boug, and at the junction of that river with the Ingoul.⁠[45] The delta of the Dniepr is composed of a number of small islands, covered with reeds and mostly uninhabited, and it runs into its lagoon by nine mouths, three of which are much more important than the others. The course now followed by coasters who wish to approach the mouths of the Dniepr is to keep close in to the shore, along the north side of the bay, passing the town of Gloubóky,⁠[46] which may be called the port of Kherson. Gloubóky is four miles from the Kizim mouth of the Dniepr, which was not navigable thirty years ago, but is now the one which is principally used. It is at Gloubóky that vessels of a large draught of water load and discharge their cargoes, and there is here a depth of nineteen feet at a good cable’s length from the shore. This port has greatly increased of late years, and is now the place where most of the linseed grown in the countries watered by the Dniepr is shipped for exportation. The entrance to it is marked out by buoys, and in the channel there is from twenty-five to thirty-seven feet of water.

The city of Kherson is situated on the right bank of the Dniepr, which is there half a mile broad and fifty feet deep. Looking westward from the promontory of Kilboroún, we find Odessa lying at a distance of thirty miles, and a channel for ships the whole way to it, of from twenty to sixty feet in depth. A long sandbank, called in the Russian maps the sandbank of Odessa, stretches out in the direction of that town from Kilboroún for twenty-four miles. Following the line of the shore of the mainland, we find Cape Berezane jutting out eight miles from Cape Otchákow, and between them is the island of Berezane, with steep bold reddish cliffs. At twenty-two miles further on is Cape Dembrowski, very near the town of Odessa, with some rocks near it, which render it unsafe. The greatest depth of the bay of Odessa is eight fathoms.

Having thus traced the line of the coast to the west of Perecop, and shown what important places lie there, and how far it may be navigated by vessels of very considerable size, a point of great importance in the present state of the war, let us return to Perecop, and see whether it is equally approachable on the eastern side, on which it is bounded by the Shiváshe, or, as it is called, the Putrid Sea. This is simply a shallow fresh-water lake, into which are discharged the principal rivers of the eastern side of Crimea, the Salghír, the Karasou, the Bulganak, the two Yandols, and the Sóubachi. The Shiváshe discharges these accumulated waters, at its northern extremity, into the Sea of Azof, by the canal of Yénitchi. There seems no good reason for calling it the Putrid Sea, as there is neither an unpleasant smell issuing from it, nor are its banks unhealthy. The Shiváshe is separated from the Sea of Azof by a narrow tongue of land, fifty-two miles long and about half a mile wide, covered with reeds and coarse grass, on which a few flocks of sheep are seen to graze. There are three post stations upon it, and it is used as the high road for persons coming from the towns on the north shores of the Sea of Azof to Kertch and the eastern parts of the Crimea.

This curious tongue of land is called by the Tatars the Arabate, and by the Russians Strelka (or Arrow), or the Tonka. Where the Strelka detaches itself from the mainland, in the direction of Kertch, are the remains of an old ruined fort of an octagon shape, and surrounded by a deep moat, which is called the fortress of Arabat. There is about twenty-four feet water near the shore of the Strelka, on the side of the Sea of Azof, and here its beach is high and precipitous, while it slopes off on the side of the Shiváshe.⁠[47]

From Perecop the first stage is Terekli Tchousoun, and near it a road strikes off to the right leading to Kozlof or Eupatoria, a place of considerable trade, and containing 5000 inhabitants, principally Tatars and Jews. The latter are of the sect of the Karaites, and number 700 souls. Many of them are rich, and carry on an extensive commerce with Odessa, Constantinople, and other parts of the Levant.

The first view the traveller obtains of Crimea but ill accords with the ideas which are generally formed of its romantic beauty, the country being simply a Steppe, without either tree, streamlet, or hill to diversify the prospect. After passing the next stage, where there is a large well for watering the flocks of the Tatars, a gentle rise is perceptible in the surface of the ground, and the soil loses its saline and sandy character, and assumes the appearance of a fine mould, with here and there considerable quantities of marl. On reaching the summit of the elevation, which here stretches across the peninsula, there is a delightful view of the Tchatirdagh and the range of mountains on the southern coast.

Hence there is a gradual descent over the undulating surface into the plains to the north of Sympherópol, and after passing through a beautiful Tatar village, with a mosque and minaret, situated on the left bank of the Salghír, and beautifully adorned with poplars and fruit-trees, the traveller arrives at the capital of the Crimea, since its occupation by the Russians.

At Sympherópol the Steppes have disappeared, the climate is milder, and the scene changes. The mountains now are near, gardens appear on every side, and the slopes around are clothed with trees. Sympherópol has quite the aspect of a Russian town. The streets are enormously wide; the greater number of the houses are no better than white-washed cottages, and those of the rich part of the population are built in a bad kind of bastard Italian style.

Here reside the principal Russian authorities of the Crimea, and the town has a population of 8000 souls—5000 Tatars, 1700 Russians, 900 gipsies, and 400 strangers.⁠[48] Before the time of the Russians, Sympherópol, under the name of Akméshed, which means, in Turkish, the White Mosque, was the residence of the Kalga Sultan, or Viceroy of the Khan of the Tatars, who himself resided at Baktchéserai. This personage filled the second place in the Khanate, and, when the Khan died, he held the reins of government until the arrival of the new Khan, who was named by the Sultan of Constantinople. He had a court like the Khan himself, and had his Vizir, his Defterdar, his Divan Effendi, and also the female dignitaries of Anabei and Ouloukháni, which were conferred on his nearest female relations, and to which were attached important privileges. The Kalga also held a court of justice, to which there was an appeal from all the courts of the Kadis, or judges, in Crimea;⁠[49] he was vested with all powers, except those of life and death, and from him there was no appeal except to the Great Divan of the Khan himself. His authority extended as far as the limits of the town of Kaffa, and, in the absence of the Khan, he led the armies of Little Tartary to battle.⁠[50]

The most delightful sites in the environs of Sympherópol are the banks of the river Salghír, and here, opposite to the old Tartar capital, was the palace of the Kalga. The ruins show that it was a vast irregular mass of buildings, and we can judge of its style by the still existing palace at Baktchéserai. It had, doubtless, numberless halls and corridors, ornamented with rich woodwork, and fountains, and looking-glasses, and its gardens were celebrated for their beauty, and for the pieces of water within their precincts, on which were several boats for the amusement of the Kalga. No trace now remains of its former glories. A brewery and a brandy manufactory now use the pure stream that once fed the fountains, and a public garden, for smoking and drinking, desecrates the spot which was once set apart for the use of the hareem.⁠[51] There are no mosques of any beauty, but there is a large Greek church, built, in 1832, in the Grecian style of architecture, with a portico in front. There is also here a large market-place and an important market, which supplies the southern coast of Crimea, by way of Alouchta, and to this town there is an excellent road, leading through a pretty valley, with villa residences of Russian nobles by the side of it, some of which are situated in richly wooded parks, and form an agreeable contrast to the vast Steppes that lie on the north of Sympherópol. In the environs are to be seen the ruins of very ancient times, for Sympherópol was a capital before the time of the Tatars, and Kermentchíck is the name of the fortress cut in the rocks, which was the residence of Skilouros, the king of the Tauro-Scythians, and the enemy of the great Mithridates, when he reigned at Kertch.

CHAPTER IV. BAKTCHÉSERAI AND TCHOUFOUT KALEH.

A good road leads from Sympherópol to the town of Baktchéserai, which is half-way from the former place to Sevastopol. Baktchéserai was the capital of the Tatars during their occupation of Crimea, and like Karasóubazar retains much of its Eastern character, owing to the ukase of Catherine II., which is still in force, and by which the Tatars are allowed to retain exclusive possession of these two cities.

The distance from Sympherópol to Baktchéserai is 30 versts,⁠[52] and the road runs along a waste Steppe, with the exception of a mile and a half of the distance, during which it passes through the pretty valley of the upper Alma. The town is situated in a deep gorge in the chalk formation, and the traveller does not see it till he has arrived at the end of his journey, and suddenly looks down upon it snugly ensconced at his feet between two walls of rock. There he sees the irregular Tatar habitations, interspersed with delicate minarets and tall poplar-trees stretching in two long lines on each side of the muddy stream of the Djourouk Sou. A steep road leads down to it, which passes the modest triumphal arch erected in honour of the visit of the Empress Catherine II. to the capital of her new conquest in the last century, and which bears the simple inscription, “1787.” The town has completely retained its Oriental character, and in passing down the long street, nearly three-quarters of a mile in length, the little open shops of the tailors, the shoemakers, the bakers, the locksmiths, and the kalpac-makers, are seen, with their proprietors sitting cross-legged, in Eastern fashion, and working and selling at the same time.

Baktchéserai is celebrated for the number of its fountains and the purity of its water, which one writer pretends is the lightest in all Tatary and Turkey.⁠[53] There are no less than 119 fountains for a population of 9547 inhabitants. At the end of the long street, just across the little river, is the great sight of Baktchéserai, the ancient palace of the khans, which all travellers stop to visit.

Now that Turkey is becoming so much Europeanized, this palace, as a specimen of the old architecture of the Turk race, goes on increasing in interest. The great men at Constantinople are sacrificing the ancient peculiarities of their palaces to modern conveniences, but this venerable monument is kept up by the sovereigns of Russia precisely in its ancient condition. I was much struck with it when the brightly painted gateway first opened upon me. This divides in two a long line of buildings, of only one story in height, with all the windows filled up with carved woodwork, and ornamented with rude arabesques painted in bright colours.

Right and left on entering are ranges of apartments, which all open on a long gallery, whence there is a good view of the interior court and the groups of fantastic buildings raised irregularly around it.

At the entrance of the second court on the left is the gate called the Iron Gate, leading to the principal apartments, on which is an inscription declaring it to have been built by Mengli Geray Khan, who conquered the Crimea in 1480, and was acknowledged as its sovereign by the Turks.

A staircase leads into the richly-ornamented hall, in which there are two fountains, one of which is called Selsibíl, or the fountain of Mary, on which the Russian poet Pouschkin has written some beautiful verses.⁠[54]

Beyond this hall is that of the divan, the great council-room, placed in the midst of a terraced garden. This is one of those magic buildings in which the climate of the East can really be enjoyed. Its floor is of marble, and its fretted ceiling tastefully gilt, while the centre is occupied by a marble basin, into which the water is perpetually trickling from a fountain with fifteen jets. The only light that is admitted is toned down through painted glass, and the softest divans invite repose from the heats of summer. The terraces of the garden outside are planted with roses; and the clearest streams of water fall in small cascades from one marble basin to another.

From the first hall is a doorway leading to the principal apartments of the khan himself, where is the hall of audience and a long suite of rooms leading down to the banks of the river, whence the great man, behind a lattice, could, unperceived, see what was passing in the town. Behind the Pavilion of the Waters, carefully hidden by high trees, is a little secluded court, where the sacred precincts of the hareem terminated with a high tower or kiosk, whence the ladies used to witness the fêtes and martial games that were celebrated in the great court, and whence there is a most charming view of the town and all the surrounding country.

While the right side of the palace was devoted to all that could contribute to the sensual enjoyment of life, on the left rose the mosque and the cemetery; the former built in a good style, and completed by two tall minarets of fine workmanship. The khan ascended to his tribune by a staircase shaded by a poplar-tree, and here strangers are taken to witness the Mussulman service and the dance of the dervishes. The cemetery adjoins it, in which two large domes contain the monuments of nearly all the khans since 1654.⁠[55]

The gardens, and the reservoirs that feed the fountains of the palace, extend behind it, and above these, on one of the sides of the narrow valley, is seen a part of the town, and an immense cemetery, which is approached from the court of the palace by an allée of monuments. One graceful dome, placed just without the precincts of the palace-garden, immediately attracts attention. Below, an octagonal building, with interlacing arches and slender pilasters, supports it, and rich arabesques decorate every part, in the midst of which the cross is seen most conspicuous. This is the tomb of a beautiful Georgian, called Dilara Bikéh, who was the wife of Krim Geray, and greatly beloved by her husband, who was one of the best khans that ever governed Crimea.⁠[56]

The Georgians are all Christians of the Greek Church, and Dilara Bikéh steadily refused to change her religion, and reposes here on sufferance, at the edge of the Mussulman cemetery, as she was not admitted into the burial-ground of the house of Geray.

Many a pilgrimage is made to this tomb, as to that of Marie Potocka, another beautiful Christian who gained the heart of a Mussulman prince. She was a Pole, of an illustrious family, and inspired one of the last khans of Crimea with so violent a passion, that he carried her off and married her. Neither the splendour of her position, nor the tenderness of her husband, could, however, reconcile her to being the wife of an infidel, and she died prematurely, worn out by remorse.

The pleasure of a visit to Baktchéserai depends upon the frame of mind of the traveller. It is true there is something grotesque, irregular, and barbarous, about the whole: that the workmanship of the palace is rough, the joints ill fitted, and the colouring what some would call gaudy; but there is at the same time originality in the design, vivid fancy in the colouring, and a sense of the picturesque in the grouping together of the parts. As an accomplished French lady has remarked, in her interesting Travels in the Crimea, “It is no easy task to describe the charms of a mysterious and splendid abode, in which the voluptuous khans forgot all the cares of life; it is not to be done, as in the case of one of our palaces, by analysing the style, arrangement, and details of the rich architecture, and reading the artist’s thoughts in the regularity, grace, and noble simplicity of the edifice,—one must be something of a poet to appreciate a Turkish palace; its charms must be sought not in what one sees, but in what one feels. The positive cast of minds are disabled from seeing beauty in anything but rich materials, well-defined forms, and highly-finished workmanship, and Baktchéserai must be to them only a group of shabby houses, adorned with paltry ornaments, fit only for the habitations of miserable Tatars.”⁠[57]

The entrance into the gorge of Baktchéserai from the side of the Tauric chain of mountains on the south is much grander than the approach from the steppe. The rocks open like an immense portal gate into the narrow valley, and on every side ruins are scattered, even to the summits of the mountains. This gorge, like the others in the neighbourhood, was originally closed by a wall, a fort, and a crypt town, which faced the interior of the mountains, and therefore evidently belonged to the inhabitants of the hills, who defended themselves against the nomades of the steppes.⁠[58]

These remains of the most ancient times of the Tauro-Scythians are mingled with ruins of recent date. The garden and palace of Acheláma, built by the Khan Krim Geray, occupied all the valley, and in the midst was a lake, where the ladies of the hareem used to bathe, and a kiosk, where the khan used to repose himself. The word “Acheláma” means “a graft” in Turkish, and the name was given because of the many kinds of fruit-trees which were grafted in these gardens, of which no vestige now remains.

To the left of this ruined garden, perched on an isolated rock, with houses overlooking the precipice, is the little town of Tchoufout Kaleh, which has been inhabited for centuries by a colony of Jews. A road cut in the rock, and joining the one which leads to the southern coast, is the only communication to this singular little establishment, which is surrounded by a strong wall, entered by gates, which are carefully closed every evening.

These Keraim Jews are all merchants, who have their shops in Baktchéserai, and bear the highest character for honesty. They reject the superstitious fables of the Talmud, and their separation from its followers dates, according to some learned men, several centuries before the birth of Christ, although the Rabbinists pretend that they did not form a separate sect until the eighth century.⁠[59] Peyssonel relates that they claim an origin from Bokhara, and says that they followed the Mongols and Tatars from Asia in the thirteenth century, and as these latter gradually left Tchoufout Kaleh for Baktchéserai, the Jews established themselves in their place. They always enjoyed special privileges, and were exempt from some contributions that were imposed on the Greeks and Armenians; as, for instance, the obligation to find a certain quantity of labour for fortifications, mosques, fountains, and other public buildings.

The Jews pretend that their privileges were granted them for services rendered in ancient times to the Khans of the Tatars; but Peyssonel attributes the real origin of them to the services of a Jewish doctor, who, having been fortunate enough to cure an Ouloukháneh, or one of the great female dignitaries, as his reward obtained for his countrymen the exemptions noticed above. The capitation-tax of the Jews was henceforward attached to the dignity of Ouloukháneh, and the Jews, in gratitude, always supplied the palace of the Princess with wood, coal, coffee, and other necessaries. Their houses are very clean, and they dress like the Tatars, and use a dialect of the Tatar language, to which they give the name of Djagaltai.⁠[60]

Mr. Henderson, who visited them in company with Mr. Glen, the well-known Oriental scholar and missionary in Persia, questioned them closely as to the tradition of their Eastern origin, and even corresponded with them upon the subject, and from their accounts it appears that they have no written documents to prove at what time they occupied this fort, or whence they came before arriving in the Crimea. They also stated that they had no tradition of any bond of union ever having existed between their ancestors and the Jews of Bokhara, in which country there are no Karaim. The only traditionary account current among them is that their ancestors came from Damascus and settled here about five hundred years ago, under the protection of the Khans of Crimea.

Their language also, as exhibited in their ancient books, approximates more to the Osmanli than to the Oriental Turkish, and it appears from the Travels of Rabbi Petachia, that there were Karaites in the Crimea about the year 1180, which was considerably prior to the arrival of the Tatars.

With respect to the sect in general, it claims a very high antiquity, and seems originally to have been the same with that of the Sadducees, one of the three principal sects which divided the Jewish nation about two hundred years before the birth of our Lord. One of the distinguishing tenets of the Sadducees was their strict adherence to the letter of the law, to the entire exclusion of traditional interpretation; and some authors of note have conjectured that the errors which that sect taught in the time of our Lord formed no part of their primitive creed, and that it was the adoption of them by Sadok which made the sect divide into Sadducees and those afterwards called Karaim, whom Prideaux⁠[61] takes to be the Scribes so frequently mentioned in the New Testament.

According to Mordecai, one of their own writers, they are sprung from Judah Ben Tabbai, and were originally denominated, after him, the Society of J. B. T., but afterwards changed their name to that of Karaim,⁠[62] or Karaites. If the accounts that obtain among themselves may be credited, the first place where a Karaim synagogue was established, after the destruction of Jerusalem, was Grand Cairo, in which city they have always kept up a separate community, and where, according to the most recent accounts, they still exist. They are also found in most of the countries between India and Poland.

The principal point of difference between them and the Rabbinical or Pharisaical Jews consists in their rejection of the oral law, and their rigid appeal to the text of Scripture, as the exclusive and only infallible source and test of religious truth. They therefore glory in the name of Karaites, or Scripturists, although, as is the case with the epithets by which most sects and systems of opinion have been characterized, it was at first given them by their enemies. They, however, consult the Talmud and other Jewish writings, and the answer of the principal Rabbi in Tchoufout Kaleh to Mr. Henderson was singularly marked by good sense and moderation: “We do not admit,” said he, “that the Talmud has any binding authority over our consciences, and there are many things in it which we cannot approve, but shall we on this account reject what is good in it, and not avail ourselves of such statements as are consonant with the text of Scripture?”

In the middle of the town, near the ancient gate, is a mausoleum, with an elegant portico, in which are said to repose the remains of Nenekedjàn Khánum, daughter of the famous Tóktamish Khan, the successor of Tamerlane.⁠[63] She fell in love with a handsome Genoese nobleman according to some, or a Tatar Mirza according to others. As her father would not consent to the marriage, she fled with her lover to the impregnable walls of Tchoufout Kaleh. He was treacherously inveigled out of his place of safety, and Nenekedjàn, knowing the fate that would await him, threw herself down the precipice. Her father, repentant when too late, built this beautiful tomb to her memory, which is covered with Arab inscriptions from the Koran.

Tchoufout Kaleh⁠[64] means, in Turkish, “the fortress of the Jews,” and this name is not found applied to it till two hundred years ago. The ancient name was Kirkor, which was the capital of the Khans, before they removed to Baktchéserai.⁠[65] From the earliest times this spot must have been a residence of men, for there is a crypt town built at the entrance of the gorge, in the strata of the chalk, with the isolated hill of Tchoufout Kaleh behind it, which served as a place of refuge, fortified by nature. All the other crypt towns in Crimea, as those at Inkerman, Mangoup, Katchikaléw, and Tepekerman, are built in similar localities, and date from the time of the Tauro-Scythians, many centuries before Christ.⁠[66]

This subterranean town is cut under the fortress, in the sides of the little valley. There are in one place alone as many as fifty of these grottoes, and a path with steps is cut in the rocks leading from them up to the fortress. On the opposite side one of them is converted into the Monastery of the Assumption, and inhabited by the monks, and a visit to it enables the traveller to judge how the old crypt towns looked before they were deserted. Many white crosses mark the tombs of rich Greeks, whose bodies have been brought from various parts, to be buried in this sacred ground.

All the higher part of the valley, beyond a magnificent group of oaks, has been used for ages as a burying-ground by the Jews, and is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The tombs, great numbers of which are cut in the white chalk, are ranged under fine trees, and along the sides of the paths. The effect of it is very striking, as the extent is enormous, and the whole place is carefully kept up. Some of the monuments go as far back as the middle of the thirteenth century, and the most ancient are also the simplest, and resemble long stone coffins.⁠[67]

CHAPTER V. WHO ARE THE TATARS?

After the account given in the last chapter of the capital of the Tatars, it will be perhaps interesting to inquire a little into the history of this people, who have established themselves for so many hundred years in the Crimea, who still form the bulk of its population, and, although their former warlike spirit seems quite to have disappeared, are now rendering our army important assistance by bringing it provisions.

To gain a clear idea of their antecedents, we must for a few moments travel back into very early times.

There seems to have been in a prehistoric period of time some common stock from which four great groups of nations have descended, the Mongol, the Tungousian, the Turk, and the Ugrian, called also the Finn, or Tchud. The Mongols occupied a comparatively small territory till the time of their national hero Zingis Khan, when they first occur in history. Even in his armies and those of his successors, most of his soldiers were Turks, while the captains were Mongolians.

They are now confined principally to the country northward of the Great Wall of China, and westward of the Mandshu country.

The Tungusians extend on the east from the Yenisei to the Sea of Okhotsk, and on the north from the coast of the Icy Sea, between the Yenisei and the Lena, to the Yellow Sea on the south-east. Of this race, the only division which has exercised an influence on the history of the world is that of the Mandshus, the present rulers of China.

The Turks, the most widely extended of the four races, and one of the most considerable of the families of the world, occupy as a continuous population the vast extent of country from the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal, in Siberia, near the northern frontier of China, to the eastern boundaries of the Greek and Slavonic countries in Europe, and along the northern coast of Africa to the vicinity of the Pillars of Hercules. One isolated tribe, that of the Yakuts, dwell in the remote east, upon the river Lena, and the coasts of the Icy Sea.

The Ugrians left the great eastern plateau of Asia, and settled in the north-west of Asia and the north of Europe, at a period long antecedent to all historical documents. They extend as a continuous population from the Yenisei on the east to Norway on the west. The eastern branches of this race are the Voguls and the Ostiacks, between the Ural Mountains and the Yenisei, inhabiting the country formerly called Ugrien, Jugrien, or Jugoria, and the most important of the western portions of them are the Finns and the Lappes. The Magyars of Hungary are also members of the Ugrian race, and, in the ninth century of the Christian era, descended from the southern part of the Uralian Mountains, and settled on the plains of the Lower Danube. They called themselves Magyars, but the Russians gave them the name of Ugri, and this is the name which has been corrupted into Ungri and Hungary. The Magyars are the only people of the Ugrian race who have exercised any influence upon the history of the world.

From the third of these races (viz., the Turkish) are sprung the Tatars⁠[68] of Crimea, who are a remnant of the great nation which overran a large part of Asia and Europe in the thirteenth century; and the princes of the House of Geray, who ruled the Crimea down to the time of the Russian conquest, and several branches of which still exist in Russia and Circassia, are the lineal descendants of the great conqueror, Zingis or Gengis Khan. This mighty potentate, who, at the age of thirteen, was left as the chief of a small tribe dependent on the kingdom of the Niu Tchè Tatars in the northern portion of China, and whose name was then Temouchin, commenced his career by defeating the rebellious nobles of his tribe, and boiling the principal malcontents in seventy cauldrons filled with hot water. By his large views, and his skilful use of the superstitious tendencies of his people, he induced the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes to obey him, and a holy hermit saluted him as the master of the world, by the name of Zingis Khan.⁠[69] He conquered China, upset the flourishing kingdom of the Seljuk Turks in Khaurism, and then his generals advanced by Derbend and the shores of the Caspian, and defeated the Russian princes at the battle of the Kalka, near Mariopol, on the Sea of Azof (1224). They pursued the flying Russians to the Dniepr, and then returned to Zingis Khan in Great Bukharía.

Ten years after the death of Zingis Khan in 1227, Batou Khan, his nephew, conquered the whole of Russia (1237), and the country remained subject to the Tatars for about 150 years, till at the celebrated battle of Koulikof on the Don (1380) the Russians made the first step towards throwing off their subjection, and the black standard of Dmitri Donskoi waved over the slaughtered hosts of the Khan Mamai.⁠[70]

The empire of Zingis Khan had been divided at his death, and Tamerlane now ruled over the two Bukharías. Russia depended on the kingdom of Kiptchak, which, soon after the battle of Koulikof, fell to the lot of Tóktamish, a general of Tamerlane,⁠[71] who gained it by defeating Mamai, at another famous battle in the vicinity of Mariopol. The celebrated kingdom of Kiptchak comprehended the Steppes which extend between the Caspian and Black Seas, between the Caucasus and the Don in one part, and between the Volga and the Emba in another.

Tóktamish was conquered afterwards by the Ouzbeg Idekou (1395), another general of the great Tamerlane, against whom the khan of Kiptchak had revolted, and from Tóktamish descend the Gerays of Crimea, and from Idekou the khans of the Nogai Tatars. Nearly a hundred years of civil war followed in Kiptchak after the victory of Idekou, and at the end of it we find Mengli Geray seated on the throne of Crimea (1478), which he consented to hold tributary to Mahomet II., the conqueror of Constantinople. The kingdom of Crimea was therefore the remnant of the kingdom of Kiptchak, as this latter was only a small portion of the vast empire of Zingis Khan. At the time of the interference of Mahomet II. there was terrible disorder in the affairs of Little Tatary, and the state was on the verge of ruin. Three khans reigned at once, and Mengli Geray, who had the best right to the throne, was dispossessed and obliged to retire to Mangoup, which at that time was in the possession of the Goths and the Genoese. Mahomet fearing lest the latter people, who were masters of the greater portion of the Crimea, and the Muscovites, who had already seized several provinces of the empire of Kiptchak, should unite to divide the rest of it, wished to assist the Tatar princes, and to put an end to the dissensions which must have brought about the total destruction of the monarchy. He, therefore, drove the Genoese from the Crimea, took from them the cities of Mangoup and Caffa, and brought prisoner to Constantinople the dethroned khan, Mengli Geray, whom he afterwards restored on the following conditions:

1st. The khan swore for himself and his descendants submission and inviolable fidelity to the Porte; and he consented that the khans should be placed on the throne and removed by the Grand Sultan at his pleasure, and that they should make peace and war for the interests of the Ottoman empire.

On the other hand, the Sultan conceded—1st. That only a prince of the race of Zingis Khan should be placed on the throne of Little Tatary.

2nd. That he would never, under any circumstances, put to death any prince of the house of Geray.

3rd. That the Gerays should never be obliged to deliver up refugees who took shelter in any of their dominions.

4th. That the khutbah or prayer of the khan should be read in the mosques after that offered up for the Grand Sultan.

5th. That, if the khan made a particular request to the Porte, it should not be refused.

6th. That the khan should carry five tails on his standard when he went to battle, which was one less than the Grand Sultan himself, and two more than the highest rank of pashas.

Lastly. That in time of war the Porte should allow 120 purses, or about 12,000l., for each campaign, towards the expenses of the khan’s guard; and 80 purses, or nearly 10,000l., for the Kapikouli Mirzas, or the immediate vassals of the khan, who were not of noble birth.

There was a fixed opinion in Peyssonel’s time, and it exists down to the present hour, that the family of Geray are the next heirs to the throne of Constantinople, should the family of the Sultan become extinct; but Peyssonel questioned upon this point the khan himself, and his ministers, and the learned men, and they all agreed in saying that no such right existed, and that the opinion took its rise in a vulgar error.

It is probable that it originated in the following manner:—Hadji Selim Geray Khan reigned at the end of the seventeenth century, and was a great prince—great as a king, a general, a soldier, and a man. This prince, having beaten in a single campaign the Germans, the Poles, and the Muscovites, saved the standard of the faith when it was on the point of being taken, and supported the falling fortunes of the Ottoman empire.

Upon this the Janissaries wished to raise him to the throne, but he thanked them, and declared himself incapable of violating the engagements to the Porte, which his ancestors had contracted for him, and that he should consider himself unworthy of them if he mounted the throne of Turkey by treachery. Having appeased the seditious Janissaries, he asked but one favour, and that was to be allowed to visit Mecca. He was the first Tatar prince to whom this favour was accorded, for their birth was considered so illustrious, that the Sultans were afraid of their rousing the people of Arabia, and declaring themselves the successors of the Khalifs.

Selim Geray⁠[72] was so much respected in Turkey, that the Sultan called him his father, and, in gratitude, declared that the throne of Tatary should be filled by princes of his branch of the Geray family alone. The khans of Crimea used to feel the irksomeness of their dependence on the Porte, which kept its ascendant by the favour of the nobles, who were very powerful in Crimea, and by the religious feeling of the people, who recognised the Grand Sultan as the successor of the Khalifs and the depositary of the keys of Mecca.

The power of the khans of Crimea was by no means unlimited, and rather resembled a constitutional monarchy than a despotism. They drew no revenue from the land nor from their subjects, and could not alter the privileges of the nobles; and, by the fundamental constitution of the monarchy, no noble could be punished without the participation of the beys, or heads of the great houses assembled in council. Bengly Geray, after having punished the nobles who were concerned in the revolt of Shireen Bey, and contributed to the expulsion of Seadet Geray, wished to diminish the power of the nobles, and formed a plan for removing the Beys from their great hereditary offices, and making his vizir chief of all the nobility. The nobles of the Crimea and of the Nogais all opposed this proposition, and the khan seeing his danger, abandoned his intentions.

The influence of the khan with the Porte was very great, particularly in time of war. When Devlet Geray was at Adrianople, and had taken leave of the Grand Sultan, and was preparing to mount his horse, he suddenly stopped, with one foot in the stirrup and the other on the stone that helped him to mount, and the Sultan in surprise asked him what delayed his departure. He received for answer, that the khan would not mount his horse till the head of Baltagi Mehemet Pasha, the grand vizir, with whom he was greatly displeased on account of the treaty he had made on the Pruth, was brought to him. The minister, as well as the reis effendi, were executed, and their heads sent to the khan.

The khan was sometimes sent for to Constantinople to consult with on affairs of state, and he was then received like a king. The vizir and all the grandees went out to receive him, he sat down and took his coffee with the Sultan, and, like him, wore the aigrette, and received the homage of the Janissaries.

His forces were very considerable, and he could easily raise an army of 200,000 men. This he could do, although his revenues were very small, and did not exceed 160,000l. a year, because as the nobles marched with their vassals, and each soldier carried with him provisions for three months, the support of his army cost him very little.

His style in writing to foreign powers, except the Sultan, was—Geray, by the grace of God, Emperor of the Tatars, the Circassians, and the Daghestan.

All the princes of the reigning house had the title of Sultan, and were not shut up, but enjoyed complete liberty. Some held great charges in the kingdom, and others lived in Roumelia on lands granted to them by the Porte. There were generally some in Circassia, which was the country to which they often fled when they had any cause for discontent, and where, by raising the warlike population of the mountains, and marching against the khan, or making excursions on the Russian territory, they sometimes caused the khan much annoyance. They all received pensions from the Porte, and were greatly respected by the whole nation of the Tatars.

The family was divided into two branches, of which the one are the descendants of the good prince Hadji Selim, and the other are a distant branch, called Tchoban Gerays, or the Shepherd Gerays. It used to be the custom of the khan, and of all the princes of the house of Tatary, always to choose as their wives Circassian slaves, and on this account the mothers of the khans were little respected, even by the prince himself, and after the death of their husbands they lived in the hareems of their sons, and were not admitted to their table, and even remained standing till they received permission to sit down.

The Tatars in the days when they were a formidable people are described by a French officer who served in Poland against them, as of middle stature, strong, with thick limbs, short neck, broad face, their eyes small, but very black, and opening wide, their complexion tawny, hardened to all sort of labour and pains from their very infancy. They were dressed in sheepskins, and carried with them on their journey a steel to strike fire, and a mariner’s compass and a sun-dial to guide them through the desert plains where there is no beaten way or path. “They ride very short,” says the officer, “like all the Eastern nations, and their horses, which they call bac-mates, were long, lean, and ugly, with the hair of their neck thick, and great tails, which hang down to the ground; but they are swift and indefatigable in travelling, being able to carry their riders whole days’ journeys without drawing bit; and they will feed at all times, and when in winter the earth is covered with snow, which is the time when the Tatars make their incursions, they live either upon what is under the snow, or upon the branches or sprouts of trees, pine tops, straw, or anything they can find.”

The Tatars hardly ever used bread, but made a pottage of millet, and ordinarily ate horse-flesh, boiled when they were at leisure, but just heated under their saddles and eaten raw when on a march, and the only sauce they had was the froth of the flesh from this primitive way of cooking it. They always had extra horses with them for food.

They had the highest character for integrity, and very few nations were to be found less vicious. Besides their continence, they were extremely sincere and faithful, and had no thieves or false witnesses amongst them; they did little injustice or violence, and lived in union and great tranquillity. The marvellous fidelity of the captive Tatars in Poland was celebrated. They never failed to return when they were released on their parole, and the Polish gentlemen rather trusted the young Tatars in their service with the keys of their money and jewels than any others of their household.⁠[73]

The Tatars can hardly now be said to form a nation. After the conquest of Crimea by the Russians, all those who did not wish to stay under the Russian sceptre were allowed to emigrate, and many availed themselves of the permission and retired into Turkey, so that there are now scarcely any remaining in the country west of the Dniepr, and their number has much diminished in the Crimea.

The influx of fashionable people to the southern coast of the Crimea, and the wealth they have brought there, has corrupted the lower orders of the Tatars, and made the nobles shrink in haughty seclusion to the mountains. There the poorer classes, unlike the Tatars of the southern coast and the plains, retain their rough and primitive independence, and the rich can peaceably pass their lives without being shocked by the sight of their masters.

I will conclude this chapter by borrowing the account given by Madame Hommaire de Hell of her visit to the Princess Adel Bey, a celebrated Tatar beauty, who still lives near Baktchéserai. She rode for several hours from the latter place through a lovely country, intersected with streams, valleys, and numerous orchards, to Karolez, the village of the princess, lost in the mountains, in the valley of the same name. It is situated near Mangoup, whence there is a glorious view of the mountainous parts of the Crimea and Sevastopol, and Balaclava, and the sea shining beyond them; and the abundance of its waters, and the mountains that encompass the valley with a line of battlemented walls, make it a favourite spot with the lovers of natural beauty.

Here Madame de Hell and her husband were received at the guest-house of the princess by a double line of richly-dressed servants, drawn up in the vestibule to receive them, and they were conducted into a saloon arranged in the fashion of the East, with gaily painted walls and red silk divans.

Thus far an ungrudging hospitality received every distinguished guest alike, but Madame de Hell was allowed an interview with the princess in her own apartments, a favour which has been permitted to very few ladies.

From her account it appears that Eastern beauty still deserves its reputation, and that the ancient manners and dress are still to be found unaltered in the mountains of the Crimea. Admitted into a fairy apartment looking out on a terraced garden, “a curtain was suddenly raised at the end of the room, and a woman of striking beauty entered,” says Madame de Hell, “dressed in a rich costume. She advanced to me with an air of remarkable dignity, took both my hands, kissed me on the two cheeks, and sat down beside me, making many demonstrations of friendship. She wore a great deal of rouge; her eyelids were painted black, and met over the nose, giving her countenance a certain sternness, which nevertheless did not destroy its pleasing effect. A furred velvet vest fitted tight to her still elegant figure, and altogether her appearance surpassed what I had conceived of her beauty. After some time, when I offered to go, she checked me with a very graceful gesture, and said eagerly, ‘Pastoi, pastoi,’ which is Russian for ‘Stay, stay,’ and clapped her hands several times. A young girl entered at the signal, and by her mistress’s order threw open a folding-door, and immediately I was struck dumb with surprise and admiration by a most brilliant apparition. Imagine, reader, the most exquisite sultanas of whom poetry and painting have ever tried to convey an idea, and still your conception will fall far short of the enchanting models I had then before me. There were three of them, all equally beautiful and graceful. Two were clad in tunics of crimson brocade, adorned in front with broad gold lace; the tunics were open, and disclosed beneath them cashmere robes, with very tight sleeves terminating in gold fringes. The youngest wore a tunic of azure blue brocade, with silver ornaments: this was the only difference between her dress and that of her sisters. All three had magnificent black hair escaping in countless tresses from a fez of silver filagree, set like a diadem over their ivory foreheads; they wore gold embroidered slippers, and wide trousers drawn close at the ancle. I had never beheld skins so dazzlingly fair, eyelashes so long, or so delicate a bloom of youth. The calm repose that sat on the countenances of these lovely creatures had never been disturbed by any profane glance. No look but their mother’s had ever told them they were beautiful; and this thought gave them an inexpressible charm in my eyes. It is not in our Europe where women, exposed to the gaze of crowds, so soon addict themselves to coquetry, that the imagination could conceive such a type of beauty. The features of our young girls are too soon altered by the vivacity of their impressions to allow the eye of the artist to discover in them that divine charm of purity and ignorance with which I was so struck in beholding my Tatar princesses. After embracing me they retired to the end of the room, where they remained standing in those graceful Oriental attitudes which no woman in Europe could imitate. A dozen attendants, muffled in white muslin, were gathered round the door, gazing with respectful curiosity. Their profiles, shown in relief on a dark ground, added to the picturesque character of the scene. This delightful vision lasted an hour. When the princess saw that I was decided on going away, she signified to me by signs that I should go and see the garden; but though grateful to her for this further mark of attention, I preferred immediately rejoining my husband, being impatient to relate to him all the details of this interview, with which I was completely dazzled.”⁠[74]

CHAPTER VI. SEVASTOPOL.

The high road from Baktchéserai to Sevastopol is carried entirely along the terrace which separates the chalk from the tertiary ridges of the Steppe. It passes along its whole length over a white clay soil, and in summer is very dry and dusty, except in the valleys of the Katcha and the Belbek. Here the eye is refreshed by the verdure of vineyards and orchards, especially on the banks of the Belbek, where there are several country houses belonging to the superior officers in Sevastopol, and the little Tatar village of Douvankoi offers some charming points of view. From Douvankoi⁠[75] the road follows the valley of the Belbek till it crosses the stream near the village of the same name, and then, after skirting for a moment the sea, it turns again inland, and passing close to Fort Constantine, arrives at Sievarna,⁠[76] the citadel of Sevastopol, on the north of the Great Bay, which must be crossed to enter the town.

From so important a place as Sevastopol it is a great inconvenience to be obliged to cross the water to reach the high road leading to the interior of the Crimea and Petersburg, but the country is so extremely cut up with ravines to the east of the town, towards Inkerman, that no direct communication by this the shortest route has yet been attempted.

Sevastopol has succeeded the ancient Greek colony of Kherson, with this difference, that as the latter was a great commercial mart, so the former is entirely devoted to warlike purposes, and no considerations of a commercial or manufacturing nature ever entered into the mind of those who founded it. It is in consequence entirely military, and contains nothing but men-of-war, arsenals, barracks, and batteries.

When the conquest of the Crimea had been assured to Russia by the treaty of Constantinople, of the 10th of June, 1783, the Russians found nothing around the magnificent bay of Sevastopol except the little village of Aktiar, placed at the extremity of the bay near Inkerman, under the cliffs of white clay that border its steep shores. During all the time of the Tatar possession of Crimea, this basin, which might have been made an incomparable port, had been neglected. The Tatars called the Great Bay Kadi Liman, and the more inland portion of it, including the careening bay, Avlita.⁠[77]

No sooner were the Russians in possession of it, than within a year they had made preparations for turning to account its natural advantages. Already in the spring of 1784 they began to build houses for the invalids of the fleet, placed near a beautiful spring of water at the extremity of the Bay of Artillery. The fleet at that time consisted of fourteen ships of war in the port, one of which had just brought a cargo of colonists.⁠[78] They were still uncertain where they should place the town, but even then were inclined to its present position, and the fanciful name of Sevastopol⁠[79] was fixed upon, as they could not give it that of Kherson,⁠[80] which had already been misapplied. The old name of Aktiar had a long struggle with the new name in public use, and I find that in the Russian post map, of so late a date as 1825, Aktiar is engraved and Sevastopol wholly omitted. Ten years later, in 1794, when Pallas again visited this place, a great plan had been laid down, which has been followed out in all its important details down to the present day. Five batteries, those of Alexander and Constantine, which commanded the entrance to the Great Bay, a third on the northern coast, and two others opposite, on the point between South Bay and Artillery Bay, had been built. The admiralty and its church, the arsenal, the Greek church on the hill, the ports, and the quarantine already existed.

Since that time it has made gigantic progress, as may be seen by the descriptions of the various travellers mentioned in the notes.⁠[81] The town is built in the shape of an amphitheatre, on the rise of a large hill, flattened on its summit, between the Artillery Bay, which is the merchant port, on the right of the town to a person looking at it from the sea, and the South Bay, which is the port of war on the left.

Several wide unpaved streets, bordered by good houses, ascend the hill from the water, up a steep incline. They open on a large empty square, separating them from the fortifications, which consist of several batteries placed on the point of the promontory. Here is hoisted the flag of the admiralty, which is the residence of the commandant of Sevastopol.

The quay is a fine construction, paved with stone, and ornamented with pillars of granite, which have been brought there down the Dniepr from the interior of Russia.

The street which runs the nearest to the South Bay is the principal one of the town, and between it and the bay are the Russian church and the admiralty, with its tower for a gateway, and the arsenal. A prolongation of the principal street between the batteries and the Admiralty leads to the great Stairs which serve as the landing-place to cross the bay, and here is passed on one side a house which has now a mean appearance in Sevastopol, but which is still honoured with the name of Dvoretz, or the Palace, because in 1787 it was the residence prepared for the reception of Catherine II., who lodged here during her stay in the town, which she had just founded. In the highest part of the town, the Greek church is seen in a commanding position, in the wall of which is an old Greek bas-relief, of no great value, according to Dubois, although much praised by Clarke.

Farther on, at the height of 240 feet above the level of the sea, is the telegraph, which naturally commands the whole town, and fourteen stations establish a communication in two hours with Nicolaief, the head-quarters of the fleet of the Black Sea.

Since the siege of the town commenced we have destroyed some of these stations, and the telegraph is now carried by a different route through the country in the possession of the Russians to Perecop.⁠[82] A courier with despatches would not take much more than a week to reach Petersburg from Sevastopol in fine weather, as I remember that one arrived at Prince Woronzof’s palace of Aloupka, on the southern coast of Crimea, by post, in eight days from Petersburg, and I think the distance from Petersburg to Tiflis has also been accomplished in the same time.

The merchant vessels which come to take in stores at Sevastopol all enter Artillery Bay, along the furthest part of which are ranged the principal shops of the town.

The rocks which border the western side of this bay were blown up and allowed to fall into the sea in 1834, in order to form a platform large enough to receive some important buildings required for the engineers.

On the flanks of the same rock, but looking to the entrance of the Great Bay and the Quarantine Bay, are ranged, one above the other, the formidable bastions of Fort Alexander, intended to cross their fire with those of Fort Constantine opposite, in order to destroy any vessels which should attempt to enter the bay. These two forts are armed with 320 cannon. The passage or entrance of the bay, narrowed by two reefs, is shown at night by two lighthouses near Inkerman, at the end of the Great Bay; and for ships to enter safely, these lights must be kept exactly on the same line, one above the other. Behind Fort Alexander, on the top of the hill to the right on entering, are the barracks of the land-forces; and this is one of the points in which Sevastopol does not shine. They are passed in going to the quarantine, which is at the extremity of the bay of the same name, and are placed on the spot on which stood the principal part of the ancient city of Kherson, to which the Tatars still give the name of Tchortchoun.

The library and reading-rooms for the officers of the navy, which I visited with one of the Messrs. Upton, who I think had been the architect of them, were well furnished with valuable works and scientific instruments. These stand, or stood, near the church, in the highest part of the town, and command, from their fine spacious apartments, a splendid view of the grand harbour and the open sea.

While the fleet is armed, it remains in the Great Bay, and when it is laid up it is placed in the South Bay, which is a branch of the Great Bay, about a mile and three quarters long, and 400 yards wide. The Tatars call the South Bay Kartaly Kotche, or the Bay of the Vulture, and its direction is from north to south. This interior port is so well defended by the steep hills which close it in, that the water is never more disturbed than in a pond, and it is so deep that the largest vessels can almost lie close to its western shore.

There, in the furthest part of the bay, used to lie the old men-of-war, used as hulks, in which the greater number of the convicts, who worked by thousands in the dockyards, were shut up at night.⁠[83] The continual passage of these bands of bad characters through the town used to be the great annoyance of the inhabitants of Sevastopol, who, like our own colonists, could not see without dread this great accumulation of criminals among them. Some, of course, occasionally escaped, and immediately recommenced their lawless practices in all parts of the Crimea.

As a ramification of the South Bay, at its entrance there opens to the south-east a little basin, which is a kind of inner port, the total length of which is about half a mile. It is called the Bay of Vessels, because a part of the laid-up vessels used to be placed here, and remained in perfect security in all weathers. When the question was raised about building the docks, no better position could be found than the extremity of this little bay, in which a basin has been formed 400 feet broad, 300 feet long, and 24 feet deep, to receive the vessels which require to be repaired. For this purpose five docks or reservoirs, made independent one of the other by locks, have been made. The one at the furthest extremity is destined for first rates; the two reservoirs which flank it on the right and left are for second rates; and the two last at the entrance of the basin are for frigates: the three principal locks are 58 feet wide. To feed these basins, they have fetched the water of the Tchornaia Retchka⁠[84] (Bouiouk Ouzéne) from Tchorgouna to the locks, and have conducted it by a canal, overcoming difficulties which would have seemed insurmountable to many governments. Although the Tchorgouna, in a direct line, is only eight miles distant from the entrance of the docks, it has been necessary, in order to avoid obstacles, to make a détour, which has lengthened the canal by four miles, and it is therefore about twelve miles long.

It passes Inkerman, and thence is carried along the Great Bay. The deep ravines and the Careening Bay have here rendered necessary very important works, including two tunnels, one of 800 feet in length, and three aqueducts, embracing between them thirty-eight arches, 1000 feet in length.

The point where the stream has been diverted is 62 feet above the level of the Great Bay. The level of the docks is 30 feet above the bay; and the fall of the canal in the twelve miles is 32 feet, or about one in 2000.

Mr. John Upton, the English engineer, who was employed in the construction of the works, estimated the expenses at about two millions and a half of roubles assignat (100,000l.⁠[85]); and calculated that the work would be completed in five years if 1000 workmen were constantly employed. But as is always the case, the estimates of the time and expense were much too low, and the works, begun on the 17th June, 1832, are not finished now, and the first ship was admitted into them in 1853.

Those who have visited these works will not be astonished at this delay in completing them. Basins of a great size cut in the living rock, and cased with English cement, with gigantic locks, and such a length of aqueducts, tunnels, and other labours, both principal and accessory, are a justification of the engineer, who received the full approbation of the Emperor. The docks had only been completed a short time before the present war began.

To protect the port and basins, there has been erected at Cape Paul (Pavleski Missok), which commands the eastern entrance, a work called Fort Nicholas, which has three ranges of bastions, one above the other, and is mounted with 260 cannons, the fire of which crosses that of the batteries of the admiralty.

This fort, which commands the entrance to the South Bay, had just been completed at the time of my visit. I walked through the casemates with Mr. Upton, the architect, who had witnessed their construction, and who told me that he thought the masonry had been executed in an unworkmanlike manner, and that he did not believe the fort would stand the shock of its own fire. Such is also the opinion of the French engineer, M. Hommaire de Hell, with regard to the casemated batteries at Sevastopol; he says that in the first trial of Fort Constantine the walls cracked. The latter, however, seems to have withstood the attack by our ships in December last very successfully.

On the flanks of the hills which enclose the South Bay, on the eastern side, are the barracks of the sailors, the hospitals of the fleet, and the barracks of the artillery, and there extend also a part of the slobodes, or faubourgs, inhabited by the married sailors, which are composed of uniform lines of cottages built on a given plan.

I was shown over Sevastopol by Colonel Upton⁠[86] and his sons, who received me very kindly, and showed me everything I wished to see. They had found things in a very barbarous state when they arrived—had had great difficulty to break in their Russian workmen to European habits of industry and carefulness, and they found that the Russian system, by which, like our own in India, so much writing is required, greatly impeded the prompt execution of work, and justified the observation of the French traveller Jacquemont about the latter country, that a government of stationery is in most things a stationary government.

The absence of common mechanical contrivances was so great among the Russians, that almost up to the period of my visit wheelbarrows were unknown, and the troops and serfs employed in the great public works used to pick up the earth with their hands and carry it in bags upon their shoulders, so that, particularly in wet weather, vast numbers were always laid up in the hospital with sore backs, and the works progressed very slowly.

The serfs were said to do so little work, that Colonel Upton, as well as all other Englishmen that I have known employed by the Russian Government, were of opinion that it would be far more economical to pay free labourers than to feed and keep the serfs for their gratuitous services. The Russian workmen quickly catch an imperfect way of doing what they are told, but like children, want constant watching, and never can be taught the value of accuracy. They execute their tasks because they are ordered to do so, and never reason on the object to which their work is to be applied.

As an instance of this, Colonel Upton said, while he was building the dock-gates at Sevastopol, when the stone-work was prepared for the wood, he found to his astonishment that the parts did not fit, although he was certain that his calculations were right, and the work apparently correctly executed. At length he thought of measuring his gauge, and then he found that his Russian workmen, having done their work wrong, cut his gauge to make it appear right, and never thought that there were other parts of the work which must fit in with theirs, and consequently make their error appear.

Sevastopol has naturally a very fluctuating population, almost entirely composed of sailors, soldiers, employés, and convicts. It was estimated at 15,000 souls in 1834, although Mr. Tegoborski, writing in 1852, declines to make any estimate of it, from the want of any reliable data. The non-official inhabitants are composed of a mixture of Russian tradesmen, Polish Jews, who are barely tolerated by the police, and Germans of the colony of Kronenthal, who are established here as bakers, brewers, and artisans of different kinds.

Sevastopol in 1834, although so strongly fortified on the side of the sea, had not the smallest defence on the land side against a coup-de-main. The town in all its circumference was completely open, and there was not even a gate or the smallest rampart. All the streets debouched on an immense open place in the upper part of the town, or rather one might say into the Steppe itself, whence roads and paths led in every direction to Balaclava, Tchorgouna, and the monastery of St. George. To one standing in the open place and looking down on the town, there is to the left the newly-established reservoir for the fountains of Sevastopol, from springs which have been already mentioned. This reservoir is placed against the wall of the public garden, called the Boulevart, which has been made on the heights which terminate the South Bay. The view from hence down upon the bay, filled with men-of-war, is very extraordinary, as the ships seem to have arrived there by enchantment, and nobody would conceive that this long lake could have any communication with the sea. Opposite the garden, a little to the right, is the vineyard of Bardac.

At a later period, after the discussions occasioned by the capture of the Vixen in 1837, when war was supposed imminent between Russia and England, the Cabinet of St. Petersburg grew frightened at the possibility of the English in case of war making a descent upon some point of the Heracleotic Chersonese, and defences were then ordered to be constructed on the land side of Sevastopol.

The ground on the north side of Sevastopol is much higher than on the south side, and consequently the citadel of the place, an octagonal fortress, called the Sievarna, or Northern, Fort, which is erected there, commands the whole town, bay, and docks. It has been greatly strengthened of late years, as the most important position for the defence or attack of the town. For itself it can only be attacked on the land side, as its height above the water would render ineffective the fire of ships, and its precipitous shores both on the side of the Great Bay and the sea would make a landing very difficult for troops. This is the fortress which Sir Howard Douglas calls “the key of Sevastopol,” until we secure which we can never hope to take the place. “But this taken,” says Sir Howard Douglas, “the Telegraph and Wasp batteries on the northern heights, Fort Constantine and the forts below, being commanded and attacked in reverse, must soon fall; while the town, docks, arsenal, and barracks on the south side of the harbour would be at the mercy of the allies, who, by the fire of their batteries, might entirely destroy them all. On the contrary, by attacking the place from the south, the enemy holding the northern heights, although the works on the crest of the southern heights should be breached and taken, the town, the body of the place, with its docks and arsenals, will not be tenable by the besiegers till the great work on the northern side, and all its defensive dependencies, shall have been captured. These, no doubt, will have been greatly strengthened before the allies are in a condition to direct their attacks against them.”⁠[87]

The fortifications then which render Sevastopol so very strong are the important works on the northern side, for there is no use in taking the town, even if it could be done, as the strongest part of the fortress would yet remain. At the same time, if an army were brought sufficiently large to invest it completely, the place must fall, because the supplies of food, ammunition, and especially of water, would quickly fail. In water the place is very deficient, as there are no springs in the town, and only two sources out of the town by which it is supplied. One of these is the river which supplies the docks, through the tunnel which has been described, as reaching from near Inkerman to the town. This tunnel was recently (January 26) stated to be now used, not only as a passage for the water, but as a safe road by which the Russians introduce supplies into the town, and this is highly probable, as there is a foot-path on each side of the conduit. The old town of Kherson, as will be stated afterwards, was taken by the Russians in the tenth century by cutting off the water-pipes which supplied the town, and perhaps this may be the way in which the modern representative of old Kherson will ultimately fall.

We have found to our cost how inexhaustible are the stores of Sevastopol, and yet it is said that a still greater amount is laid up in the chain of fortresses that have been erected during the last twenty years on the German, and particularly on the Prussian, frontier.

As the nations of Europe are fully occupied in their own affairs, and as Russia is peculiarly inaccessible by nature, she never could fear an invasion, and her armaments must therefore be looked upon as threatening her neighbours. Besides, as will afterwards be seen, her army for the internal service of the country is totally distinct from the immense mass of men called the Grand Army, kept hovering for many years past on the frontiers of Germany, in a mobilized state, and ready to pour down its legions upon any point at a moment’s notice.

Let us shortly inquire where these great military stores are laid up, and in what establishments they are prepared. Arsenals in Russia are divided into permanent and temporary: the first are at Petersburg, Bransk, Toola, and Kief; and the second at Petersburg, Tyraspol, and, since the Polish war, at Modlin. The arsenals of Petersburg, Toola, and Kief, are vast and elegant edifices, each of which can contain 100,000 small arms, and where carriages and other material for the artillery are made. The others are only dépôts. Up to the commencement of the seventeenth century there were no manufactories of iron or foundries in Russia, and the Government was obliged to buy all arms abroad. A Dutchman, named Andrew Vinius, was the first to establish foundries, which were worked by water-power. The first establishment of this kind was founded in the year 1632, on the little river of Toulitza, at fifteen versts from Toola. Since that time several others have been formed in the governments of Toola, Kalouga, and Moscow.

In 1764, a Hamburger raised the first manufactories of steel at Olonetz. The first hydraulic manufactory for muskets was built in 1648, at Moscow, on the Taouza; in 1653, another was established in the village of Tchentsof, on the Skniga; and in 1700, Nikita Demidoff Antonief carried the arts of founding and making fire-arms to the Neva in Siberia.

The principal manufactories of fire-arms are now at Toola, Votka, Sesterbeck, and Zlatoust. The manufactory of Toola,⁠[88] founded in 1712, by Peter the Great, has been much increased; and its flourishing period dates from 1817, when an Englishman, John Jones, undertook its management. Some years ago it furnished each year 50,000 muskets, and 25,000 sabres, besides carbines, pistols, bayonets, and pikes. Seven thousand men, and nearly 10,000 women, are employed in it; besides 3500 peasants, belonging to the establishment. It costs 124,000 roubles a year, or about 20,000l.; and it consumes yearly 70,000 pounds of Siberian iron, and 10,000 of steel. The manufactory of Votka is situated on the little river Isch, in the district of Sarapoul, in the government of Viatka; and some years ago it employed 3000 workmen, and produced annually about 14,000 muskets.

The manufactory of Sesterbeck is near Petersburg, and is modelled on that of Toola. It produced some years ago yearly 12,000 muskets, and the same number of sabres. Zlatoust, in Siberia, furnishes most of the sabres for the cavalry and pioneers, to the annual number of about 50,000.

There are five cannon foundries in Russia, at Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Kief, and Kazan. A Scotchman, Gascoigne, sixty years ago introduced as much improvement in the founding of cannon as Jones in the manufacture of fire-arms. There are two powder manufactories, one at Ochta, near Petersburg, and the other at Tchotersk, near Gloukhow.⁠[89]

The military stores and provisions for Sevastopol come from the interior of Great Russia and Siberia, down the Volga and Don to Rostof, on the Sea of Azof, whence in peace they were shipped, and passed through the straits of Kertch, the whole way by sea to Sevastopol and the other fortresses on the Black Sea. Since the war began, they have come, as usual, down the Don and across the Sea of Azof; but instead of passing through the straits of Kertch they have been landed near Cape Kazantip, on the coast of Crimea, within the Sea of Azof, and thence were carried across Crimea, about 100 miles to Sevastopol, during the whole time of the siege, till the Sea of Azof froze in November last. Cape Kazantip was fortified by the Russians last summer, and wharves erected near it for the landing of the goods, and a regular transport service arranged across the peninsula of Crimea.

This is probably the new road to which allusion has been lately made in ‘The Times.’ The facts I have stated were communicated to me by Mr. Lander, an English merchant at Taganrok, and Mr. Carruthers, late Consul at that place. These gentlemen passed over the strip of land by the side of the Putrid Sea, called the Arabate, to Kertch, in May last, and saw the military stores at Rostof, and the wharves just erected on the Crimean coast, and the fortifications of Kazantip. The late English Consul at Kertch, Mr. Cattley, is now interpreter to Lord Raglan; and he also passed by this route last summer, and therefore neither Lord Raglan nor the Ministry ought to have been ignorant of these facts.

Thus continual supplies were poured into Sevastopol up to last November, the period of the freezing of the Sea of Azof; and since that time the stores for Sevastopol have probably been carried across the ice to some point on the northern shore of the Azof, and thence by land over the Isthmus of Perecop. Had the latter place been occupied, it would have been easy to have taken possession of the Strait of Yénitchi, and to have commanded the tongue of Arabate. Indeed, as I have mentioned in another place, there is deep water (24 feet) along the Arabate, on the side of the Azof, and a few gun-boats in the Sea of Azof would have rendered the Arabate impassable to the Russians. The straits of Kertch were undefended up to May last; and had possession of them been taken by our Government, and a very small force of gun-boats been placed in the Sea of Azof, the supplies might have been stopped, and the Russians in Sevastopol reduced by this measure alone to great difficulties.

Not only the military stores but also the rye-flour, for the troops at Sevastopol, is furnished from Rostof. M. Hagemeister, in the Russian official report on the commerce of the Black Sea, says: “All the rye-flour which annually arrives at Rostof from Voronetz, by the Don, is purchased by the government for the use of the army and navy; and thus the navy at Sevastopol and Nicolaief draw considerable quantities of rye from New Russia.” These provisions were lying ready for shipment with the military stores at Rostof in last May, and yet we made not the slightest efforts to intercept these supplies, which have been regularly poured into Sevastopol since that time, and without which the siege could not have been carried on. Merchants in England have informed me that the very lead which has formed the bullets that have killed our brave soldiers has been imported into Russia since the beginning of the siege, in consequence of there being no blockade in the Black Sea and the Azof; and large reinforcements which have been sent from the Caucasus to Sevastopol would also have been cut off.

Such is a short account of Sevastopol, which is alone remarkable for its admirable natural situation, and its immense fortifications towards the sea. Although so much labour has been expended upon it, the place is so vast that the works of man look pigmy. The impression on the beholder is, how much has nature done for this place, compared with which the efforts of man appear as mere specks.

The group of safe and commodious harbours which it presents, stretching out like the fingers of the human hand from the wrist, which may be supposed to represent the entrance to Sevastopol, between Forts Alexander and Constantine, contain so vast an area that all the navies of the world might ride securely in them. They are the only really good harbours in the Black Sea, with the exception of the adjoining ones between them and Balaclava, which, however, are greatly inferior both in size and security to those of Sevastopol.

The latter, since the Russians have possessed them, have been closed against commercial vessels,⁠[90] and every effort has for many years been made to accumulate here a vast amount of warlike stores, and to keep up an enormous fleet, although Russia has no mercantile marine to protect, and, as the event has proved, dares not risk a battle with any of the great naval powers.

The object, therefore, of the fleet, to carry an invading force to the shores of the Bosphorus, and, under the guise of religion, to carry out schemes of ambition, has always been obvious, and, indeed, not denied by the friends of Russia.

M. Haxthausen, the able author of an admirable work on Russia, to complete which every facility was given him by the Russian Government, and who, having familiar access to the leading statesmen of Russia, probably echoes the opinions which he has constantly heard put forth at Petersburg, has the following remarkable passage upon the real objects of the fleet and arsenals of Sevastopol: “The object of the fleet,” he says, “is to secure the dominion of Russia in the Black Sea, and this is still further assured by the construction at Sevastopol—at the present moment⁠[91]—of a fortified port of war, which, according to the accounts of competent persons, will not have its equal in the world. When Europe shall have a moment of feebleness—and we may fairly expect this to come to pass after what we have seen to happen in 1848, and when she shall think the time arrived for conquests—then the establishment of Sevastopol will allow this power to take the offensive against Constantinople with equal energy and safety, by making use of the fleet, either to disembark her troops behind the lines of mountains and rivers which perpendicularly on the western shore of the Black Sea cut at a right angle the line of approach on Constantinople, or to strengthen the base of operations of a grand army, by supporting it wherever there are ports along the Euxine. It is impossible that the Turkish fleet, either present or future, could stop this result, for whatever may be done to improve it, its best sailors are always Greeks. Up to the battle of Navarino the case was very different, for till that event some confidence might still be placed by the Porte in the Greek sailors.”

Then M. Haxthausen, a Russian in feeling, though a German by birth, gets quite nettled at what he calls the low, feeble policy of England and France, in preventing the extension of Russia. He continues: “Let us remark now, the strange change which has taken place in the affairs of the East. Formerly Christian Europe exhausted herself in efforts to drive back the crescent to the deserts whence it came. The noblest blood of Christendom had been shed before the crescent was allowed to surmount the cross at Jerusalem. But now it is only the Christians who prevent the fall of the crescent, or at least the re-appearance of the cross on the domes of Constantinople. In the same manner as the social licence of Switzerland is sheltered, not behind impregnable mountain defiles, but simply behind the rivality of the great powers, so the anti-Christian empire established on the borders of the Sea of Marmora depends not on the force of the Mussulman, enervated by vices which belong to the country—not on its number, which in Turkey in Europe has always been inferior to that of the Rayahs—not on the fortified rocks of the Hellespont, which the military science of the Christians would soon have overturned, but solely on the fact that the Christians of the West find it convenient to preserve Turkey as a barrier between themselves and the East.”

“When, in the time of the Crusades, they were fighting for Jerusalem, the policy of the Byzantine empire led the Greeks to aid the Saracens against the Roman Catholic armies. This was a policy as mesquine, as feeble, as tracassière as that observed for the last eighty years with regard to the Turks by those Christian nations who are the inheritors of the Byzantine policy in the West, namely, the French and the English. This mesquine policy of to-day, are we to consider it as one of the quiverings which announce the imminent dissolution of the Romano-German states, as it formerly preceded that of the last Roman empire?”⁠[92]

Thus this honest, patriotic German, who hates Switzerland, as is natural with an admirer of the Czar, is actually provoked with us for preventing Russian extension not only over Turkey, but over a part of his own country, namely, Austria, or the Romano-German states, as he calls that empire, whose fall he thinks imminent. A Frenchman, who knew Russia as well as M. Haxthausen, and whom a long residence in the country had not deprived either of his common sense or his patriotism, writing long before the present crisis, thus judiciously speaks of Russian aggression, and the true policy of the Western Powers:—

“There are only two independent powers which draw other states into their sphere of action,” says M. Chopin, writing in 1838, “and those are Russia and England. It is plain that of these two rival forces the first has every chance in its favour: numerical preponderance, military organization, unity of will without any possible control in the execution, firm alliances; all these are on the side of the North. Russia finds in the simplicity of her government a great compensation for the vices of her interior administration; a profound secrecy covers her faults; she knows how to act at an opportune time, but she knows likewise how to wait. When Europe has leisure to occupy herself seriously with the present danger, Russia seems only to be pursuing plans of interior improvement, but this repose is but a preparation for other conquests, and thanks to the little agreement that generally reigns between rival Cabinets, some new question of difference continually arises in which the activity of a rival diplomacy is expended, and then Russia marches some steps in advance—but they are giant steps which crush empires, and the effect of which is like an actual seizure. Each of her successes adds to her resources in diminishing to an equal extent the resources of rival powers.

“Nevertheless, despite this constant aggressive march, the position of Russia becomes more difficult than formerly, as the end and aim of all her efforts, the possession of the Dardanelles, becomes more clearly defined, and it is a spectacle full of political instruction to watch all the springs she puts in action to bring about the great dénouement. Sometimes she covers Turkey with her protection. According to her, it is France and England who meditate the ruin of the Ottoman empire, but thanks to the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, Turkey, if she remains faithful to the stipulations which Muscovite forethought has imposed upon her, will have nothing to fear from foreign aggression. In the mean time Russia habituates the fatalism of the Turks to the sight of her flag and her uniforms, and the zeal of her alliance even goes so far, that she distributes her decorations among the Ottoman soldiers. There is always the same system of dissolving corruption on one hand, and intimidation on the other.

“It is always the history of Poland, of Georgia, of Finland, of the Baltic provinces, of the Crimea, of Moldavia, of Wallachia, of Greece, of Persia,—and Russia, from the midst of all these conquered states, dismembered already, or on the eve of being so, Russia dares to declare to Europe that she has only views of order, and justice, and moderation. Europe does not believe this, but is dependent, egoist, and divided; and she has repeated for years past, in the official discourses of princes, that the general peace is not threatened, while this precious peace is only the result of culpable connivance.

“Russia turns to her profit all these elements of feebleness and division; she skilfully and resolutely pursues her work, and, organised for conquest, she will never stop until her principle of activity, which is the condition of her existence, shall, from want of other objects, re-act on herself,—that is, until Europe and Asia become really Russian (Russe de fait). Mons. de Talleyrand, who had deeply studied the resources and spirit of Russian policy in the great phases of the hostility and alliance of that state with Imperial France, reduced the problem of the struggle against Muscovite influence to its simplest expression, when he concluded the treaty of the quadruple alliance, the vital principle of which was the Anglo-French alliance. The peril was then great for Russia, and she hastened, at the first cry of alarm from her diplomatists, to rouse the national susceptibilities of each country, and even to range party against party in the bosom of the two rival states.

“Dynastic interests, constitutional opposition, radical and legitimist principles,—she employed all these levers; she exhausted all these combinations of calculations and politics, to arrive at the result she proposed to herself, namely, the separation of France and England. She succeeded, and they avowed that they dared not interfere in European politics from fear of Russia. These two richest and most powerful kingdoms of the globe, whose united population amounts to sixty millions of souls, these two crowns, which can dispose, the one of the military forces which have conquered Europe, and the other of a navy without a rival in the world, accepted an affront, and the responsibility of showing a humility more dangerous than war itself.

“In good sooth, can we attribute as a crime to Russia her skill in profiting by the chances offered her by the faults of rival cabinets? With her, is not ambition confounded with the supreme law of her own preservation? Without the empire of the Mediterranean, which renders her mistress of the treasures of Asia and the principal markets of Europe, she must renounce entertaining an army of 800,000 men, and once disarmed, once the prestige of her omnipotence destroyed, her forced alliances will escape her, and in a few years she will have retrograded two centuries. But if Russia obeys a necessity in accomplishing her aggressive march, do not England and France, who possess the means of curbing the Russian power, commit a more palpable crime in knowingly running onwards to their discredit, and ultimately to their ruin?”⁠[93]

The spirit of the English people and the intelligence of the French Emperor have brought about that very alliance which the acute and far-seeing French writer wished without expecting, and which it is to be hoped will have the effect of putting a stop to Russian conquests, and rendering useless the enormous aggressive preparations which she has been making for the last twenty years at Sevastopol and other fortresses, in order to increase her own territory at the expense of that of her neighbours.

CHAPTER VII. THE RUSSIAN NAVY.

The⁠[94] Russian navy, like the army, was the creation of Peter the Great, who, when he came to the throne, found his empire without any port except Archangel, and when he died, after a reign of sixteen years, left a fleet of sixteen sail of the line in the Baltic, and his name feared as a naval hero on the Black Sea and the Caspian. In the ideas of that great man the army was intended to be merely supplementary to the navy, and Russia was to be a great commercial and maritime power instead of a military one. “It is thus,” he says in his will, “that Russia, which I found a brook and left a river, must, under my successors, grow to a mighty sea, destined to fertilize worn-out Europe, and advance its waves over all obstacles, if my successors are only capable of guiding the stream.”⁠[95]

The origin of all the numerous naval armaments of Russia in the present day was the little boat built by Peter’s own hands, when he returned from his European travels.

In 1836, after a lapse of 113 years, the anniversary of the launching of the little boat, was for the first time celebrated with great pomp at Cronstadt. Twenty-six ships of the line, twenty-one frigates, ten brigs, and seven gun-boats, were anchored in the roads of Cronstadt, and saluted with 2000 cannon the tiny “grandpapa,” as the little boat was called, which, placed on a steamer, was carried through the lines. From the earliest times there has been a slight halo of maritime glory around the Russian name. The half fabulous Varangians, Northmen, or Normans, who conquered Russia as they did France and England, and from whom the Russian nobility still boast their descent, were victorious by sea as well as by land, and the glories of Ruric and Vladimir belong to the Russian nation as much as the victories of Alfred and the Plantagenets belong to us. The Varangians found out the road by water along the rivers of Russia from the Baltic to the Black Sea,—that very road which Peter the Great improved by employing his Swedish and Cossack prisoners to cut the canal of Ladoga.

In 886 (shortly after the foundation of the German empire) the Varangians appeared on the Black Sea with 200 boats, each containing from forty to sixty men, and advanced to the attack of Constantinople, which was only saved by a miracle. At the end of the sixteenth century the Russian fleets were still feared on the Baltic, and even under the empire of the Tatars, Novgorod had possessed a flourishing maritime commerce, although in a great measure it was conducted by strangers. But after the fall of Novgorod, when the Baltic provinces fell into the power of the Swedes, the Poles, and the Germans, the maritime importance of Russia began to decline. The single outlet that was left her, Archangel, was only frequented by foreign merchant vessels, chiefly Dutch. Then, the Russians of that time, like those of the present day, occupied themselves entirely with internal commerce, and the spirit of the Varangians disappeared, or only lingered among the Cossacks of the Dniepr and the Don.

Peter the Great, in his maritime views, had for a paramount object the conquest of the débouchés in the south, leading to the Mediterranean and the southern oceans, which were then exclusively in the hands of the Turks and Tatars.

His first dockyards for a fleet of war were placed near Woroneje, in the country of the Don, and then also for the first time the Russian flag was seen to triumph in the Black Sea over the Turks, their national enemies. At a later period, in the war which Peter the Great had to sustain against Sweden, he employed a fleet consisting chiefly of row-boats, which had been constructed on the lakes of the North, and he found this fleet far more advantageous in the Baltic than vessels of the line or frigates. Even up to the present time flotillas of row-boats have always rendered greater services than large vessels to Russia in the shallow waters of the Baltic. The first result of any importance was the victory which Peter gained in the middle of the Séches, or low reedy islands of the Baltic, over the Swedish Admiral Ehrenskiold, from whom he took a frigate and ten row-boats, but at that time his land army was nearly annihilated on the Pruth, and the conquest of Azof and the possession of the Black Sea was in consequence postponed till the end of the last century. “The condemnation of Admiral Cruys,” I here quote the words of Haxthausen, “under Peter the Great for having lost several vessels in an attack which he had risked too rashly against the enemy, was of bad augury for the Russian fleet, although he was afterwards pardoned and restored to all his dignities. In England, Byng was executed, because near Minorca he had avoided battle with the French fleet, which was superior to his own. It is a rule in England always to attack, if the English fleet equals that of the enemy, and this rule has undoubtedly been the base of the maritime power of that country. In 1743 the Russian Admiral Golovine excused himself to Lascy, who had given him the order to commence the attack, by saying that the maritime laws of Peter the Great forbid the Russian fleet ever to engage in battle with the enemy unless they had three Russian vessels to two Swedes.”

The Russian fleet has always been rather for show than use, owing to the want of boldness which the Russians have in later times shown in maritime enterprises, although, under Catherine II., Greig, Elphinstone, and Spiridoff acquired some glory in the Mediterranean.

At the end of the last century the Russian fleet consisted of sixteen ships of the line and twenty-three frigates, which was about its force under Peter the Great. During the war which, after the French Revolution, devastated Europe, the Russian fleet played only a secondary part.

When Russia was allied with England, the navy of the latter power commanded the sea, while Russia was to employ her forces on the continent. When Russia was against England her vessels were little worth. The English, at a later period, undertook to keep the Russian fleet, and in this uneasy state of relations with England she lost the excellent instructors of her navy, which she had before employed in great numbers. The English officers on board her fleet refused to serve against their own country, and since that epoch they have been less favourably viewed in Russia.

The great difficulty of the Russians is to man their fleet, because they have no mercantile navy, and scarcely any Great Russians live on the sea-coast. Archangel furnishes a very few men, and after them the best sailors are the Finns of the Baltic, the Cossacks, and the Greeks of the Black Sea. The crews of the fleet are much more numerous than the whole of the sailors in the mercantile marine, and for this reason they are obliged to recruit among landsmen, and to put in practice the maxim of Peter the Great, that every man is fit for everything.

A Russian is never allowed to say that he cannot do a thing, and whatever the order given him may be, he is expected to set about executing it as well as he can. The only answer permitted is “Schloushaiou,” “I hear, and will obey.” But although he attempts to do everything in a certain kind of way, his work is generally very imperfect, and the inaccuracy of Russian workmen is proverbial among the English superintendants employed in that country. They realise the English saying of “a Jack of all trades, and master of none;” or as Custine puts the point, “Le Russe n’est maître de rien, excepté l’art de feindre;” and this last is an observation which our Ministers would do well to reflect upon now that they are asked to open negociations.

Some notion of the paucity of sailors in Russia may be formed from the fact that the law which obliges every captain of a merchantman to be of Russian origin is constantly eluded. The shipowners try to gain the advantages of sailing under the Russian flag, and at the same time to avoid the disadvantages of having a Russian captain, and therefore the individual who is put forward in port as the legal captain of the vessel, as soon as she puts out to sea descends to the humble office of the cook.

The Russian fleet is manned from the common conscription with very little “ethnologic” distinction, excepting that in the North the Finns are preferred for that service, and in the South the Jew conscripts are generally sent to the navy, not on account of their aptitude for it, but because as soldiers they are considered worthless.

The Imperial fleet consists of three divisions, two of which are in the North, and one in the Black Sea. It is manned by forty-five battalions, called “equipages:”⁠[96] each equipage is composed of eighty petty officers, twenty-five musicians, and 1000 seamen, and is officered by one commander, of the rank of a colonel, two superior officers, twelve lieutenants, and twelve midshipmen.

An equipage will man one three-decker, and one or more small vessels, or a two-decker and a frigate, or two frigates and one or two brigs. A ship of 120 guns is manned by 812 seamen and 65 petty officers. A ship of 84 guns is manned by 625 seamen and 50 petty officers. A frigate of 60 guns by 375 seamen, and 30 petty officers. A frigate of 44 guns by 320 seamen and 20 petty officers. A corvette by 158 seamen and 12 petty officers. The forty-six equipages are disposed in the following manner:—From No. 1 to No. 27, inclusive, are in the Baltic. From No. 28 to 44, inclusive, are in the Black Sea. No. 45, in the Caspian. No. 46, at Kamstchatka. There are no marines in the Russian navy, and the seamen are disciplined like soldiers. The term of service in the navy is, I believe, similar to that in the army, namely, from ten to twenty-five years, according to the provinces of the empire from which the sailors are drawn.

The oak of which the Black Sea fleet is built comes mostly from Minsk and the neighbouring governments, and is of quick growth, on low land, in a country which was an immense lake in ancient times.⁠[97] Herodotus says that both the Dniestr and the Boug took their origin in enormous lakes. The great portion of the timber of Kherson used to come down the river Pripet, which is the remains of an enormous marsh or lake, and is navigable for 350 miles to its junction with the Dniepr. The masts that come down the Dniepr are good, and drawn from the same forests that supply Riga, but the wood for ship-building is bad, and the Russian Government hopes to supply Nicolaief with the oak of Kazan, which is used in the dockyards of the Baltic, and which might be brought down to the south by the Volga and the Don to Rostof. Mr. Upton told me that a cannon-ball, which would lodge in one side of an English ship, would go right through both sides of a Russian one. For certain parts of all the ships they are obliged to import oak from England. The Crimean oak is very good, but not obtainable in large quantities. A frigate or two have been built of it, but none are now afloat. The only ship of the line built of it was the Raphael, which was taken by Captain Slade and the Turks in the war of 1828. The Bulgarian oak is also of a good quality. The timber at Nicolaief is used green, as soon as brought down the Dniepr, so that ships become quickly infected with dry-rot, are unsound in ten years, and quite unfit for service in fifteen.

The sailors are fed upon rye or black bread, which they prefer to wheaten bread. They have meat twice a week, and drink “quass,” a fermented drink, made from the rye flour, and the Russian “vodka,” or brandy, which is likewise made from rye. The sailors are all disciplined and dressed as soldiers, wear helmets, and for their common dress the same long drab greatcoats as the army. They are, in fact, more properly sea-soldiers than sailors. When the Grand Duke Constantine inspected the Black Sea fleet, its Admiral was obliged to ask permission for the sailors to take off their proper uniform, as it was found impossible for them to mount the rigging in it.

When a Russian vessel is on a foreign station, which has seldom been the case, except with small vessels having only picked crews, the dress is changed, both of officers and men, and they then, for the time, wear shirts and trousers, like the sailors of maritime nations; and they also then receive extra allowances, to enable them to live like the people of the country where they happen to be. The Russians have a great “amour-propre;” and I have often watched them on a foreign station, when they have been moored with French and English vessels at Constantinople and Athens, constantly exercising their men, until at last they succeeded in managing their vessels with great quickness.

The immense majority of their ships, however, are confined to the Baltic and Black Seas, in which they are obliged to lay up during more than half the year. The Black Sea fleet is seldom out for more than one month’s cruise in summer, and sometimes for even a shorter period. Besides the short time they are out, the cruizing in such limited areas with a large fleet of vessels must be a very uninteresting operation, and there is nothing in it to call out a spirit of enterprise or adventure. The sailors are nearly all landsmen, and such they always remain. There is no mercantile marine, notwithstanding the great inducements held out by the government; and although the commerce of Russia is considerable, there is not a single merchantman manned and sent out by Russians Proper, by which I mean the Slavonic population, which forms the real strength of the Russian nation. The Finns are enterprising shipowners, but they are a totally different race, and a conquered people. I believe I am correct in saying that there is only one real-born Russian merchant who has an establishment in a foreign country. This gentleman, of considerable wealth, set up a house at Liverpool a few years ago, more from patriotic motives than in the regular way of business, and received great encouragement from his government, who wished to induce others to follow his example, but without success. Under all these disadvantages, some of which are inseparable from the despotic nature of the government, for commerce like genius requires for its development complete liberty, it is impossible that the Russian fleets can ever become formidable by their quality, although the large number of their vessels may prove a source of disquietude to a second-rate power.

In the beginning, the Russian navy was formed entirely by foreigners, and principally by Englishmen, while the sailors and officers in the Black Sea were generally Greeks. There were, in particular, five Englishmen, who had been originally brought up in the English navy, who rose to be admirals in the Russian service, and were of great use to their navy,—Admirals Crown, Hamilton, Elphinstone, Dugdale, and Greig. Admiral Lazaref, a Russian, who commanded when I visited Sevastopol, had been brought up in the English navy, and fought as a midshipman at Trafalgar.

At the period of my visit, in 1844, a great change was taking place in the Russian navy, which had its origin in a more general cause. Just about that time there was a strong national movement throughout the Empire, which was encouraged by the Court. The nation had been under the tutelage of foreigners for a century and a half, and now showed a wish to act for itself. Russian replaced French as the fashionable language at court, and representations were constantly made to the Emperor to place Russians instead of foreigners in places which the latter had till then exclusively occupied. There was a strong feeling against the German officers in the army, and the laws were strictly enforced, forbidding foreigners to hold land or possess manufactories, unless they made themselves Russian subjects, a step they were very much pressed to take by officials as the best way of being favourably viewed by the Emperor.

At Sevastopol there was an outcry against the English engineers of the steam-vessels, and the Emperor consented to appoint a Russian on trial, who took a steamer out to sea, and damaged her machinery so much after a few hours, that she was towed into port again by another steamer sent out to fetch her. The Emperor then said that he would continue to employ the English until his own people were really able to undertake their duties.

The great change in Sevastopol about 1844 was the getting rid of the Greek influence, which had till then been paramount. Both men and officers were replaced, as far as possible, by Russians, and the same change was effected as regarded the civil departments of the naval administration.

I visited several of the large line-of-battle ships in the harbour of Sevastopol, with one of the Uptons, and as they were all built by English shipwrights, to a non-nautical eye they looked very much like the men-of-war in our own country. I visited in particular the Twelve Apostles, the largest ship there, which I have lately heard to be now quite useless for warlike purposes. No Russian ship in the Black Sea lasts more than ten years, not only on account of the bad wood of which it is built, but also because of the worm (teredo navalis) which infests Sevastopol and the southern coast of the Crimea, and commits great ravages among the ships. The project of filling the new dock with fresh water, by introducing into it at great expense the Tchornaya Retchka from Inkerman, was adopted with the view of getting rid of this worm, but it was found when too late that it was in the very waters of the Tchornaya that the worm was generated.⁠[98]

The Vixen, the English vessel which we so timorously gave up in 1837, lay in the harbour at the period of my visit, and the Russians were very proud of having taken an English ship, while the English there told me they never could see her without a feeling of shame. She had served as a model to the Russians, and I saw several vessels that had been built after her.

The whole fleet in Sevastopol consisted, in 1853, of 18 first-rates, 7 frigates, 30 steamers, and 36 smaller vessels. There were besides 28 gun-boats, built for service in the Danube, and 30 transports measuring 10,000 tons.⁠[99]

The only achievement of the Black Sea navy has been the destruction of the Turkish fleet in Sinope, which was characterised by their usual negligence on the part of the Turks, and by that cruelty in war which has always stained the Russian name. The Turkish ships were armed with small ordnance, of which the largest scarcely reached the calibre of 24-pounders, and they placed themselves in the roadstead under the protection of land batteries, which were in a wretched state of defence, unprovided with guns that would throw shells, and armed only with cannon of very small calibre.

The Russians, on the contrary, had availed themselves of the latest discoveries and improvements in naval gunnery. Many 68 and 42-pounder shot were picked up at Sinope, and they used with fearful effect the most terrible instruments of modern warfare, the Paixhans guns.

This attack of the Russians at Sinope has been designated as iniquitous by both the French and English military authorities: in the first place, because the attack ought not to have been made under the political circumstances then existing, and next, because from their superiority in number and calibre of guns, instead of burning the Turkish vessels, and exterminating the crews, they might have taken the whole squadron prisoners, and brought away the surviving men as prisoners of war, while the ships would have served to increase their own effective force. They preferred, however, to use the new terrible incendiary shell, and to massacre without mercy the brave but negligent Turks.

This affair forms an important epoch in the history of the new system of naval warfare, as that in which the Paixhans shell system was first used in war. These shells contain incendiary bodies, which, when ignited by the bursting of the shell, are scattered about in every direction, burn with far greater intensity than ‘la roche à feu,’ develope more heat, and give out dense smoke during the combustion, which must interrupt for a considerable time the working of the guns. The chances of setting fire to an antagonist’s ship in action are prodigiously increased, and if one party uses these dreadful engines, the other must adopt the same means of warfare, by which one or both combatants will surely be burnt. “Both France and England,” says Sir Howard Douglas, “are provided with these appalling weapons of mutual destruction, and are prepared, if unhappily there be occasion, to use them à l’outrance against each other’s ships, in a barbarous and ignoble strife, in which it seems the only question is which shall be first burnt. What would Nelson have said to this incendiary warfare?”⁠[100]

The Russians, with that energy and promptitude which has been the secret of all their successes, have availed themselves of every improvement in naval gunnery, although their fleet is with them a matter of only secondary importance. It is impossible to read the history of Russia and her opponents, that is to say her neighbours, for the last 150 years, since the peace of Carlowitz, without observing the quickness in seizing opportunities, the absence of prejudice, the anxious desire for improvement, and the alacrity in repairing errors when they have been committed, which are the true methods by which an individual or a nation can best attain the object of its desires, be they good or bad.

However, notwithstanding the great care bestowed upon it, there is no doubt that the Russian fleet is extremely inefficient, and would be hardly a match for any of the second-rate powers of Europe. It was not to be expected that it should come out to fight the united navies of the two first maritime powers of the world, and there was little cause for the boast of the late Ministers, that we performed a great achievement in forcing it to act on the defensive. Still, on the other hand, there seems to be good sense in the remarks of Haxthausen, that the Russians have been too timorous on the sea, and that the Russian navy will never equal the high character of their army until they have suffered defeats, and fought their way to confidence. The natural “pluck” of the people would probably in the end be as successful on the sea as on the land.

The Romans hated the sea as much as the Russians, and in reading of Peter’s little boat, and the Vixen serving for a model, the mind naturally recurs to the Carthaginian galley stranded on the coast, which served as a model for the first Roman vessels, yet, after no very long period, the Carthaginian state, betrayed by lust of conquest, was broken up, and the Romans swept the seas.

CHAPTER VIII. ON THE RUSSIAN ARMY.⁠ [101] — Recapitulation of Effective Cossacks. — Recapitulation of the Divisions of Troops composing the Grand Army , according to data of the Year 1852.

Having given a sketch of the Russian navy, perhaps another short digression may be permitted in order to give my readers a concise account of the organization and disposition of the army in Russia, which occupies so large a portion of the population, and consumes so much of the revenues of that country. Taking the army, with all the reserves, at a million,⁠[102] and the male population of Russia at thirty millions, and the able-bodied males at fifteen millions, it follows that every fifteenth man is a soldier, either in active service, or liable to be called out, which is certainly the case at the present moment.

In our own country about one man in fifty is a regular soldier, and in other European countries the proportion is greater, but nowhere so large as in Russia.

We, in this industrious and commercial country, can hardly conceive what it is to have a military organization such as prevails in Russia, where nothing but a uniform is respected, and where the highest civil officers have military titles given them as the only means of indicating their rank. Indeed there are none but military titles in Russia with which to reward all kinds of merit. Professor Pallas relates that the Grand Mufti, or Chief Priest of the Tatars, was made a general after the conquest of the Crimea—the Professor himself was made a major-general; an old Armenian school-master I used to know at Tiflis, although a very unwarlike character, was a field officer; and all members of the civil service have military rank, and are called by the common people according to their military titles.

The most singular thing is, that the people among whom this military organization of the whole nation prevails, is, without exception, the most pacific people on the face of the earth, and upon this point I believe no difference of opinion exists among all observers. Having lived for several years in a position which enabled me to mix much with the officers and men of the Russian army, such is my strong conviction of the Russian character. M. Haxthausen mentions, as a point admitting of no doubt, “the absence of all warlike tendency among the Russian people, and their excessive fear of the profession of a soldier.”⁠[103] The Russian people have no pleasure in wearing arms, like the Turk or the Pole: even in their quarrels among themselves, which are rare, they hardly ever fight, and the duel, which now often takes place among Russian officers, is contrary to the national manners, and a custom imported from the West. The people take no pleasure in the fighting of beasts or birds, as in bull-fights, or ram-fights, or cock-fights, which are common amusements among some Eastern as well as most European nations; and when the Russian is drunk, which often happens, he is never quarrelsome, but on the contrary caressing and given to tears. But, on being roused, he exhibits a degree of patient endurance which is astonishing, and a steady enthusiasm which shows great power of feeling, and which is very deeply seated in the national character. He meets death and the severest punishment without fear, and strange anecdotes are told of the impossibility, as it seems to him, of disobeying the letter of the orders he has received. I have lately read a story somewhere which well illustrates this trait of character:—

A soldier on duty at the palace of the Emperor at Petersburg, which was burnt a few years ago, was stationed and had been forgotten in one suite of apartments that was in flames: a Greek priest was the last person to rush through the burning rooms, at the imminent risk of his life, to save a crucifix in a chapel, and returning he was hailed by the sentry, who must in a few instants more have been suffocated. “What do you want?” cried the priest, “save yourself or you will be lost.” “I can’t leave,” replied the sentry, “because I am unrelieved, but I called to you to give me your blessing before I die.” The priest blessed him, and the soldier died at his post.

The late Emperor himself on one occasion attempted to pass a sentinel in one of the corridors of the palace at Petersburg, who had orders to let no person pass, but the man resisted him, and when the Emperor tried to disarm him, wrestled with him, and flung him back against the wall.

The patience also of the Russian peasants is astonishing, in submitting without a murmur to the most cruel treatment when they happen to belong to a bad master, until at last they rise in a body, and, armed with their hatchets, massacre their oppressor. When such instances occur, the affair is quickly hushed up. The patient sufferings of the dissenters, of whom it is said that there are in Russia no less than two hundred sects, prove their deep feeling on religious matters. I have seen thousands marched, with their wives and children, from their native country, into the Caucasus, where they were colonized on bleak plains in the month of October, and the greater number perished of cold and starvation.

If the military organization of Russia could be once broken up, the people would turn to their natural pursuits, which are decidedly commercial and agricultural. And again, if free trade were allowed in the empire, and the commercial spirit could satisfy its natural cravings, the increased riches, luxuries, and civilization of the country would show such obvious advantages, that the military system could not hold its ground. English merchants in Russia have assured me, that although there are now few Russian merchants engaged in foreign commerce, no people show such natural aptitude for commercial concerns. The high tariff which is in force, and the absolute prohibition there is against educating their children in Europe, as no young persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-five are allowed under any pretext to be absent from their country, alone repress for political purposes their natural tendencies.

The Russian people wish for European civilization, and to mix with the other European nations, but they are not allowed to do so by their Government; and to check their desire for civilization and their liberal tendencies, I have been informed by a German professor, who had minutely studied their educational system, which is under the absolute control of the Government throughout the whole empire, that within the last fifteen years the course of study has been checked and thrown back in all the universities and schools of the empire. It is a well-known fact to all who have lived in Russia, that the Government grew more and more jealous of education up to the breaking out of the present war. Foreign tutors and governesses, who are absolutely essential for all parents who wish to give their children a good education in Russia, were as far as possible prevented from entering the empire, and two years ago the Poles were prohibited from studying at the university of Odessa. It must be remembered that this town is the commercial débouché and the capital of all the southern provinces of Poland, the nobility of which generally go there to spend the fashionable season, and that it contains the only superior educational institutions within their reach.

It is well known that the Russian army which had served in Europe during the wars of Napoleon, returned with very liberal tendencies, and preferred the manner of life of the nations they had left to their own. They were consequently divided, separated, sent into dangerous situations, and thus gradually disposed of.

The military system which Peter the Great⁠[104] so strongly recommended to his successors, was devised, and has been continued down to the present time, in order that a great framework of empire might be made, which should be filled up gradually by successive generations. He thought he could lay down a plan by which a stupendous sovereignty might be constructed, which should overshadow the whole earth.

It is but fair to say, however, that the Tzar is, to a certain degree, the incarnation of the national will, and that the whole nation, from the highest to the lowest, have a vague, but deep-seated notion, that some future glories are in store for the Slavonic name, and they will always approve their Tzar, when they think that he is following out the destiny of the nation. That they do not grow wiser, however, but continue to attach too much importance to military glory, and the absorbing and conquering of all surrounding nations, is the fault of the Government and not of the people. The Tzars have kept them back from mixing with civilized nations and from commercial pursuits, in order that they might not learn more just notions of the qualities in which consists the true glory of nations, and might remain a great encamped people, content with a military despotism, and ready to be the instruments of restless schemes of ambition.

The possession of India, of the Mediterranean, and of the Sound, were three principal objects of Peter the Great’s ambition. The Sound has been prospectively guaranteed to Russia by the treaty which Lord Palmerston concluded three years ago, in which the reversion of the Danish throne is secured to the Czar. Our present expedition to Sevastopol is to prevent her first step in the Mediterranean by the possession of Constantinople and the Dardanelles. With respect to India, Russia has quietly worked her way as far as the Sea of Aral, by advancing villages of Cossacks and digging wells every ten miles. The English Government have for many years past been remiss in noticing these aggressive measures, and even now it is to be feared that our agents in Persia, whence we act upon Central Asia, are not men fitted to oppose the experienced and able agents of Russia, or to give us that reasonable probability of success in our Eastern campaign which proper measures might command.

There was something vague about the schemes of Peter and Catherine in the last century; and their successors, if we had been firm during the last twenty years in resisting the first symptoms of encroachment, would have given up many projects as impracticable. In necessary firmness our Government has throughout been deficient, and the consequence is, that we are involved in the present war, and have a gloomy and uncertain future before us.

The army, the great instrument of Russian aggression, draws the main body of its recruits from the thirty-four millions of Great Russians who form a compact body round Moscow. This population is of pure Slave blood, and forms the heart and core of the Russian empire. They give the tone to all the other populations, are superior to them in energy and grandeur of character, as well as numbers, and stand with relation to Russia much as the inhabitants of Britain do to the other nations of the British empire.

The Great Russians have a natural aptitude for the infantry, which is almost entirely composed of them, and they form also the bulk of the corps of officers and non-commissioned officers.

The Poles are found in every part of the army, and particularly in the cavalry. They are born soldiers, and like no trade so well as war. After the Polish revolution, vast numbers of the Polish gentry were sent as common soldiers to the Caucasus; and at one fell swoop the whole University of Wilna, the capital of the Polish country of Lithuania, professors as well as students, were condemned to the same hard fate. It has often happened to me when I have been staying with officers in the Caucasus, to be called aside by the servant, who has whispered to me in French, “Sir, I am a Pole, an European, a gentleman born, but I was degraded and sent here for fighting for my country.” And the poor fellow was always very glad to have a little sly chat, and a talk on the forbidden subject of European politics. The Russian officers are very kind to these unfortunate men, for they are a thoroughly good-natured race, and are glad to get men of intelligence as servants, instead of common drunken boors.

The Little Russians (Malo Ruski), as the inhabitants of the Ukraine are called, are reckoned peculiarly fit for the cavalry, which is not the case with the Slave race in general. The Great Russians never ride on horseback, but always travel very fast in carriages, of which they are remarkably skilful drivers. Even the Cossacks originally were not horsemen. The Little Russians are small, strong men, remarkably well conducted, but of very obstinate temper. The Great Russians are accustomed to be beaten, and indeed are so used to it at home, that it is difficult to keep them well behaved in the army without the free use of the stick. They bear no ill-will after castigation, and cheerfully amend their faults; but the Little Russian becomes dogged if corrected, resents his punishment, and is often totally ruined by its frequency. The reason for this is obviously that he enjoyed his freedom later than the others; and he still retains some sparks of independence, for serfdom was only introduced into the Ukraine by Paul at the close of the last century, while the serfs in Great Russia were “ascripti glebæ” by Boris Godounof about the year 1600. Little Russians may be known by their names, which generally end in “enko,” and one or two other well-known terminations.

The Finlanders are on a totally different footing to the common Russian soldiers: they are enrolled in six battalions of riflemen, and are all volunteers, and receive high pay. They are much better educated than the Russians, and resemble in their ideas and habits the nations of Western Europe, to whom, in reality, they belong. The Jews have been subject to the conscription in Russia since 1827, and in Poland since the revolution in 1831. It is found almost impossible to make soldiers of them, and they generally find the means to escape. The story is told of the late Emperor, that on one occasion, when he was reviewing some troops, he found out all the Jews by snapping his fingers in each man’s face. If they stood immoveable they were Russians, and if they flinched they were invariably Jews. On the other hand, the Jews make capital military workmen, who in Russia are always attached to the fleet and the army, and they also make very fair sailors, and are often employed as constables in towns, on the principle, as it is said, of setting a thief to catch a thief. There is a Georgian and a Circassian militia, but these are never removed from their own country, and I do not know, at the present moment, whether they continue to exist.

The principal nations which compose the Russian army have been enumerated above, but there are besides various remnants of ancient nations, such as the Tatars, Mordvins, Tcheremisses, Tschouvashes, Lettes, and others, who all furnish a small number of men. There are indeed no less than eighty-five of these tribes or nations in the empire, of which forty furnish contingents to the regular troops.⁠[105]

The soldiers and officers are generally very religious, and a priest and a moveable tent for divine service always accompanies each battalion, and often each company, when on detached duty.

The number of musicians in the army is great, and the soldiers all sing in parts, and have songs composed on every event which they think redounds to their honour. In one of their favourite songs the chorus is, “But the weapon of the Russian soldier is the bayonet;” and this notion is in accordance with the advice of Souvárof, a real genius, to the Russian soldier, given in his celebrated Catechism, which will be found in the Appendix—“The bayonet is a hero, the musket a fool: stab; toss the Turk off your bayonet, and stab again.”

There is often a buffoon attached to each company, who amuses his comrades by his jests and antics, and is generally a great favourite. On one occasion in the Caucasus, when the troops were driven back by the Circassians, the buffoon was wounded and left behind. A favourite jest of his had been to crow like a cock, and as he lay on the ground he thought of the only way to save himself, and crowed. This had such an effect on his comrades that they rallied, charged again, and saved him.

The Russians are extremely proud of the name “Ruski,” or Russian, and feel the same patriotic pride in it as we do in the term “British.” Perhaps it may not be out of place here to give the origin of this name, out of the Chronicles of old Nestor,⁠[106] who wrote about 200 years after its first application. He says, “We know that the Russian language and the Slavonic language are the same, and this name of ‘Russian’ was given us by the Varangians (the Normans), and that before that time we were known under the name of Slaves, and the Polanians (Poles), who were also among the Slaves, had no other language. The name of Polanians was given them from the fields they cultivated, and because they inhabited the plain, but they were of Slave origin, and had no other language but the Slavon.”⁠[107]

The greatest part of the army is raised in Russia by conscription, a system which was introduced among the other nations of the continent of Europe by the French at the time of the Revolution, but which has existed in Russia since the time of Peter the Great.

The conscription is conducted in the following manner. A certain number per cent. of all persons who are not noble is demanded, and the number taken each second year, in time of peace, is generally about five in a thousand, or one-half per cent. Families which have only one male member, orphans, and fathers of a family of more than three children, are exempted, and the state leaves the choice of the conscripts to the lords, who generally take this opportunity of getting rid of troublesome characters. Formerly there were dreadful scenes when the conscripts were taken, and they frequently ran away, and were hunted through the woods like wild beasts; but of late years the condition of the soldier has been improved, and the dread of the service is not so great as in former times. The separation of the conscript from his family is still a heart-rending spectacle, for he may be marched to any part of the enormous empire, and his chance of seeing them again is but small.

Formerly one-half of the recruits died from neglect within a short time of their joining, and, although ameliorations have been introduced, it is still asserted that one-third fall victims.⁠[108] How much the service is still disliked may be judged of by the fact that in so poor a country as Russia a substitute in time of peace cannot be obtained under 100l.,⁠[109] and he is never a Russian, but generally a Finn or a Pole.

Formerly the conscripts were always chained like malefactors, and one-half of their heads was at once shaven, that they might be recognised. This is not now the case, but the beard, the great glory of the Russian peasant, is still shorn off.

It must not be forgotten that the army in Russia answers the purpose of a penitentiary system, that all malefactors under the age of thirty are condemned to it as a regular sentence, and that it is viewed by the people very much as transportation is with us.

As soon as the conscript joins the army his lord loses all power over him; all his children born after he enters the service belong to the state, and the males are trained in Government establishments, to become soldiers. If a wife does not follow her husband, and has no news of him for either three or five years, she may marry again.

The state encourages marriage among the soldiers, because their children enable it to fill the ranks of the army, and the wives and children of the soldiers of Georgia, Siberia, and the military colonies, follow the troops, and receive certain allowances from the Government. In other corps the families are often left behind, but in every case the rule is rigidly adhered to, that the children of every soldier’s wife, no matter how long he has been absent, unless she has married again, are the property of the Emperor. There are no less than 360,000 of these widows in the country. The children are brought up in special establishments, entirely at the expense of the Government.

In 1842 there were 36,000 of them who were formed into a little army, divided into twenty-five battalions of infantry, twenty squadrons of cavalry, and five batteries with wooden cannon. When they grow up they fill the subordinate situations in the army, such as sergeants, musicians, assistant-surgeons, and a very useful body of men called the topographers. The separation from home, however, greatly injures their moral character, and the Cantonists, as they are called, very often turn out ill.

The late Emperor made great efforts to improve the condition of the common soldier in Russia, although it is very doubtful whether he succeeded in doing so. One great boon, however, granted by him, which has really bettered the condition of the soldier, is the diminution of his time of active service, or the introduction of the system of “indefinite leave,” which will be presently explained.

There are rules against the too frequent infliction of punishment, and the most stringent regulations to secure to the soldier his fair rations; but every officer still inflicts what punishment he pleases, and nothing is more common than for every officer and even every foreigner to send their servant with a little note to the police-master of the town, requesting him to administer so many lashes. The officers also, in drilling the men, frequently strike them in the face with their fist, and over the body with a stick. Women, also, are constantly whipped on their bare bodies at the police stations in certain parts of the empire, and as custom is stronger than law, it has hitherto been found impossible to prevent these hateful abuses.

The soldier lives well as long as he is in cantonments, which is the case with a large portion of the Russian army, for then he lives upon the peasants, and is a great charge upon them. He lives badly when he is in barracks, because he seldom gets the food to which he is entitled. He ought to have nearly as much food as the English soldier, according to M. Haxthausen, but I think there are few people who will say that in the great majority of instances he ever gets it. He lives in a kind of mess, and his rations are paid once or twice a month to those who manage the mess, which is called the “artel,” of which there is one or more to each company, and the managers are non-commissioned officers and privates, chosen among themselves. This artel is a fund to which all contribute something out of their savings, to improve their food; and when their time of service is over, they have a right to a certain portion of the balance which remains. A proportion of all they earn by their labour goes to the artel, and the Government recognises its existence, and by a recent law its funds are divided into two distinct parts,—one for the mess, and the other to pay back a certain sum to each man on his retiring from active service, so that it thus answers the purpose of a kind of savings-bank.

In the Caucasus, Prince Woronzof very much improved the condition of the Russian soldier; and no less than twenty-four field officers were brought to courts-martial, principally about the soldier’s food, during his first year of office; but I fear that in the interior of Russia things remain in much the same state as formerly.

The Russian soldier has been called by high Russian military authorities the most miserable being in existence; and certainly a decided difference is apparent between the sallow, dejected soldier, and the bluff, hearty, well-fed, off-hand Russian peasant.

Soldiers are always employed as labourers by independent persons, and soldiers’ labour is to be had in the market of all towns. The merchants at Odessa always pay soldiers, even as porters, about 25 per cent. below other labourers, because they are not so strong. In Odessa, the common pay of a labourer is forty copecks silver, or about eighteen pence a-day, and a soldier is highly paid at a shilling. In harvest-time a good labourer near Odessa gets as much as seven shillings a-day.

The time of service is still twenty-two years for the Guards; twenty-five years for the other troops; and twenty years for conscripts of the military colonies.

Between 1833 and 1840 was introduced the system mentioned before, by which every man has the right to what is called “indefinite leave,” after ten or fifteen years’ service, according to the part of the empire from which he happens to come. During the rest of his time of service he is always liable to be called upon, in the case of war, to form part of one of the two armies of reserve, or to assist at some of the grand reviews that periodically take place. In the latter case a great injury is inflicted upon him; for he is sometimes marched two thousand miles for a mere parade, and of course, if he is a tradesman engaged in business, his interests suffer very severely.

The system of indefinite leave is said to answer admirably. The poor soldiers may perhaps see their homes again after ten years, though they never could hope to survive twenty-five years’ service; and since this measure has been adopted, the health of the army, which is in this case equivalent to its happiness, has much improved.

The empire is now divided into two parts, east and west, for purposes of the conscription, and regularly each division can only be called upon for recruits once in two years, although this rule, as all rules in Russia, has often been disregarded. The following is the amount per cent. which has been levied in ten years, from 1840 to 1850:—

Thus a total of 37 per 1000, or upwards of 3½ per cent. of the able-bodied male population, were taken for the military service in ten years. Taking the male population of Russia, subject to conscription, at twenty millions, this would make 700,000 able-bodied men who were drafted into the army in the ten years from 1840 to 1850; but the army in 1840 already consisted of at least 700,000 men, which, added to the number of the recruits, would give 1,400,000 men devoted to the military service during that period, and, as the army in 1850 was certainly not above 800,000, there would remain 600,000 men to be accounted for.

It is not too much to suppose that in 1850-51 and 52, the ordinary number of 2½ per 1000 (7½ per 1000 for the three years), was levied. In 1853, in the Turkish campaign, the losses were probably as great as in the Hungarian, and the army had to be augmented. In 1854 we know that great efforts have been made, and therefore, in these two years, it is fair to suppose that 12 per 1000 were levied each year. This would make, in the five years since 1850, a levy of 31½ per 1000, or upwards of 3 per cent. on twenty millions, about 700,000 men. But the levy in the last year (1854) has certainly been more than 12 per 1000, for, besides the regular recruits, waggons, with men to attend upon them, have been pressed, and the waggoners have been required by the Government to be of a certain standard and able-bodied, and when they are at a distance from home they have been obliged to serve as soldiers. Including these peasants, and supposing the conscription in 1854 to have required a number above the 12 per 1000 which has been allowed for it, we may perhaps add another 200,000 men as the result of the great efforts that have been made to get conscripts up to the 1st of January, 1855.

Then in the last fifteen years there will be a total of—

—men who have passed through the Russian service since 1840, and who are represented now, by the very highest calculation, that of M. Tegoborski, by from 800,000 to 900,000 men, which he says was the number upon which the military budget was calculated in the year 1854. Consequently 1,350,000 men have disappeared through the agency of the Russian army since 1840.

This enormous sacrifice of men to the military system is very severely felt, and must have gone far to neutralize any increase of the population of late years. Haxthausen says, “These oukases for levying the conscriptions always spread mourning and consternation. The nobility suffers great losses. The Scheremeteff, the Demidoff, and the Orloffs, are often obliged to furnish several hundred recruits. Families lose their best workmen, and their fathers and their brothers; for the number of bad characters, who possess the physical qualities necessary to enter the service, is not enough to realize the number of troops demanded by the Emperor.”

Now as to the expense of the Russian soldier to the state. It will be seen from the following passage that M. Tegoborski, the mouthpiece of the Russian Government on statistical subjects, estimates it at a very low figure. He says, “the military budget of Russia for 1854, for an effective of from 800,000 to 900,000 men, was estimated at 84,200,000 silver roubles, and that of the navy at 14,400,000 silver roubles, or nearly 16,000,000l. altogether, which would give an average of 100 roubles or 16l. per head per annum, for the maintenance of the troops. Admitting that the effective of the army was carried to 1,250,000 men in the year 1855, which would suppose an augmentation of 450,000 men, or 50 per cent., and adding to the military budget of 84,200,000 silver roubles, in a round sum 50,000,000 silver roubles, or 8,000,000l., the whole military budget of Russia for the year 1855 would then only amount to about 24,000,000l.”

In calculating the means of Russia to pay this sum, we do not know the exact amount of the Russian revenue beyond the year 1853, when, according to M. Tegoborski, it amounted to 37,384,660l. But the Russian revenue in the year 1839, which is the only other year he gives, is stated to have been upwards of one-third less, so that in the last fifteen years there is stated to have been the enormous increase of 36 per cent. without the levying of any new taxes. As the accounts of the Russian revenue are not published, we cannot place implicit reliance on a mere statement of results by an interested party. But we all know that estimates are generally much below the real expense, and it is probable that the military budget, considering the enormous expenses of the transport of stores and materials, and the movement of troops, and the losses which have been sustained, must be nearly the double of M. Tegoborski’s calculation, or, let us say at least 40,000,000l. instead of 24,000,000l. On the other hand, considering the great injury to the peasants from the increased number of recruits and their own forced services for transport, and an acknowledged diminution of 20 per cent. in the exports and imports, which will be much greater next year if an efficient blockade be kept up, shall we be wrong in considering the Russian realized revenue of 1854 as very much below that of 1853?

M. Tegoborski calculates the diminution of the revenue in 1854 at about 2,000,000l. from the falling off of the customs duties alone. It is probable, therefore, that the revenue of the country, during the past year, will not have even sufficed by several millions to pay the expenses of the army and navy alone, while, besides these expenses, there is the interest of the debt and the expenditure of the civil government to be met, which is reckoned at about 8,000,000l. Thus it may be fairly supposed that Russia will want at least 48,000,000l. to cover the expenses of the year 1854, which is eleven millions more than the total amount of her revenue during the last year of peace, 1853. Her credit in Europe⁠[110] is indeed pretty good, but it is notorious that she depends upon foreign capital for the cultivation of her soil. The precious metals have almost disappeared from the empire: paper alone is seen there; and if we press her hard during the next six months she must be reduced to very great straits.

Although the Russian soldier has a hard life of it as a private, yet if he rises to be a non-commissioned officer, he then, after twelve years’ service, becomes ennobled, and receives his commission, or retires with a pension. Thus a considerable number of the officers of the Russian army have risen from the ranks, and all who obtain commissions are obliged to serve as non-commissioned officers for a certain period. Formerly the length of time was six months, but it has lately been extended to two years, so that I suppose the system is found to answer.

None are exempted from this condition except those who have gone through the military schools, in which they are allowed to pass their probation as non-commissioned officers, and then enter the army as officers. An officer in his probationary state is called a “younker,” and he wears the drab greatcoat, and regularly performs the duties of a sergeant. His only privilege is to have his dress of finer materials than that of the common men,—if he chooses to pay for it. Off duty he lives among his equals, and is often seen in his soldier’s coat at the table of generals. Thus the system of promotion in the army, and indeed the whole feelings of the Russian people, are far less aristocratic than among ourselves.

The common soldiers in Russia are also frequently decorated with the medal which is by far the most prized, even by the highest ranks of officers, namely, the Soldier’s Cross of St. George. This is the one given only for distinguished bravery, and it is very much sought after. A certain number of these crosses are distributed after every remarkable achievement. It is given not only after great battles, but whenever any man has performed a signal act of valour.

The cross is simply of lead, while other crosses are of more precious material, and it is alike for soldiers and officers. The Grand Cross of St. George is given for having taken the capital of an enemy, or having fought a battle which has decided the fate of an empire. The late Emperor himself wore only the Soldier’s Cross of St. George, which he gained under fire in the Turkish war. There were only two Grand Crosses in existence a few years ago, one of which was worn by our own Duke of Wellington, and the other by Marshal Paskiévitch, who received his for the taking of Arzeroom, which was considered as the capital of Armenia.⁠[111]

The order of St. George is universally regarded in Russia with the same pride and respect as the orders of “the Iron Cross,” that of “Maria Theresa,” and that “of Merit” are in other European countries.

Since the last few years also there exists in Russia an imitation of the distinction accorded to Latour d’Auvergne, that of being “le premier grenadier de France.” Archippus Ossipof, in 1840, blew up the fort Michailof, and himself in it, to prevent its being taken by the Circassians; and his name is still kept on the lists as the first grenadier of the first company of the infantry regiment of Tenginsk. When his name is called, the second soldier always answers, “Dead for the honour of the Russian arms in the fort Michailof.”

There also exist in Russia orders and medals of honour conferred upon regiments, which recall the epoch of their creation, the names of their founders, and their famous actions. These formerly existed in the French and all the German armies, but are now only found in the Austrian and English armies, and a few Prussian regiments. In Russia the regiments have continued to exist since Peter the Great, and keep up by outward signs the remembrance of their services. The Preobrajenski guards, the few companies which Peter undertook to drill ostensibly for his amusement, and which became the nucleus of the whole Russian army, still wear the original helmets of his time; and it is a glory among the men to have those that are the most pierced by bullets and battered by sabre-cuts.

The regiment of Tchérnigof obtained the privilege of alone wearing red-stockings (probably gaiters to the knee, which were then worn all over Europe), because at the battle of Pultava they marched in blood up to their knees.

The regiment of Novogínsk is allowed to carry the standard of St. George since the battle of the Trebbia and the passage of the Alps under Suvórof, in 1799; and this regiment possesses silver trumpets, given to it in consequence of the passage of the Gulf of Bothnia upon the ice, under Bagration in 1807. The Russians have also copied the system of giving their generals titles commemorative of the victories they have gained in foreign countries. Thus in ancient Rome there was Scipio Africanus; in modern France there are a host of titles of the time of the Empire, of which Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, and Ney, Prince of the Moskowa, are examples; and in our own country, the title of Lord Mahon perpetuates the victories of Lord Peterborough, and the Duke of Wellington was made Marquis of Douro, and Lord Kean Baron of Ghuzni. The Russians keep more strictly to the Roman style in their titles of honour, and thus we find a Suvórof Italínski, a Diébitch Sabalkánski, and a Paskiévitch Erivánski.

The dress of the Russian soldier consists of a dark-green coatee, which he very seldom wears, except on parade; a drab greatcoat, which is his constant dress; two pairs of trousers, one for summer and one for winter; a cravat; three shirts; three pairs of boots, and a cap. The whole of these articles cost the Government about 2l., with 1l. 3s. 6d. each year for renewal, and they remain the property of the soldier.

It will be observed that no stockings are mentioned, as no soldiers wear them; and many officers cannot afford such luxuries, and only wear bandages wrapped round the legs, something like the piferari in Italy.

All articles of clothing are made up by workmen in each battalion, and these amount to fifty men, who are constantly employed, and consequently by this system the effective force of the army is considerably reduced.

Many classifications may be made of the Russian army, as into,—1st, regular and irregular troops; 2nd, grand army, always ready for offensive operations, and troops employed on local services; 3rd, the active army and the reserve, although all the reserves are on active service at the present moment; 4th, according to the system of numbering from each regiment upwards; or, 5th, according to its division into—first, corps or regular armies, each composed of a certain proportion of infantry, cavalry, and artillery;—second, battalions not formed into regiments;—and, third, irregular cavalry and militia.

This is the classification which I will now follow—1st, then, as to the regular corps, there is:—

1. The corps of Guards, consisting of 38,000 infantry, with 60 squadrons of regular and 17½ of irregular cavalry, one division of mounted engineers, and 116 pieces of artillery. The station of this corps is at Petersburg in time of peace; but it has recently been moved into Poland.

2. The corps of Grenadiers, likewise consisting of 38,000 infantry, but only 32 squadrons of cavalry, and 88 pieces of artillery. Their station is at Novgorod, ninety miles from Petersburg, where they still remain.

3-8. Six corps of infantry, as they are called, although they are complete armies like the two that have been named. They form the bulk of the Russian army, and have each 50,000 infantry, 32 squadrons of cavalry, and 112 pieces of artillery; making a total for the six corps of 300,000 infantry; 192 squadrons of lancers and huzzars, and 672 pieces of artillery.

The following are the stations of these six corps, which are echelloned in a semicircle round the frontiers of the Russian Empire, beginning with the Baltic Provinces, then passing through Poland and Bessarabia, and along the shores of the Black Sea and the Azof, and upwards to Moscow, where the 6th corps is stationed.

The first four corps form the Grand Army under Prince Paskiévitch, whose head-quarters are at Warsaw, and who is also Viceroy of Poland. The regular station of the first corps of infantry is in the Baltic Provinces, where it generally remains more stationary than the next three corps. It has now recently been moved to Grodno and Bialostok, in Lithuania, and has been ordered to advance into the kingdom of Poland. It is commanded by General Sievers, a German, of Livonia.

The next three corps, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, are regularly stationed in the kingdom of Poland, and revolve in a certain circle of cantonments, being never allowed, for obvious reasons, to remain more than three years in the same place.

The 2nd corps has now been removed to replace the third corps on the Dniestr and the Pruth, and is commanded by General Paniútin, a Russian.

The 3rd corps has its usual head-quarters at Kremenetz in Wolhynia, and has now been moved to the Crimea. The arrival of one of its divisions, the eighth in the general system of the army, at Baktchéserai, was announced in our papers about the 20th of January, when it was addressed by Prince Gortchakoff. This corps is commanded by General Riad, who has served in the Caucasus.

The 4th corps has been moved to the Crimea, and was commanded by General Dannenberg, who was deprived of it in consequence of losing the battle of Inkerman, on November 5th, 1854, and he has been succeeded by General Osten Sacken, who before that time had all the recruiting of New Russia under his care. Both these generals are Germans.

The regular station of the 5th corps is in New Russia, and its head-quarters are at Odessa. One division is usually kept in the Crimea, one on the Dniepr and Dniestr, and one in Bessarabia. Its cavalry station is on the Boug, at Nemírgorod and other places. Its artillery station is at Tyraspol on the Dniestr, which is one of the great arsenals of Russia. It was borrowed to reinforce the army of Caucasus in 1843, and returned in 1846. One division of it was again sent there in 1854, and it has been commanded since about 1840 by General Luders, a German. He replaced General Mouravióf, a man of considerable ability, who was then disgraced, but has been recently restored to favour, and is now governor-general of the Caucasus. Since this war began, many able men, obnoxious on account of their liberal opinions, or from other causes, have been restored to favour and employed, no doubt because there is felt in the present crisis a great scarcity of men fitted to fill high appointments. We, on the contrary, have an “embarras de richesses” of good men, but our government, unlike that of Russia, unfortunately appears to have allowed private considerations and official routine to stand too much in the way of their appointment. The whole of the 5th corps has now been moved into the Crimea.

The 6th corps is regularly stationed at Moscow in time of peace, but it has now been moved to the south. Of its three divisions, Nos. 16 and 17 are in the Crimea, and No. 18 in the Caucasus. It is nominally commanded by Prince Gortchakoff the Third (tretiey), as he is called in Russia, but the real active commander is General Tchlodaieff, an officer of great ability. Such have been the locations and “dislocations” of the six corps of infantry.

9thly and 10thly, in the general list of corps, come the two reserve corps of cavalry. The first of these consists of 80 squadrons and 48 pieces of artillery. Its regular station is at Nemírgorod, on the Boug, and it has been moved to the seat of war. The second corps of cavalry of reserve consists of 82 squadrons, and a division of light cavalry of reserve of 24 squadrons, or altogether, 108 squadrons, and 72 pieces of artillery.⁠[112] This is the corps of the dragoons, or soldiers intended to act either as infantry or cavalry, according to the ideas of those who first invented the Dragoon. This notion of having the same soldier fit for both services was given up in Europe after the wars of Napoleon, but revived by the Emperor of Russia, with whom it is a favourite notion. It is, however, generally disapproved of by Russian officers, who do not consider that the men gain in efficiency by having to perform double duties. The station of the second cavalry reserve corps is at Kharkof.

11thly, The corps of the Caucasus, which a few years ago consisted altogether of a very mixed army of 170,000 men, so scattered over the country, that 20,000 men could with difficulty be got together.

Besides these eleven regular corps, which are most of them complete armies, there are also in Russia a large body of regular infantry for the internal service of the country, which is supplied with the necessary complement of cavalry and artillery by the Cossacks. This force of infantry amounts altogether to 200,000 men, and is divided into separate battalions, called “battalions of the line,” and not into regiments.

These troops are used as garrisons for fortresses and towns; they are placed in some turbulent countries on the frontiers of the empire, and are employed in various ways in the civil and military administration. Fifty of them are “the garrison battalions,” and together form what is called “the guard of the interior,” separated into ten districts, and the capital of each government in European Russia has generally one and sometimes two of these battalions. They count among their ranks many veterans, and are generally cantoned in open towns, as their health is then better and the expense of their maintenance less. In Siberia two battalions and a half form the interior guard of the country.

Besides the garrison battalions there are 84 battalions of the line, disposed in various groups:—47 are placed in the Caucasus, and have already been counted; 12 are Finnish, and form the 22nd division of infantry, whose station is in Finland; 10 belong to Orenbourg, and compose the 23rd division of infantry; 15 are Siberian battalions, who have also some artillery (12 pieces), and are stationed in Siberia.

There are besides these the corps of veterans and invalids, and the corps of military workmen, as follows:—

(1.) 552 companies of veterans of infantry, of about 40 men each, who do duty in district towns, the imperial palaces, and other places, = 22,080 men.

(2.) 138 companies of invalids, of about 100 men each, occupied with the same duties, = 13,800 men.

(3.) 115 companies of veterans and artillery workmen, of 150 to 200 men each, for the service of the artillery of the fortresses, the workshops of the artillery, and the manufactories of guns, powder, &c. = say 20,000 men.

(4.) 105 companies of veterans, workmen, and soldiers belonging to the corps of engineers, likewise of 150 to 200 men each, and = say 20,000 men.

There is besides a corps of police, amounting to 3000 men, scattered over all the towns of the empire. The Cossacks also partly perform the duties of the police in the towns, and in the country there is no police at all.

Thus the corps of veterans and invalids equal altogether—

Haxthausen, adding in the regular troops of the corps of the Caucasus, makes the local regular troops = 299,800 men, and adding further the reserves of the battalions of the line, upwards of 15,000 men, makes a grand total for the local regular troops of 315,000 men.

The total of the “troupes mobiles,” or aggressive army, being 699,000 men, it follows that in the present military organization of Russia, in ordinary times of peace, she can furnish upwards of a million of regular troops.

The irregular troops of the Russian army are also very numerous, and mostly consist of light cavalry. By far the most important of these are the Cossacks, who are mostly of Russian extraction.

There are, however, besides the Cossacks, irregular troops taken from every tribe or nation which Russia has conquered, and this system is followed, not so much because of the value of their services, as to teach them to expend their military energies in her service, and by accustoming them to good pay and the luxuries of civilized life, to wean their affections from their own people.

There is a regular line of Cossacks all the way from the banks of the Danube along the north of the Caspian, and all through Tatary and Mongolia, to the extreme verge of eastern Asia at Kamstchatka.

Along a part of this line, from the Caspian to Kamstchatka, there is also a chain of tribes, the rightful possessors of the country, allied together, beginning with the Kirgúiz, and ending with the pacific population of Kamstchatka. The Cossacks prevent the Kirgúiz from levying a tribute on the Russian merchants and colonists, and force the Kamstchatkans to pay their tribute to the Russian government.

The following is an enumeration from M. Haxthausen’s work of the force which the Cossacks, according to their constitution and ordinances, are bound to furnish, if a levy of the whole of them were made. In case of urgency, they would be able to bring into the field at least one-fourth more of practised warriors, especially if the State assisted them in their equipment.

At the same time, it must not be forgotten that the Cossacks are occupied in the labours of agriculture, and the abstraction of so large a proportion of them as took place of late years in time of peace has been a material injury to their interests.⁠[113] If so large a number were taken as M. Haxthausen supposes, the tillage of the fields could hardly be effected.

1. The Cossacks of the Don can put on foot 58 regiments of cavalry, of which two belong to the Guard, and 14 batteries of horse artillery. Each regiment is composed of 6 sotni⁠[114] or centuries; total = 348 sotni and 112 guns.

2. The Cossacks of the western side of the Sea of Azof. These are the best sailors of the south of Russia. They possess 30 gun-boats, and in time of peace are exclusively occupied in blockading the coasts of Circassia. They belong properly to the navy.

3. The Cossacks of the Danube. They can put on foot 2 regiments of cavalry. Each regiment is composed of 6 sotni, and numbers 870 men.

4. The Cossacks of the Black Sea, or the Tchernomorski Cossacks, who are the ancient Zaporogues of the Dniepr. These can furnish 12 regiments of cavalry, 1 division (2 sotni) of Cossacks of the Guard, 9 battalions of riflemen, 3 batteries of horse artillery, and 1 of foot artillery.

Each regiment has about 6 sotni, and therefore their total would be 9 battalions, 74 sotni of cavalry, and 32 guns.

5. The Cossacks of the Line, or of the Caucasus: 18 regiments of cavalry, and 3 batteries of horse artillery.

According to the ordinance of 1845, they were to be raised to 20 regiments of cavalry, and of 884 men each; and, in addition, they were to furnish an escort for the Emperor at Petersburg, and one division (I suppose 2 sotni) for the active Polish army.

Counting upon the old state of things before 1845, the total was 108 sotni and 24 guns.

6. The Cossacks of the Ural Mountains: 12 regiments of cavalry, of 5 sotni each, making altogether 60 sotni.

7. The Cossacks of Orenbourg: 10 regiments of cavalry, of 6 sotni each, and 3 batteries of horse artillery; total 60 sotni and 24 guns.

8. The Cossacks of the Line of Siberia, who must not be confounded with the Cossacks of the towns in that country: 9 regiments of cavalry, and 3 batteries of horse artillery; total 54 (?) sotni and 24 guns.

9. The Cossacks of the frontiers of China: 8 sotni.

10. The Cossacks of Astrakhan: 3 regiments of cavalry, and 1 battery of horse artillery; 18 sotni and 8 guns.

11. The town Cossacks of Siberia: 8 regiments of infantry (? battalions).

The number of the Cossack infantry is very uncertain, because the force of the Siberian battalions is unknown.

The most important question for Europe to inquire is, as to how many of these Cossacks are available during a European war like the present? On this point the following calculation must of course be only approximative.

1. If Russia continues the war of the Caucasus on its present footing.—In this case the Cossacks of the Don, 9 or 10 regiments of which are ordinarily employed in the Caucasus, would only offer of—

2. If Russia restricted herself to a purely defensive war in the Caucasus, and abandoned her more advanced posts, without leaving her frontiers undefended, there might be added 2000 men of the Don, 2000 Tchernomorski or Black Sea Cossacks, 4000 Cossacks of the Line; altogether 10,000 additional men.

The total force available would then be 60,000 cavalry and 110 guns. In each of these cases 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry of the new formation might be drawn from Siberia, and directed successively to the theatre of war.

There are, besides, a number of irregular troops not of Russian origin, but organized after the manner of the Cossacks; and although their military importance is not great, I will enumerate them.

Many of the tribes that will be mentioned have long served under the Russian banner, as anciently the Gauls served in the armies of Cæsar. Their motive has been not attachment to the Russians, but fear of them. Long habit and traditions of submission have much modified their state of feeling, and has at last made these people pretty faithful servants of the Russian government; as, for example, the Bashkírs, who used formerly to have constant sanguinary collisions with the Cossacks of the Ural Mountains. There are other tribes who now serve the Russians, because they are forced to do so, and who would willingly fight against them, if they had not a conviction of their own inferiority.

Other tribes would suffer the supremacy of Russia pretty patiently, if that power was not so severe in making them respect the rights of property, and if she did not prevent their indulging their old habits of levying blackmail on their neighbours, and the merchants and travellers who pass through their territory.

It is therefore evidently not from any great benefits to be derived from their military organization, but in order to watch them, that they are brought into close relations with the Cossack troops charged with the defence of the Russian authority in the countries inhabited by them.

The following is a concise account of these nations:—

(A.) The Tatars of Crimea. These feeble remains of the ancient sovereigns of Southern Russia belong to that horde whose Khans had formerly more than once penetrated as far as the Oka, and never at the head of less than 150,000 cavalry. They now furnish to the Imperial Guard a squadron of fine irregular troops.

(B.) The warlike tribes of the Caucasus and Trans-Caucasia. They furnish to the Russian government auxiliary troops for the wars in those countries. These troops are very useful, although dependence cannot be always placed on them; but for wars beyond their own country, any number might be obtained by voluntary enlistment. They furnish to the Russian army—

1. A squadron of the guard forming the personal escort of the Emperor, and constituting, with a squadron of the Cossacks of the Line, “the Tcherkess Guards.”

2. A regiment of 6 squadrons serving in the army of Poland.

3. An infantry regiment of Georgian militia to reinforce the military cordon established against the Lesghins, beyond the Alezan, a river of Kakhetia, in Georgia. Total of these:—2 battalions and 7 squadrons.

(C.) The Bashkírs and Metschériacks. They inhabit in part as nomades Perm and Orenbourg, and belong to the army of the Cossacks of Orenbourg. In 1813 many of these served in Germany.

(D.) The Buriates and the Toungouses:—5 regiments of cavalry.

They form part of the Cossack force on the Chinese frontier.

Russia might march forward a large portion of these irregular troops, but they are yet so little civilized that the Russian government does not like to bring them to the West, because their want of discipline and obedience in fighting would make them rather an impediment than an advantage on the field of battle. They are, however, of some importance, as they might be used to replace the best corps of Cossacks in the East and in the Caucasus, while the latter were moved away to the West.

The native cavalry of the Caucasus alone, on account of their great courage and address, would offer a precious auxiliary force to the Russian army in wars on her western frontier, if they could be brought to fight under her banner.⁠[115]

The regiments of irregular cavalry among the Russians are principally intended to serve for a war of skirmishers. Their chief business is to provide for the security of the Russian army, and its means of communication, by protecting the baggage and the convoys of prisoners. They are also very useful in carrying orders, and forming relays for correspondence; and, lastly, are of the greatest importance in annoying the enemy with constant skirmishes.

They show great skill and a liking for these various duties, which are not only in perfect harmony with their military habits, but which give them frequent opportunities of plunder. It is said that during the years 1812-1814 they established themselves, privately, a chain of Cossack posts, from the Seine to the Don, to pass along their booty; and without some such plan it is difficult to understand how during those campaigns they could have sent so many precious objects home from the West to offer to the image of “the Mother Mary,” or “the beautiful Minka,” of the Don, as they called their favourite image of the Virgin.

In most armies the duties of providing for the safety of the army are regulated in a very precise order, with vigorous dispositions relative to the organization and employment of patrols, guards of the camp, and piquets. The Cossacks know none of these arrangements. They surround on all sides the corps of troops which they are told to protect, and by the delicacy of their senses, and their instinctive quickness, it is possible for the Russian regular troops to give themselves up to a more complete security than any Western armies provided with the most intelligent officers and sergeants. Suvórof called the Cossacks “the eye of the army;” and he might have said that they were also its ears and its antennæ.

The irregular troops are of the more utility in the Russian army, because the regular corps do not show much aptitude for the minor duties of the military service. There is therefore in the Russian army the most rigorous division of labour that was ever seen in any army; to the regular troops are allotted the labours of war, and to the irregular troops those of general surveillance. The Cossack has no equal for surprises and skirmishes. No cavalry in Europe could make such marches as they constantly perform, without ruining their horses. In Europe they often carried with them a pack-horse; but even without this they performed incredible feats, and fifty miles is with them an ordinary day’s journey. Of the 3500 men of regular troops who were sent on the expedition to Khiva in 1840, only 1000 returned. Of 1200 Cossacks who made part of that same expedition only 60 perished; and of 2000 or 3000 Kirgúiz who accompanied it the loss was still less. If on the one hand this was the result of their familiarity with the steppes and the climate of these countries, on the other hand it was partly owing to their fitness for making forced marches.

The Cossack, who is generally a strong man, appears to be too heavy for his horse, but this is not really the case. The Cossack horse is a wonderful animal to endure fatigue. He has a good head, a ewe neck, a large arm, short legs, broad chest, and a sound hoof. His back often seems too long; but it is said⁠[116] that he is often found with two ribs more than ordinary horses. In winter he seeks his pasture in the snows of the steppes, and thus learns to be very hardy; and he can do an immense deal of work when he is fed on oaten bread or barley, wheat, straw, or good or bad hay, all of which he will eat. He is very active in climbing mountains, and swimming rivers. At Marshal Munich’s assault on the lines of Perecop the Cossacks arrived at the top of the rampart as soon as the first men of the infantry. The Cossack horse is accustomed to eat at all hours of the day; and his master continually feeds him whenever he has an opportunity. If he stops but for a moment, even under the fire of cannon in time of war, the Cossack always feeds his horse with something; and the horse never refuses any food, either on account of its bad quality or the time at which it is given. “He alone” (I use the words of Haxthausen) “who has had the pain to see his fine and faithful horse refuse his oats after the fatigue of a battle; he who has counted with anguish the minutes in time of war which have been allowed him to feed his horse, and which have passed without the horse being able to eat; he who has seen his beautiful steed, accustomed to delicate food, become day by day more thin and feeble from bad nourishment and forced marches, such a soldier can alone understand how precious in the Cossack horse are his strong stomach and power of endurance.”⁠[117]

The Cossacks now have trumpets, and under the cover of cannon spread themselves out like a swarm, dashing upon the enemy when any one of their number, and not their officer only, sees a favourable opportunity and gives the signal. They dislike to face fire-arms, because, M. Haxthausen says, they only come out to fight for plunder, but sometimes they will do a daring exploit in hope of a cross, as they are very vain, and love decorations even more than the Russians. Their superstition is remarkable; they believe in all sorts of auguries; which, although also the case with the Russian soldier, in him is neutralized by military discipline. The Cossacks, fighting singly, have no esprit-de-corps to counteract their natural feelings, and the crossing of a hare with them may lose an engagement. The meeting of a priest is also considered very unlucky.

To sum up: it may be said that at present, with regard at least to the Cossacks of the Don, the horse is better than his master. They were of great use in the wars of Napoleon, when they were still a frontier people, continually exercised in war at home, and possessed of a democratic constitution, which allowed only merit to raise its head.

Since that time the advance of the Russian frontiers to the South has given the Cossacks internal peace and security, and their old constitution has been either taken away or made a dead letter. Thus, with the loss of their liberty, they have become indifferent soldiers and idle agriculturists.

Russian military men have not, I believe, a high opinion of the Don Cossacks, and although they still acknowledge their utility in guarding regular troops, and relieving them from many laborious duties, are well aware how much they have lost of their ancient martial spirit. I believe the opinion of our own military authorities is, that they are not very formidable in the field, and before Sevastopol have shown little inclination to run any great risks.

Had they stood at all firmly at the affair of Balaclava, not a man of our unfortunate light cavalry could have been saved. When our men were returning from that fearful ride of death, they saw swarms of Cossacks, several thousand in number, descend from the hills to intercept their return. They thought all was over with them, as they quickened their pace to charge; but the Cossacks shrank from the encounter, opened to the right and left, and let them pass in safety.⁠[118]

I have now given a short account of the forces, regular and irregular, composing the whole Russian army, which is, perhaps, the most stupendous military engine which the world has ever yet seen.

While the nations of Europe have been disarming, Russia has been augmenting her forces, and spending a very large proportion of her revenue in storing up weapons of destruction. Peaceful avocations have been discouraged by her, and men of peace looked upon with contempt. She knows no titles but military ones; and rewards no virtues except those calculated to support her despotism. She has resisted the natural influence of Europe upon her people, and kept them in poverty-stricken isolation; by her stupendous military force she prevents the further disarming of the nations of Europe. In proportion as they approach the Russian frontier, they are obliged to keep up larger armies, and waste more of their revenues on fortresses and military preparations. The threatening aspect of the Russian army towards its neighbours will be more distinctly seen if we look at it according to its division into the active, mobilized army, always assembled in Poland, with its reserves behind it to the eastward, and the local troops, which have been already mentioned.

Every regiment is divided into a certain number of battalions for active service, ready immediately to enter the field, and others which form the reserve or dépôt, whose duty it is to instruct recruits, and, like the Prussian landwehr, to form skeleton battalions for veterans, and those absent on “indefinite leave.” The artillery is arranged in the same manner. The active troops, distributed in corps, are completely organized, with staff, engineers, train-equipage, and parks of artillery; and even all the necessary horses are kept ready, in time of peace, for entering instantly upon a campaign. To use the words of M. Haxthausen, writing before the present war, “there is no army in the world, with the exception of the Austrian army in Italy, that up to 1848 was always so completely ready for war as the great, active army of Russia in Poland.”

The composition of this army is given in the following table, taken from M. Haxthausen, and its effective force is stated by him as follows (see p. 134):—

After a deduction of 50 soldiers for the train, the musicians, and the superior officers, every battalion of infantry counts about 1000 combatants, i. e., soldiers and non-commissioned officers; and the battalions of riflemen, 653 men.⁠[119]

The number of officers is 22 for each battalion; and the musicians, besides the band, which is very numerous in many regiments, are generally about 25. As there are 8 battalions of riflemen, the Grand Army counts—

A further deduction must be made for deaths, discharges, deserters, reducing the battalions to about 700 men, which is believed to be their real numbers, from which no further deduction need be made. This will leave 260,000 infantry combatants really under arms.

A squadron of cavalry contains, on an average, 190 combatants in time of war, and therefore—

of regular cavalry, always ready to march.

The above deduction will be more than sufficient, if there be allowed a loss of 27 or 28 men in each squadron before it can arrive at the frontier. The lowest force, then, of regular cavalry immediately disposable for the army of operation is about 70,000 men. No deduction need be made from the artillery, which, on the contrary, must be increased by the artillery of the Cossacks. The reserves are divided into two levies, of which the details are given in the note.⁠[120] They amount—the first levy, to 98,000 men and 192 guns; and the second levy to 115,000 men and 280 guns.

Such were the numbers of the Russian active army in Poland in 1848; and it was further increased in 1850. At that time (the end of 1850) the active army of operation, according to the official account, consisted as follows:—

To which must be added the engineers, the train, and the irregular corps.

Of course, as has been observed, the whole disposition of the army has been altered since the present war began. The Moscow corps has been moved to the Caucasus; the Polish corps have been moved south, and the Grenadiers have taken their place; and the reserves have, I believe, been all called out, and probably consumed in replacing those who have fallen in the last two years.

So that when we look at the Russian forces now assembled in the Caucasus, the Crimea, and the German and Baltic frontiers, we see the whole of the Russian army, including its reserves, which cannot be easily augmented. Each man that falls now becomes of great importance to the Emperor; for the conscription is becoming more and more difficult, and bearing with increased severity upon all the interests of the empire. The age at which conscripts are taken is now raised to thirty-seven;⁠[121] and the sons of aged or widowed parents, who have hitherto been exempted, are to serve, and be formed into separate corps. I believe that in the manufacturing establishments in Russia as many as 25 per cent. of the workmen have lately been carried off for the conscription.

The difficulties of Russia are increasing every day; and it is hardly possible for her to carry on the war for another six months, if with our change of Ministry we likewise have a change of system, and if at home and in the Crimea our superior officials, both military and civil, have anything like that intelligence, activity, intrepidity, and single-minded love of their country displayed by the common soldiers and regimental officers of our army, who have hitherto been the only bulwarks to save us from national disgrace.

CHAPTER IX. INKERMAN, MANGOUP, AND THE HILLY COUNTRY OF THE CRIMEA.

From Sevastopol to Inkerman the road by land is either very long or very fatiguing.⁠[122] In order to avoid the numberless ravines which cut up the Chersonese, a circuitous route must be taken, and it is hardly possible to attempt to cross in a straight line. Scarcely has the descent been made to the bottom of one ravine by a very steep declivity, than an equally precipitous ascent must be made at the other side; and neither the one nor the other of these routes has anything picturesque or interesting, except some poor ruins scattered here and there among the rocks. Nothing was desert here in the time of ancient Kherson. A laborious population, sacrificing pleasure in the noble object of possessing a little corner of ground, then occupied the sides of all the ravines, and living half in the grottoes, and half in miserable huts of stone and earth, devoted themselves to the cultivation of a precious and tolerably fertile soil, by raising terraces of earth, on which they planted vines and fruit-trees. Neither the north wind nor the piercing frost could penetrate these well-protected and sheltered spots; but during the heats of summer they must have been hardly supportable, unless some covered shelter was made on one side or the other under the rock. Although the land journey from Sevastopol to Inkerman be so difficult in times of peace, nothing used to be more interesting than the sea voyage, which might be performed by hiring a little boat at Sevastopol, and leisurely sailing or rowing down the Great Bay. It is not that the country is very attractive in itself by shady groves and country houses: on the contrary, these are rare on the shores of this bay, which are rather severe in aspect, from the abrupt forms and nakedness of the rocks. It is the bay itself, piercing nearly five miles into the land, which invests the scene with all its magnificence.

As to the geology of the coasts of the bay, beginning at the entrance from the sea, the low shores are formed by beds of the recent tertiary volcanic formation, very much thrown out of their place. These beds gradually rise higher up the sides as far as the Careening Bay, and there appear under them brilliant beds of white clay, with layers of small stones and cinders, and land and lake mollusques. This formation is of considerable extent, and presents high cliffs of so dazzling a white colour, that they have generally been taken for chalk.

Under the clay, and near the extremity of the bay, appears in its turn, in thick even layers, the nummulite limestone, rich in fossils, raised on the back of a new formation, that of the chalk, which has a great development, and of which the high walls, principally composed of green sandstone or chlorited chalk, encase the bottom of the bay, opening a large entrance at its farthest extremity for the Bouiouk Oozoun river, or the Tchornaya Retchka of the Russians, which is lost in a marsh before it mixes with the salt waves of the bay. Close to the Careening Bay are the first crypts cut in the rocks, and the principal ones, the entrance to which is very little raised above the level of the bay, are large, of a regular square shape, and cut in the front of the rock. On the northern shore, opposite the crypts, in a little valley, are the ruins of the village of Aktiar, which replaced Kherson, giving its name to the bay. This served as the first establishment of the Russians after the conquest of the Crimea. Here is the summer habitation and the garden of the admiral-commandant of Sevastopol, and here are the storehouses and bakehouses of the fleet, a large hospital, now abandoned, and an ancient hermitage cut in the rock, painted with frescoes.

The extremity of the bay in ancient times was richly cultivated, but the sea has now been driven back by the unwholesome marshes of the Tchornaya Retchka, and high reeds stop the course of all vessels by their inextricable labyrinths. With the exception of a powder-magazine and a few sheds, these ravines are naked and uninhabited, and the villages which crowned the summits of the cliffs and extended on the plateau of the northern part of the Chersonese, where the second division of the British army is now encamped and the famous two-gun battery was erected, have disappeared.

The ruins of the villages cover a space of two miles, and end with the great rock in which is cut the first of the crypt churches of Inkerman. These were all defended by walls from the Steppe, one of which is still seen, four feet in thickness. The direct road from Kherson to Inkerman passed by these villages, and a very steep road led from the plateau to the bottom of the ravine, where there is the church. The greater part of these remains of antiquity have disappeared before the labours of the engineers, who have blown up the rocks with the crypts in them to obtain the soft but beautiful building-stone for the construction of the magnificent aqueduct which carries the water of the Tchornaya Retchka to the docks of Sevastopol.

The aqueduct is carried on 10 arches, and measures 200 feet in length; the piles on which it is built are 18 feet deep, as this is the only depth at which a firm foundation could be found. After it leaves the aqueduct the water is carried by a tunnel 800 feet in length. The canal is 4 feet deep and 9 feet broad, and the gallery through which it is carried is 6 feet high to the top of the vault, and 12 feet wide.

From this place the road continues to Inkerman,⁠[123] which is the modern name of the promontory rising at the end of the Bay of Sevastopol on its northern shore, and looking down upon the marshes of the Tchornaya Retchka. The rock is pierced all over with the subterranean dwellings of the ancient Tauri, and on the top are the ruins of the castle built by Diophantes, the general of Mithridates, who was sent to help the Khersonians against the Tauro-Scythians, a little before the birth of Christ. This castle was called Eupatorion, a name which, like many others, has been misapplied by the Russians, and given to the town of Koslof.

From the castle, Diophantes made a communication with the other side, by filling up the valley with earth, and leaving a passage for the river by a bridge with three arches, of which one remained in 1834, and the bank itself is perfectly preserved. This was the bridge that was broken down by Liprandi after the battle of Inkerman, when he retired to the northern side of the Tchornaya Retchka, and by this act acknowledged that he had been defeated. In the rocks near are seen the enormous quarries for the building-stone, which in all times has been celebrated. Near here, and cut in the solid rock of the promontory of Inkerman, is a regularly constructed Greek church, with all its parts complete, and on the top of the rock in which it is cut is the fortress of Diophantes, which in the middle ages was called Theodori, and was the residence of some Greek princes dependent on Constantinople. One of them, called Alexis, took Balaclava from the Genoese, and was again driven out of it in A.D. 1434.

In 1475 this little Greek principality suffered the same fate as the Gothic duchy of Mangoup; and the castle was taken by the Turks, who placed a garrison here, and allowed the fortress to go to ruin. In the time of Bronovius (A.D. 1578) Greek inscriptions and heraldic bearings were to be seen over the gates and public buildings, but they have now entirely disappeared.

The crypts made by the ancient Tauri are on the south side of the rock, which was generally the situation they chose; and from the interior of the fortress there is a path leading down to numberless rows of them, in six or seven tiers, one above another. The simplest of these crypts have only one room, a part of which was raised one foot high, and two feet broad for a bed; and the holes may still be seen in front of the kind of niche in which it was placed, to which a curtain was probably attached.

The more complicated crypts have many rooms, and all of these, except the principal chamber, have beds. The doors were of wood; the ceilings rise to a point; and in the centre of the floor there was a hole one foot and a half deep, and two feet across, which was the fireplace and the oven, such as is found in the crypts of Georgia, and is still used in that country to the present day.

The crypts were innumerable, but are now rapidly diminishing. In some places, from natural causes, the rock has given way, and carried down whole stages of crypts, with the passages and staircases of communication between the various stories; and Lieutenant Kruse, who had a contract for stone for the public buildings of Sevastopol, blew up vast numbers.

As the valley of Inkerman is now extremely unhealthy, it may be asked how it could ever have been so thickly populated as the remains would indicate; but its unhealthiness is caused by the stagnant marshes of the Tchornaya Retchka, which in ancient times were flourishing gardens, from which all superfluous water was drained off.⁠[124]

The same layers of green sandstone, which form one of the sides of the gorge of Inkerman, then take a more eastern direction; and here, facing the south, the strata are so full of subterranean dwellings that they might almost be called beds of crypts.

Immediately below the second group of crypts further on, in the direction of Tchorgouna and Mangoup, is a layer of fuller’s earth, two feet in thickness, and of a grey colour, accompanied below by talk. This is used as fossil soap, and is exported to Constantinople, where it is known in the baths under the name of Keffe Kil, or clay of Caffa.⁠[125] There is a similar deposit at Sabli, and on one of the banks of the Alma the greenish talkous fuller’s earth is mixed with silicious pebbles and broken ammonites, while on the other bank may be extracted from wells the best fuller’s earth in the Crimea. This same bed, again, appears at the foot of Mount Akhaia, near Karasóubazar, on the western side of the peninsula. Below these beds are totally different deposits. At Inkerman is a white or grey clay, more or less schistous, almost entirely without fossils, and several hundred feet thick. Its rounded forms start from the foot of the wall of green sandstone, cover a part of the valley of Balaclava, and advance as far as Tchorgouna. Tchorgouna lies in a gorge formed nearly of the same pudding-stones and marbles as those at Balaclava.

The Tchornaya Retchka, coming from the valley of Baidar, here unites its two principal branches, which escape from wild chasms in the Jurassic rocks. Before forcing itself between the two last rocks of marble, which almost stop it, and just as it reaches the chalk valley of Balaclava, where it is diverted for the docks of Sevastopol, it receives the rivulet of Tchouli, which has quite a different course, and which takes its name from the village of Tchouli, the residence of the famous traveller Pallas. This little river may be followed up in a north-eastward direction to Mangoup, and presents the curious phenomenon of running exactly between the Jurassic and cretaceous formations. The stream divides these two formations, the former of which gives its picturesque beauty to the southern coast of the Crimea, while the latter is synonymous with the dull level of the Steppe; so that on its right is seen the Jura, with its characteristic rounded calcareous domes, well wooded, and cut into valleys, and on the other side the chalk presents its high crests and jutting buttresses, covered with a meagre vegetation, and surmounted by an enormous naked wall of green sandstone, prolonged without interruption to Mount Aithodor, which only wants a sea below it to become the most picturesque of promontories. Here there is a group of crypts like those at Inkerman, called Karakoba (the Black Grotto), and the high promontory which rises above Aithodor is called Elli Boroun (the Cape of Tempests). This high advanced rock, crowned with a few marine or littoral pines, forms a side of one of the great chasms that have been opened in the chalk; and it can hardly have been by the agency of any river, as none of the larger streams of the Tauric chain have condescended to take advantage of its opening to pass through it, so that there is only a very small current of water which runs into the Belbek. In the midst of this chasm stands an immense rock, perpendicular on all sides, and rising like the isolated pier of some gigantic bridge, and this bears on its summit the celebrated fortress of Mangoup.

No position in the Crimea could be stronger, and none has been more celebrated. Mangoup commanded one of the gates of the Steppe, and as a wall was built across the valley of Inkerman, so it seems that this entrance was also closed in by two walls, separated by an interval of fifty feet, and of which there are well-preserved traces in the valley that leads from Koráles to Aithodor.

The rock of Mangoup rises to upwards of a thousand feet, and every accessible place in its vicinity is fortified with walls and towers. One valley, called the Tabana Déréh (Tatar for the Valley of the Tannery), is fortified by a wall and four towers, and contains several stages of crypts and a fine spring of water. It was inhabited up to 1800 by some Karaim Jews, who were tanners, and when they quitted, no living being was left in the deserted town of Mangoup.⁠[126]

On mounting the plateau from the valley, there are the remains of a Byzantine Greek church, with frescoes, and surrounded by tombs like those at Laspi on the southern coast. To the left of the church is a mosque and a Turkish cemetery, and beyond it is another valley, closed like the other by a wall, with a door in the middle. The view from hence is magnificent, and extends over Sevastopol to the sea. In the acropolis of Mangoup there are the remains of a fine palace, of two stories high, resting on a terrace, with a handsome flight of steps. On the first floor of this palace there are placed, in symmetrical order, and richly decorated, four windows: three bead ornaments surrounded the two in the middle, which terminated in a flat arch: those at the end were richly charged with ornaments, and of larger dimensions. The workmanship of the arabesques, and of the roses, the fillets, and the wreaths, are in the Eastern style, very like that of Armenia. There is some resemblance to the style of Turkey, but, besides being less regular and symmetrical, it cannot be supposed that the Turkish conquerors, who took Mangoup in 1475, and then abandoned it to a few soldiers, would ever have erected such edifices. Bronovius proves the contrary; he says, “Eighteen years after it was taken by the Turks, as the Christian Greeks relate, Mangoup was almost utterly destroyed by a horrible and sudden fire. Nothing of importance was saved except the Acropolis, in which there was a fine gateway, ornamented with marble, with Greek inscriptions, and a high palace in stone. It was in this house that the khans, in their barbarian fury, have several times shut up the Muscovite ambassadors, and made them suffer a severe captivity.” The door and the palace, which have been described, evidently date before the fire, and consequently before its capture by the Turks. It is a memento of the Gothic Dukes of Mangoup; and the Armenian style that predominates may be explained by the fact that, in the middle of the fourteenth century, a number of Armenians had quitted their country, in terror at the great earthquake of Anni, and had filled the Crimea with their colonies. As perhaps a solitary memorial of the architecture of the Goths in the Crimea, this palace possesses considerable interest.

If the reader will now look at the map, he will see that at Mangoup we are about one-third of the distance from Sevastopol to Baktchéserai, and on the confines of the two formations that cause Steppes to the north and a romantic scenery to the south. A tributary of the Belbek leads down a wild valley from Mangoup to Koráles, which I have already noticed as the residence of the beautiful Tatar princess, Adel Bey; and a little to the west of Koráles is Tcherkess Kerman, or the fortress of the Tcherkess, and Tcherkess Tus, the plain of the Tcherkess, and the river Kabarda, which mark the spot where a colony of that noble and chivalrous people, whom we call the Circassians, dwelt for several centuries, and beyond this plain the high road is seen running to Sevastopol along the open Steppe. There is, therefore, little to interest the traveller to the north; but let him go east, south, and west of Mangoup, and he may make endless excursions in a most lovely country. He may wander up the valleys of the Belbek, the Katcha, and the Alma, and cross the mountainous country which divides their channels; and whether he be geologist, archæologist, or only an admirer of the beauties of nature, he will find his tastes amply gratified, and every simple want supplied among the primitive and hospitable Tatars.

The geologist may admire and unravel the intricate system where endless strata have been forced up and bent, especially in the Heracleotic Chersonese, into the most fantastic forms, while jets of igneous rocks may be traced, giving the key to the wild confusion that reigns around.

The archæologist will find in every hill top, and in every rock and valley, traces of the many nations that have inhabited the Crimea, from the rude crypts of the savage Tauri, to the graceful fragments of the Grecian column; and the traveller, who wanders simply to enjoy his physical existence, will ever find health and strength in a delicious climate, and the purest enjoyment of the senses in its exquisite rural beauty. Endless flocks and herds browze along the valleys, while near the fresh high plains, raised up in the bosom of the mountains by stupendous volcanic agency, Tatar villages are snugly situated in sheltered spots, surrounded by orchards, which supply even Petersburg with fruit, and where the vine has flourished from the earliest ages. Added to all these charms, the sea is always near, and its glorious expanse is seen from every mountain-top, and that coast can at all times be readily visited, which tempted the beauty-loving Greeks to found here some of their earliest and most flourishing colonies.

The Ai Petri, Mount Babougan (4500 feet), and the Tchatyr Dagh (5125 feet), the highest mountains in the Crimea, are seen from all parts, and from the summit of the latter there is a very beautiful view. All around it, in the country within the influence of the Tauric chain of mountains, is a succession of verdant hills and valleys, which seem, as Dubois says, to be a great island, surrounded by two oceans, that of the sea on the south, and of the Steppes on the north, so flat and uniform do the latter appear to be. Tchatyr Dagh means tent-mountain in Tatar, and this name has been given to it because of its form, the last 700 feet of which rise like a large oblong tent, which in ancient times procured it the name of Mount Trapezus. There are, all along the Tauric chain, elevated plains, called in Tatar, Yailas, such as are also found in the range of the Caucasus, covered in both countries with excellent herbage, on which, in summer, large flocks of sheep and goats are pastured.⁠[127]

CHAPTER X. THE HERACLEOTIC CHERSONESE.

After taking a general view of the hill country of Crimea, there still remains one little corner in the south-west to be described, which will henceforth have a conspicuous place in the history of the world, and, as we hope under Providence, will be famous as the spot where Russian tyranny was checked, and France and England cemented a permanent alliance based upon a common civilization, and fraught with the blessings of freedom and peace to the whole world.

The submarine volcanoes which raised up the whole Tauric chain of the southern coast of Crimea, here raged with the greatest fury, and have torn up the land into a succession of deep and sheltered bays from Balaclava to Sevastopol, which, fourteen⁠[128] in number, offer convenient shelter either to commercial or warlike navies.

The ancient name of the peninsula was the Heracleotic Chersonese, which is derived from two Greek words—Heracleotic, signifying of or belonging to the Heracleans, and Chersonese, a peninsula. It was called Heracleotic, because the famous city of Kherson, which was built here, was originally a colony from Heraclea, a town on the opposite coast of the Black Sea in Bithynia, where the coal-mines have been lately opened to supply our fleets, and the city of Kherson, or Khersonesus as it was sometimes called, received that name because it was situated on a peninsula.

This little peninsula, high and rocky, and on three sides surrounded by water, is cut off from the rest of the Crimea by a low valley, running between Inkerman and Balaclava, above which, upon a line of heights, is now placed the French and British camp. A wall, which divided it off from the rest of the Crimea, may still be traced running from the Tchornaya Retchka, a little above Inkerman, to Balaclava, for a distance of five miles,⁠[129] at the foot of the hills running parallel with the valley, on which the main part of our army, and, since the affair of Balaclava, a French division under General Bosquet, have been encamped. The whole of this enclosure was in ancient times occupied with the gardens and villas of the inhabitants of Kherson, and the space within the wall is covered with ruins, among which the boundary marks of the fields and gardens, and the plans of many houses, may still be distinctly traced. The colony of Kherson was founded in the seventh century before Christ, by the Heracleans and the Delians, and quickly attained great commercial importance.

The Khersonians, who were Dorians, were great rivals of the Bosphorians at Panticápœa or Kertch, who were a colony of Miletus, and consequently Ionians, and the two cities were continually at war, until both were united under the sway of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, who, when driven out of his own kingdom by Pompey, succeeded in obtaining the kingdom of the Bosphorus in the last century before the Christian era.

Kherson, like all the adjacent countries, afterwards fell under the sway of the Romans, and continued an important place during the greatness and decline of the empire, down to the epoch when the dispersed Slavonic tribes were united into one nation, called Russians, by Norman princes, in the ninth century. From that time Kherson, situated about half-way between Kief and Constantinople, was constantly a subject of dispute between the Russians and the Greeks.

There are many remains of the ancient town, the site of which is on the promontory between the Quarantine and Streletska bays, where a French battery is now erected.

The wall which defended it was on the land side, running at the head of Quarantine Bay, passing across the plateau of the isthmus, and then descending by zigzags to the Bay of Soses, now called Streletska Bay. The wall was nearly two miles in length, and built of limestone, five or six feet thick. There were three towers, of which the largest was placed on the top of the isthmus, and defended the principal gate, a massive edifice, vaulted, with a guard-house belonging to it. Part of this was still standing up to the time of the occupation of this site by the French. An inscription was found in the ruins, which declared the tower to have been restored about the year 491 A.D. The traces of the ancient roads and gardens that covered the little territory of the colony, and the plan of the town, are distinctly traceable. The principal street through it was about twenty feet wide, and on the left in descending was the great market-place, which is easily recognised by the heaps of earth in the shape of a great tumulus, of which further mention will afterwards be made.

The remains of a large palace stand on one side of the small street leading to the market-place, which is doubtless one of those which Nestor mentions as being near the Church of the Virgin.

Lieutenant Kruse was commissioned by the Russian Government to excavate whatever seemed of interest in the ruins, and he began by the churches, three of which he uncovered. One of these, the nearest to the market-place, is most probably the ancient cathedral of Kherson, built by the piety of Vladimir, in memory of his taking the city, and of his own conversion to Christianity; and this is probably the church which has unfortunately been injured⁠[130] by the French, and of which such frequent mention has been made of late in the Russian proclamations. When it was discovered, the remains of a semicircular apse were visible; and columns of a fine white crystalline marble, striped with blue, showed in the nave of the edifice the position of the transepts and the dome. Great Byzantine crosses ornamented the capitals of the columns and many parts of the interior. The whole exterior wall remained to about the height of three or four feet, and within its precincts Lieutenant Kruse collected all the columns and other remains that were found, the greater part of which were drawn out of what he called “a great cistern” underneath the dome, which was probably an ancient crypt.

The second church that was discovered was larger than the cathedral, built in the form of a Greek cross, and fifty-three feet each way. The semicircular seats for the clergy were found entire in the apse, and a coarse mosaic still existed as the pavement.

This edifice was remarkable, because it was evidently a beautiful Greek temple metamorphosed into a Christian church, and bases and capitals of Ionic columns, and other parts of Greek architecture, were built into its walls. Perhaps this had been the Parthenon of Kherson, dedicated to the famous Virgin divinity of the ancient Tauri. Lieutenant Kruse excavated a third church, and then discontinued his labours. The positions of a mass of streets can be traced, tortuous and narrow, like those of Eastern towns to this day, and as the whole Chersonese was built over, we may suppose that there existed here 5000 houses and 40,000 or 50,000 inhabitants.

The high level plain was bordered with houses, from which steps were cut in the rock down to the water’s edge, and half way between the two bays, where the rock naturally sloped down, was a landing-place and a market; and there remains a perfect well and the traces of an aqueduct. There were only two springs of water in the Chersonese, both near Balaclava. From one near Khouter Oukhákof the water was conveyed in pipes, some of which have been lately found, and it was this conduit which Vladimir cut when he took the town of Kherson. The water of the other spring has been carried to Sevastopol, which for a long time was only supplied by some wells and small sources of water at the extremity of the South bay. This principal spring, which used to be private property, was taken for public use by the Russian Government, and supplies only thirty-six pints a minute. Immense reservoirs were constructed in ancient times near the Quarantine Bay to catch rain-water, but they are now filled up, and three modern wells have been dug.

The place of one single monument of the ancient Greek times is clearly marked among the remains of this ancient city, and that is the house of Lamachus.

At all times I have said there was a great rivalry between the Bosphorians and the Khersonians, and the latter were probably, for the first time, subjected to the former during the reign of Praisades I. Kherson underwent a second time the same fate when hardly pressed by the Tauro-Scythians, under their king, Skilouros, and the city was then obliged to place itself under the protection of the great Mithridates, to whom and his successors, kings of Bosphorus, it remained subject, until it recovered its independence under the Romans.⁠[131] After this time there was again constant hostility and war between the two cities, and when one of the kings of the Bosphorus undertook an expedition into Asia Minor,⁠[132] the Khersonians took the opportunity of conquering his capital, Panticápœa (Kertch). Again, in the fourth century, the grandson of this king was defeated by the Khersonians at Kaffa, or Theodosia, which then became the boundary of the two States. In a second war soon afterwards, Pharnáces, the Stephanóphorus of Kherson, killed this king in single combat, and carried the boundaries of his city close to the walls of Panticápœa.

Of course these victories of the Khersonians increased the hatred of the Bosphorians against them, and in the year 334 or 336 A.D., Assander, the last king of the Bosphorus, thought he had found an effectual way of meddling in their affairs. He asked in marriage for one of his sons the daughter of Lamachus, the Stephanóphorus, or chief magistrate of Kherson, the most powerful man in the town, famous for his riches in gold, silver, slaves, serving-women, horses, and lands. He also possessed a house with four courts, occupying all one quarter of the town, lying near the exterior port of the Bay of Soses (now Streletzka Bay), where he had a private door pierced in the walls of the town, which is the only one which now remains entire. Four magnificent gateways guarded the approaches to his house, and each herd of oxen and cows, horses and mares, sheep and asses, returning from pasture, had its own particular entrance and stables.

The eldest of the sons of Assander married Glycia, the daughter of Lamachus, under the express condition that he should never return to Panticápœa, to visit his father, not even at the hour of his death. After two years Lamachus died, and Glycia the following year wished, according to the general custom, on the anniversary of her father’s death, to give a grand feast to all the people of Kherson, and her riches were sufficient to provide them all with wine, bread, oil, meat, poultry, and fish, and she promised to renew this festival each year. The son of Assander, deeply vexed at such prodigality, pretended to praise her filial affection, but secretly determined to revenge himself by seizing this occasion to hatch a plot against the town. He wrote to his father to send him from time to time a dozen young Bosphorians, strong and active, to be introduced into the town under pretext of a visit. Disembarking at the port of Symbols (Balaclava), where they left their vessel, they came on foot to Kherson, spent some days there, and then, pretending to return, passed out at the great gate in the evening, and crossed the Chersonese; but when night came on, they retraced their steps by circuitous paths, till they reached the Great Harbour (Sevastopol), where a boat was in readiness to bring them round to the foot of the Bay of Soses (Streletzka Bay) on the other side. Here a friend expected them, and opened for them the little door into the house of Lamachus. Concealed in the vast palace, they waited for the next anniversary, in order to seize the town and massacre the people, overcome by wine and good cheer.

A lucky accident caused the treachery to be discovered. On the eve of the feast, one of the servants of Glycia having disobeyed her mistress, was shut up in a distant chamber, which happened to be just above that in which the Bosphorians were concealed. The loss of her spindle, which rolled into a hole near the wall, induced the girl to lift up a square of the floor in search of it. She then saw the Bosphorians assembled, and hastened to inform her mistress, who forgave her fault, and told her to keep the secret until she should be prepared to deal with the traitors. She then in strict confidence conferred with three delegates from the town, and having made them swear that in recompense for her patriotism, they would, contrary to established custom, bury her inside the town, she communicated to them the astounding news, and gave them directions how to act. She made them celebrate the festival gaily as if nothing was to happen, and only bid each man prepare some faggots and torches. Then, having drugged her husband’s wine and escaped from the house with her maids, carrying her trinkets and gold, she ordered the faggots to be piled round the house and fired, and thus made all the traitors perish in the flames.

The citizens of Kherson wished to rebuild the house of Glycia at the public expense, but this she strongly opposed, and, on the contrary, caused them to heap up every kind of filth and refuse on the place stained by treachery, which was called ever afterwards “the Den of Lamachus.”

This monument, more indestructible than brass or marble, is still there, and, without knowing the story of Glycia, the stranger is astonished to find the rubbish of all the town piled on the top of the plain, which borders Streletzka Bay, in one of the finest situations of Kherson. On passing through the little door which is near the landing-place outside the walls, the remains of a mole are still to be seen below the level of the water.

The Khersonians raised two statues of brass on the public place in honour of Glycia, in one of which she was represented modestly and carefully attired, receiving the three deputies of the town, and in the other she was clothed in warrior garments, in the act of avenging the betrayed citizens. At the time when Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote the account from which this has been extracted, every citizen considered it his duty to keep clean and bright the inscription which the gratitude of the city had caused to be engraven upon her monument.

Kherson was little distinguished during the time of the Byzantine Empire, except as occasionally taking part in the frequent revolutions at Constantinople. As it stood near the route through the plains of Southern Russia by which the barbarians invaded the empire, it was exposed to constant wars, and kept up a close intimacy with the Greek emperors, who frequently sent it succours, and sometimes received from it valuable assistance. At length, in the tenth century, it underwent a famous siege by Vladimir, Grand Duke of Russia, which, as it marks the important period of the conversion of the Russian nation to Christianity, I will shortly narrate out of the Russian Chronicles, premising a few words on the early Norman rulers of Russia, to explain the relations of that people with the Greeks at the period to which I allude.

Rurik⁠[133] the Norman was called over from Scandinavia by the Slave nations to govern them about the year 862 A.D., as at that time their chiefs were fighting among themselves, and the people said, in the words of the old Chronicler, “Let us seek a foreign prince who shall govern us, and speak justly to us.” An embassy, therefore, was sent to the Russ Varangians or Normans across the Baltic in Scandinavia, and in consequence Rurik arrived and reigned till 879 A.D.

Already during his reign some Normans had led a force down the Dniepr against Constantinople, which is always called in the early chronicles Tzaragrad, or the city of the Tzar,⁠[134] the title given to the Greek emperor. Oleg, the successor of Rurik, made another expedition against Constantinople in 907, which he successfully attacked according to Nestor by placing his vessels on wheels and sailing across the narrow strip of land that intervenes between the upper part of the Golden Horn and the Black Sea. The city was ransomed, and the fleet returned with silken sails for the Russian and cotton ones for the Slaves, and in 912 a treaty was concluded “to fix the limits of Russia and Greece.”

Under the next prince, Igor, the Russians made two more attacks against Constantinople, in the first of which they were defeated by the Greek fire. The second was successful, and gave rise to a treaty in which Kherson is mentioned in a way that shows that this city had always been allied with the Greek emperors, and continually harassed by the Russians. It is said, “as to the country of Kherson, the Russian princes are not in future to have any troops in it, or in any of the towns that are dependent on it, still less to make war with this country and to endeavour to conquer it. But if the Russian prince requires aid, we the Tzar (the Greek Emperor) promise to furnish it, to replace under his authority those of the surrounding countries which have thrown it off. And if the Russians meet at the mouth the Dniepr Khersonian fishermen, they shall not injure them, and they shall not have the right to winter at the mouth of the Dniepr, nor at Bielo Bejie (Berislaf), but at the approach of autumn they shall return into their own country, into Russia. If the Black Bulgarians attack the country of Kherson, we recommend the Russian prince to drive them back, and not to allow them to disturb the peace.”⁠[135]

Olga, the widow of Igor, reigned after him till 955. She visited Constantinople as a guest, and became a Christian. Indeed many of the Russians were christened before this epoch, and the Bible had been translated into Slavonic nearly a hundred years before. The Emperor Constantine, or Romanus II., wished to marry Olga, then more than sixty years old, but she refused him.

Sviatoslaw her son (955-963) twice conquered Bulgaria, and advancing with a victorious army to the walls of Constantinople, was as usual bought off, and a new treaty was made, in which Kherson is again mentioned.

Vladimir began to reign in 980, and though in the beginning a determined idolator, in later times he sent ambassadors to various countries to see which was the best religion. They visited the Mahometan Bulgarians, Roman Catholic Germans, the Jews and the Greeks, and struck with the splendour of their service, they reported in favour of the Greeks.

Upon this nothing took place till, in the words of Nestor, “It happened that in the course of the next year (988 A.D.) Vladimir with his army invaded Kherson. The inhabitants shut themselves up in the walls of the town, and Vladimir established his camp on each side, near the harbour, just within shot of the said town. The besieged defended themselves valiantly, yet, as Vladimir always pressed on the siege, they began to lose courage, and he said to them, ‘If you do not surrender, I swear that I will remain here three years.’

“To this threat the besieged paid no attention, and Vladimir made his soldiers take up their arms, and ordered the assault, but while they were engaged in it, the Khersonians, having made a way into the ditches, took out the earth which the besieged had thrown into them to fill them up, and brought it into the town, and the more the Russians threw into the ditches, the more the besieged took out of them. But while Vladimir was besieging Kherson, and constraining its inhabitants, a certain Athanasius shot into the enemy’s camp an arrow bearing this advice, ‘Thou canst stop or turn aside the source of the springs which are behind thee, towards the east: it is thence that the waters of the town are brought to us.’ At this news Vladimir lifted his eyes to heaven and cried out, ‘If this be true, I promise to receive baptism.’ And forthwith he gave the order to stop the pipes and turn off the water. Soon the besieged, worn out, and dying of thirst, surrendered, and Vladimir, with his people, made his entry into the town. Vladimir then asked the Emperors Basil and Constantine for their sister Anne in marriage, and she was granted him on condition of his baptism, and was received into the port by the Khersonians, who conducted her to the palace.

“The baptism of Vladimir⁠[136] took place in the church of the Holy Mother of God at Kherson, situated in the midst of the town on the market-place. It is here near the church, by the side of the altar, that is to be seen to this day the palace of Vladimir and that of the princess. Immediately after the baptism, the bishop conducted the princess for another ceremony, that of marriage. Vladimir ordered to be built a church in Kherson, on the hill made with the earth which the inhabitants had piled up in the centre of the town during the siege, which church may still be seen in our days.”⁠[137]

Nothing can be more simple than this church, the remains of which have been uncovered by Lieutenant Kruse, and which is a model of the antique Byzantine style. Vladimir received from the Greeks, as the dowry of the princess, the city of Kherson.

When he returned to Kief he determined, in true autocratic style, that all his people should follow his own example. So he cast the favourite idol Peroun, the God of Thunder, into the Dniepr, and then proclaimed that whoever did not appear on its banks should be treated as a rebel, and when all the people were assembled, men, women, and children were sent into the water to be baptized all together.

There has been a question about two gates of Corinthian brass, which were said to have been carried from Kherson to Kiew by Vladimir, and to have been removed thence by Boleslas II., king of Poland, who placed them at the entrance of the cathedral of Grodno, while other authors pretend that they now exist in the cathedral of St. Sophia at Great Novgorod.⁠[138] Nestor makes no mention of the doors, but only says that Vladimir brought back from Kherson the Tzarina Anastasia, the priests of Kherson, the relics of St. Clement, and his disciple Phira, and vases and instruments for burning incense, and that he did all this for the welfare of his soul. He also says that the prince carried away with him two images of brass, and four horses in metal, which in his time stood behind the church of the Holy Mother of God in Kiew, and were thought by the ignorant to be made of marble. It is possible that later writers may have confounded the “images” with the “gates of brass.”

Kherson was finally destroyed, after 2000 years’ existence, by Olgerd, the nephew of Gedimine the Lithuanian, the founder of Vilna, the ancestor of the Jagellons, and the conqueror of Kief and all Southern Russia.⁠[139]

After its pillage by the Lithuanians, Kherson was almost deserted, and when the Turks, in 1475, took possession of the Crimea, they only found in it empty houses and deserted churches, from which they removed the finest marbles for their buildings at Constantinople. Bronovius visited the city at the end of the sixteenth century, and says that the Turks called it Sari Kerman, or the Yellow Castle, on account of the yellow colour of the ground, and it had then been uninhabited for many centuries. The ruins, however, of what he calls this “proud, delicate, and illustrious city,” were then wonderful. The wall and its towers, built of enormous blocks of hewn stone, were perfect, and a beautiful aqueduct still brought the purest water. The palace of the kings, itself as large as a city, with magnificent entrance gates, continued to exist. The churches were despoiled, because of their valuable marbles, and the largest Greek monastery alone remained entire.⁠[140] After three more centuries, what the Turks and the Tatars had spared was taken by the Russians, when they built Sevastopol. Sailors were sent to collect materials, and no ancient remains respected. The walls and fine gateways which still existed were pulled down to build the Quarantine, and when the Emperor Alexander issued orders to stop this Vandalism, the ruin of every thing precious had been already consummated. The last remains of works of art, which Lieutenant Kruse had collected with persevering industry, disappeared after a detachment of soldiers had been lodged in the ruins for a few years at the time of the plague.

Between Sevastopol and Cape Chersonese, at the extremity of the peninsula, there are no less than six large bays, which succeed each other in the following order: the Quarantine Bay and Streletzka Bay, which have been already mentioned; Krougly Bay, or the Round Bay; Cosatcha Bay, Bay of Cossacks, and Dvoiny Bay, or Double Bay, where the Heracleans first settled themselves before they moved to the Kherson, which has been described. One branch of Dvoiny Bay is also called Kamiesch, or the Reedy Bay, and it is here that the French ships are anchored and the stores for their army disembarked. The Chersonese is terminated to the west by Cape Chersonese, called also Cape Fanar, on account of the lighthouse, and the whole of the promontory on which it stands is covered with the ruins of the first Kherson.⁠[141] Crossing then in a south-east direction for several miles, over a plain covered with ruins, we arrive at another cape, called in ancient times Cape Partheniké, or that of the Virgin, and now Cape Violente or St. George, from the monastery of the same name which is near it, on a spot interesting for several reasons.

The cape derived its ancient name from the cruel Virgin divinity of the Tauri, so famous in early history, to whom all strangers were sacrificed who suffered shipwreck on this inhospitable coast. When the Greeks arrived from Heraclea they brought in the worship of Hercules and Diana, and, as they always respected the religion of the countries they visited, and found a great resemblance between their own Diana and the Virgin of the Tauri, they probably merged the two into one under the name of the Tauric Diana, discontinuing the ancient barbarous custom of offering human victims. At a later period, Iphigenia was confounded with the other two divinities, as Herodotus expressly says that in his time she was worshipped as a goddess.⁠[142] The Tauric goddess had her parthenon in Kherson, and her chapel on Cape Partheniké. The road is still visible by which the worshippers passed from Kherson to the promontory, crossing a ridge of rocks, on which the traces of the ancient chariot-wheels are distinctly visible.

The cape is remarkable as being the exact limit between the most ancient and the most modern geological formations in the Crimea. Here, on the top of the precipice, an immense rock of Jurassic limestone juts out from the coast, on a level with the steppe, and bordered by sheer precipices on every side, except where it is connected with the mainland. In the centre are the foundations of an isolated edifice, almost square, constructed of hewn stone, like the Donjons of the houses on the Chersonese. It was placed at the angle of the two walls, which, advancing one to the west, and the other to the south, on the edge of the precipice, formed of the rest of the platform a kind of court, of which the entrance-gate looked towards the Chersonese and the road. This could only have been a temple, for here are neither the wells nor buildings which always characterize a dwelling-house. This was also the fittest situation for the worship of the Tauric Virgin, for at this point only could the sea be reached on this side of the Chersonese, and close to it is a gorge in the form of an amphitheatre, where doubtless, in the earliest times, crowds assembled to witness the precipitation of the unhappy victims into the sea.

Near it, ensconced in a ledge of the precipice, is the famous monastery of St. George.⁠[143] From the plateau above, which has all the aridity and monotony of the Steppes,⁠[144] its ancient walls are not visible, and it is not till the traveller approaches the edge of the cliffs, and looks over, that he sees, instead of a frightful wave-beaten precipice, a most charming little village, nestled in the rocks at about fifty feet below him. There are a church, and houses, and terraces, cut one below the other, and ancient poplars, and gardens irrigated by a fine rivulet of water. The spot looks like a little oasis suspended, as if by enchantment, at several hundred feet above the sea, in the midst of an amphitheatre of black basaltic rocks, which rise majestically around, and form a striking contrast to the rich verdure in which the monastery is hidden. A door and staircase, cut in the rock, form the only entrance to this great Hermitage, which was no doubt first created by the ancient Troglodytes, or dwellers under ground, whose remains are so numerous in the Crimea, as all the rocks near the monastery, which are composed of chalk, are pierced by ancient grottoes, which are now only used as cellars and poultry-yards, although they were inhabited by the monks so lately as the time of Pallas, in 1794. The monastery consists of many large buildings, several of which are devoted to the reception of strangers. The church has unfortunately been rebuilt, and the ancient chapel that stood here has been totally destroyed. A rivulet runs in front of the houses, and trickles into a stone basin, shaded by poplars, while below it are terraced gardens and small vineyards.

This little nook generally enjoys a most unbroken quiet, but on the 23rd of April, St. George’s-day—when crowds arrive, and the plateau above is covered with huts and tents—the Greeks, from all parts of Crimea, flock to the place, and the women especially frequent the fête, and embellish the scene by their picturesque dresses and traditional beauty. As in most religious festivals, the world always claims its part, and a kind of fair is held here in the early part of the day, at which much business is done. But all at once the scene changes—the hour of divine service has arrived, the crowd flocks to the church, and, as soon as the benediction has been given, there is a rush to the basin containing the water, which is supposed at this season to be a remedy against all kinds of diseases.

On a terrace, close to the monastery, there are traces of several Greek temples. A dreary and barren road leads past the village of Karany, through a valley, to Balaklava, at which town terminates the Chersonese. The Chersonese in winter serves as a refuge to a great quantity of bustards, that are driven from the plains by the snow. Thousands may be seen at once, and the hunters conceal themselves in little cabins and shoot them as they pass, for the birds, tired and thin at this season of the year, fly very low, and may be almost caught by the hand. There are two kinds, a large and a small; the latter are better eating, and both are very cheap, and a favourite article of food in Sevastopol.⁠[145] When the snow covers the Chersonese, and the cold reaches sometimes 16° Fahrenheit, the bustards fly to the southern coast, to Laspi, where it is always warm.

CHAPTER XI. ON THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF THE CRIMEA.

Having had occasion to mention various nations who have occupied the Crimea, it will perhaps be useful to bring together in one succinct view the numerous revolutions which the peninsula has undergone, and the order in which the various races of its inhabitants succeeded one another from the earliest times.

First of all come the Cimmerians, who belong partly to history and partly to fable. The story in the ‘Odyssey’ describes them as dwelling beyond the ocean stream, plunged in darkness, and unblest by the rays of Helios (the sun). According to Herodotus, they originally occupied the Steppes of Southern Russia, or the country between the Borysthenes and the Tanais, and being expelled from their country by the Scythians, skirted the shores of the Euxine, and devastated, for a number of years, the highly civilized countries of Asia Minor. The poets of that age lament the destruction of every exquisite production of Greek genius by this barbarian people, who were nomadic “milkers of mares,” like the Scythians, and wandered in tents over their grassy Steppes. They had already disappeared in the time of Herodotus, at which time the tombs of their kings were shown near the Dniestr. They left their name in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, while the darkness in which they were supposed to have lived has perpetuated their memory down to our own times—

There was another people mentioned as early as the time of Homer, who, being mountaineers, were able to preserve their nationality for a very long period of time. These were the Tauri, who appear to have been a people of a most savage and unamiable character.

It has been already said that they sacrificed to a cruel goddess all shipwrecked mariners, and they sometimes not only made offerings but feasts of human victims. These habits have procured them an immortal infamy in the writings of the Greeks and Romans, and, through the story of Iphigenia, have made the Crimea associated with one of the most famous legends of the Greek mythology. Her history and that of her fate-urged family, connected with great events, abounding in scenes of concentrated action, laid in mysterious and wild countries—contained much matter calculated to rouse the passions, and have made it a favourite subject for poets both in ancient and modern times.

The works of almost every great poet of antiquity contain allusions to the tragic history of the Atridæ, and the fate of Iphigenia has occupied in modern times the pen of Racine and Göthe. It was also a popular subject with ancient painters, and Timanthes, having represented her just about to be sacrificed, after exhausting all his art in depicting the grief of the other bystanders, drew a veil over the face of her father as the best means of representing his inexpressible anguish.

The story of Iphigenia is not an isolated instance of the attention which the most ancient Greeks seem in numerous cases to have directed to the East, and the expeditions of Phrixus and Helle, of the Argonauts, the long wanderings of Ulysses on the coasts of Colchis, the Crimea, and the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and the Achæans, who were said, in returning from Troy, to have settled on the Circassian coast,—all have the same tendency.

In the time of Herodotus the Tauri occupied the hill-country of the Crimea, and were in all probability the people who formed the numberless dwellings and towns cut in the solid rock, which are found in many parts of the country. The chalk or green-sandstone formation, easily wrought, homogeneous, with few fissures, and horizontal beds, was peculiarly adapted for this purpose; and wherever it crops out of the soil, there are sure to be found these subterranean dwellings.

These crypts are the most curious remains of antiquity in the Crimea, and abound chiefly in the south-western parts, forming perhaps the only relics of its most ancient inhabitants. Not that the use of crypts was confined solely to the most ancient times, for many Christian churches are found in them, and they must therefore have been inhabited at least down to the fourth or fifth centuries of the Christian era, when the inhabitants of the Crimea were converted to Christianity. Although there are few countries of the world in which they exist in such great numbers as in a portion of the Crimea, still this habit of living in subterranean dwellings was very common among ancient nations, and instances of it are familiar to all. The crypts are the only relics of those ages in the infancy of the world, when, according to mythic legends, men dwelt in caverns and were nourished on acorns.

A large portion of the populations of Asia, when they became fixed, began by burrowing out holes for themselves in the rocks. Caverns were then used as their temples and their sepulchres.

The rock temples scattered over various parts of India are some of them imperishable monuments of times on which history is silent.

Persia has its crypt tombs and cities, that have called forth the admiration of all travellers. Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia began by crypts, and the rock temples, palaces, and immense necropoleis (which were at first towns for the living) attest the art and industry of one of the most remarkable of ancient nations. The traditions of Greece point back to a time when caverns were common dwellings. In Sicily the rocks are pierced with crypt towns of very ingenious workmanship. In Magna Græcia and Etruria crypt tombs are common, and the labyrinth of Crete was the theatre of some of the earliest Greek myths. In Asia Minor, and even in Thrace, the same sort of works may be found.

Notices of them are also frequent in the Bible. The Kaphtorians or Phœnicians came from the southern coasts of the Red Sea, and disembarked at its northern extremity under Edom, who gave his name to the country, so that it is no wonder that we find the Idumæans or Edomites dwelling in caves down to a late period. The antique towns in the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea are crypt towns, like those of the Crimea, but executed by a people in a higher state of civilization. The Edomites or Phœnicians played a great part, before the arrival of the Hebrews in Egypt, and their commerce embraced the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. They extended their mercantile relations as far as Sidon and Tyre, and carried at the same time to the foot of Mount Lebanon their custom of excavation. The northern valley of the Jordan, the Ard el Hule, is pierced with crypt towns, of which the most remarkable are Hatsor and Bostra. Their inhabitants were proud of their dwellings in the rocks, which they regarded as impregnable, which made the prophet Jeremiah exclaim, ch. xlix. v. 16, “Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that boldest the heights of the hill, though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the hill, I will bring thee down, saith the Lord.” Every reader is familiar with the caves of Makeda, Adullam, and Engeddi, in the patriarchal history, and Jerusalem itself was surrounded with crypt tombs. In the country of Tubal, the modern Georgia, the ancestors of that ancient and chivalrous people dwelt in subterranean dwellings, such as are now to be seen at Ouphlitsikhé and Armasi. In Armenia, which enjoys the high privilege of having been the first Christian nation, and of having suffered more than any other for its faith, the art of the crypt has always been in great favour, and innumerable specimens are to be seen at Hrachegapert, and at the monasteries of Airivauk, Kieghart, and other places.⁠[146]

On the banks of the Upper Kour, in Imeritia, a country adjoining on Georgia, there are many places, such as Vardsic and others, where these dwellings are to be found, and the termination “kvabi,” or cavern, in the names of places always indicates their existence.

In Mingrelia, the ancient Colchis, there are an infinity of grottoes on the banks of the Upper Phasis (modern Krivila), and one whole district, Semokvákana (the high dwellings), takes its name from them.

Lastly, in the centre of the Caucasus, in the valley of the Kouir, and near Kislavodsk and other places, are to be found the dwellings of the Troglodytes of Strabo.

Thus it appears how largely the crypt enters into the early history of mankind, and how much of human labour has been expended upon a species of dwelling which is so widely spread over the Crimea.⁠[147]

Even among the modern Tatars in that country their habitations are seldom wholly detached from the rocks. They generally choose some shady sloping place for their villages, and supporting two sides of their houses by walls of brick or mud, with a little verandah in front, they let the other parts rest either in a niche cut in the earth, or against the side of a precipice. In Georgia it is often dangerous riding from the subterranean villages formed in the sloping sides of hills, the flat roofs of which look just like the common earth, and a person unused to the country might easily sink into the midst of an astonished family, did not the wreath of smoke generally prove a warning of the treacherous nature of the soil.

Returning from this digression to the history of the Tauri, I will only further remark that, from a similarity of manners, and other causes, they are considered to belong to the Tchud or Finnish race of nations, and thus to be related to the Lesghins and Tchetchens of the Caucasus, and the famous Finnish pirates who infested the shores of the Baltic down to the tenth and eleventh centuries.

The resemblance of the Virgin goddess of the Greeks and the cruel divinity of the Tauri, perhaps may arise from the fact of the Greek nation itself being composed of the two elements of an Indo-Germanic graft upon a primitive Finnish stock. When the Indo-Germanic wave of population rolled towards the West it drove the earlier races before it, or forced them aside into the mountains as the only secure resting-place. Thus the mountain chain of the Crimea played on a small scale the part of the Caucasus, and served as a refuge for the remnant of the Finns against the Indo-Germanic races who surrounded them, of which the most ancient known to us were the Kimmerians. The word Tauri probably means mountaineers.⁠[148]

In B.C. 600 the Scythians, who were also a nation of Finnish origin, invaded the Crimea, and mixing with the Tauri formed the nation of the Tauro-Scythians, whose principal seat was in the valleys to the north of the Tauric chain.

A short time before the Scythian invasion, about B.C. 650, the Greeks, who, as I have said, had been before connected with these countries, began to plant colonies about which we have definite historical information. The Milesians first established themselves on the peninsula of Kertch, an open country of easy cultivation. Their agricultural prosperity was quickly known in Greece, and new and important emigrations took place. Theodosia, Nymphæum, Panticapæum, and Myrmékium quickly raised their heads on the shores of the little peninsula, and served as ports for the rich establishments of the colonists.⁠[149]

Stimulated by the success of the Milesians, the Heracleans endeavoured on their side to found some colonies in the Crimea. They turned to the western part of the peninsula, and disembarked not far from the celebrated Cape Partheniké, and, having beaten and driven back into the mountains the savage Tauri, they fixed themselves in the Heracleotic Chersonese. Thus was founded the celebrated republic of Kherson, which, conquered for a moment by a Grand Duke of Russia in the tenth century, as has been related, became the point of departure of that great religious revolution which completely changed the character and destinies of the Russian Empire.

While the Heracleans were consolidating their power by their manufactures and commerce, the Milesian establishments on the Bosphorus were rising with extraordinary rapidity, and spread to the Asiatic side, where the towns of Phanagoria, Hermonássa, and Cépos were founded. At first, independent one of the other, all these different Milesian colonies were influenced by an inevitable chain of events, and, 480 B.C., their political union gave rise to the kingdom of the Bosphorus. As has been said, agriculture was the essential basis of the public wealth of the Milesians, and the attention of the new government was directed specially to this branch of employment.

As soon as Leucon ascended the throne he released the Athenians from the thirtieth, which they had hitherto paid as an export duty on grain. By this liberal measure the exportation of it increased enormously, and the Cimmerian or Panticapæan peninsula became the granary of Greece, and merchants flocked for grain to Theodosia and Panticapæum, where they also bought woollen cloths, furs, and the salted fish which still forms one of the staples of Southern Russia. The imports are little spoken of in history, but it is evident from the late excavations at Kertch that they must have consisted of articles of luxury.

The Bosphorians, then, no doubt received in return for their productions all the manufactured articles which luxury and riches had introduced into usage at Athens, and it is probably to the artists of Greece that are due the magnificent works of art which are admired in the Museums of Kertch and Petersburg, which prove that the agricultural colonists of the Crimea were not behind their kinsmen of the brilliant metropolis of Athens in their love for the arts and the refinements of civilised life. Materials for building must also have formed an important part of the imports. There is no trace of white marble in the Crimea, nor on the northern shores of the Black Sea, although immense quantities of it are found in the excavations at Kertch, and there is every reason to believe that the enormous pieces of sculpture which were employed there in the public and private buildings were brought ready worked from the quarries of Greece. Notwithstanding the dangerous neighbourhood of the Sarmatians, the kingdom of the Bosphorus enjoyed perfect tranquillity for more than three hundred years, and, thanks to a policy as firm as it was intelligent, it increased in riches and prosperity up to the moment when the conquest of Greece by the Romans upset all the commercial relations of the East.

At this epoch the Bosphorians attacked by the Scythians, and too feeble to resist them, threw themselves into the arms of Mithridates, who made their state a province of Pontus, and gave it as an appanage to his son Macharés.

After the defeat and death of her implacable enemy, Rome preserved to the traitor Pharnáces the crown of the Bosphorus; but the sovereignty of the new prince was only nominal, and the successors of the son of Mithridates, without power, and despoiled of their possessions on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, depended on the caprice of the Roman emperors.

In the sixty-second year of our era the Alans ravaged the country, and attacked the Tauri even in their mountains. They devastated the country, and utterly destroyed Theodosia, which offered them some resistance. They continued masters of the country, without changing their vagabond life, till they were conquered by the Goths in the middle of the second century.⁠[150] The Goths, although they have undeservedly gained a bad reputation in Europe, were the only people who brought the germs of peace and civilization to this much-disputed peninsula; and they kept possession of it longer than any other people, for the remnant of them, and its name of Gothia, remained to it more than a thousand years—till nearly the end of the sixteenth century. They mixed intimately with the vanquished people, founded many colonies in the vast plains situated to the north of the mountains, and quickly gave themselves up to their taste for a sedentary and agricultural life. Then there began for the Crimea a new period of tranquillity, which might also have been one of agricultural prosperity; but, unfortunately, Greece, conquered by the Romans, was at this period rapidly falling, and Rome, become the capital of the world, was supplied with grain by Egypt, Sicily, and Africa. The Crimea, notwithstanding its efforts, could not rise from the obscurity to which it was condemned by the great political events which signalized the first century of the Christian era. In the midst of the first invasions of the barbarians, the little republic of Kherson, protected by its remote and inaccessible situation, preserved its independence. In the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, the Khersonites, who possessed nearly all the high country, had centered in themselves the commerce which existed between the Crimea and some parts of the shores of the Black Sea, and their republic was the most powerful state in the Crimea, until a war broke out between them and the Sarmatians, who had seized the kingdom of the Bosphorus, in which they were defeated. The struggle between the rival nations at the Bosphorus lasted nearly a century, until the Sarmatians were driven out, and the Bosphorians again enjoyed some years of liberty and internal prosperity.

This peace, however, was of short duration, and like a calm before a terrible tempest. After a few years, the Huns poured down from the interior of Asia, and at first occupied the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus; then, crossing the Sea of Azof, they annihilated for ever the ancient kingdom of the Milesians, A.D. 375. The numerous colonies of the Goths, united with the Alans, were overcome, and all their agricultural establishments were reduced to ruins. Protected by their western position, the Khersonians alone escaped.

Fortunately for the Goths of the Crimea, the Huns only passed through the country, for they were attracted to the banks of the Dniestr and the Danube by the great events which were there taking place, after the death of Ermanrich the Ostrogoth, which had just removed the only obstacle to their progress. The Goths of the Crimea, who had yielded to the torrent and retired to the mountains, again spread themselves over the country. After the death of Attila the Huns again appeared, and this time Kherson was threatened, and implored the assistance of the Greek emperor. Justinian hastened to accede to their demand, and, being also friendly to the Goths, built long walls to protect their country against the nomades of the Steppes, and two fortresses, Aloushton and Gorzubita (Alouchta and Oursouf), on the southern coast of the Crimea. He built no towns or fortresses to the north of the mountains, because the Goths did not like to be shut up within walls, but to live freely in the open country.

They had at this time the reputation of being excellent warriors, laborious husbandmen, and the most hospitable of mankind towards strangers. They then occupied both sides of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and, becoming converts to Christianity, they sent four deputies to Constantinople to ask the emperor to send them a bishop in the place of their autistes, who had died.⁠[151]

Near the end of the seventh century, A.D. 679, the Crimea was invaded by the Khazars, whose hordes at first accompanied the Huns, and afterwards established themselves in Lithuania (Bersilia), and constituted a kingdom independent even of Attila. The apparition of these new conquerors, already masters of a vast territory, made such a sensation at Constantinople, that the sovereigns of the East sought their alliance, and the court of Byzantium even asked in marriage the daughter of the Khakan, as the chief of the nation was called, for the son of the Emperor Leo.

The forebodings of the imperial government about the Khazars were quickly realized, and in the short space of 150 years, this people, who had given their name to the peninsula of the Crimea, founded a vast monarchy, the limits of which reached in Europe to the Danube, and in Asia to the foot of the Caucasus, while even the Caspian was known in the middle ages as the Sea of the Khazars.

After the Khazars, whose fall was in part hastened by the attacks of the Russians, and who then disappeared completely from history, the Petchenegues, or Patzinates, their conquerors, who are constantly mentioned in the annals of Constantinople and the early Russian history, succeeded to their dominions, with the exception of Kherson, which was incorporated in the empire of Constantinople. Under the rule of this people, who also came from Asia, the commerce and manufactures of the Crimea revived,—its relations with Constantinople increased, and its ports furnished to the merchants of the Greeks, purple, fine stuffs, embroidered cloths, ermines, and leopard skins, furs of all kinds, pepper and fine spices, which the Petchenegues bought on the south of the Kuban, and in the Trans-Caucasian countries, which extend as far as the Cyrus and the Araxes. Thus recommenced for this unhappy country, which had been so often devastated, the new era of a prosperity, which it had not enjoyed for several centuries. The empire of the Petchenegues lasted for about 150 years, and then they had to deplore similar calamities to those which they had inflicted on the Khazars. Attacked by the Comans, whom the extension of the Mongol power in Asia had expelled from their territory, they were vanquished in the struggle which ensued, and forced to retire into Asia. The Comans, a warlike people, took possession of the Crimea, and made Soldaya (Soudak) their capital. They had, however, hardly consolidated their power, when they were obliged to yield to other conquerors, and seek a refuge in more western countries.

With the expulsion of the Comans ceased all those temporary invasions, which for ten centuries desolated the Crimea. To all these different hordes, of whom the greater number have left no trace but their name, there succeeded two remarkable nations. One of these, the conqueror of Asia, was just founding the most gigantic empire of the middle ages; and the other, issuing from a merchant city of Italy, was destined to make Khazaria the centre and the point of junction of the commercial relations between Europe and Asia. In 1226 took place the memorable invasion of the Mongol Tatars, a notice of which has been already given, and from that moment the establishment of peace and security was sufficient to develope the great natural resources which this celebrated country possessed. Soldaya, taken from the Comans by the Tatars, and given back to the Christians, quickly became the most important port on the Black Sea, and a principal station in the commercial route between Europe and Asia. Soldaya, however, had but a short duration, and another people, as intelligent, and active as the Greeks, and endowed with a still bolder mercantile instinct, was, at this epoch, destined to enjoy a greater commercial grandeur than any since the time when the Milesians founded their first colonies on the Cimmerian Bosphorus. Already masters of the important factories at Constantinople, the Genoese had long been able to appreciate the position of the Black Sea, and the immense resources which it placed at the disposition of enterprising men, who might there centralize the relations of Europe with Russia, Persia and the Indies.

The rivality which then existed between them and the Venetians accelerated the execution of their projects, and in 1280, after having acquired, partly by stratagem and partly by force, the territory of ancient Theodosia, they laid the foundation of the celebrated Kaffa, which secured to the republic the empire of the Black Sea and the exclusive command of its commerce. With the Genoese, the Crimea saw revived one of the most brilliant epochs of its history. Kaffa, by its size, its population, and its opulence, became the rival of Constantinople, and soon its consuls of Cerco (Kertch), Soldaya (Soudak), and Cembalo (Balaclava), rendered themselves masters of all the southern coast of the Crimea. At a later period, they gained, beyond the peninsula, other conquests, not less important. The galleys of the republic penetrated into the Sea of Azof, and Tana, situated at the mouth of the Don, was taken from the Tatars; a fortress was erected at the mouth of the Dniestr, in Modern Bessarabia, and numerous factories rose in Colchis and the shore of the Caucasus, while the imperial town of Trebizonde itself was obliged to allow the establishment there of one of the largest factories of the republic in the Black Sea. The Genoese colonies thus became a general entrepôt for the rich productions of Russia, Asia Minor, Persia, and the Indies, and during more than two centuries monopolising to their profit all mercantile exchanges between Europe and Asia, they presented a wonderful spectacle of prosperity and riches. The term of all this glory at last arrived. In 1453 the standard of Mahomet was displayed on the dome of St. Sophia, and the relations of the Crimea with the Mediterranean were broken. The destruction of the Genoese establishments became inevitable, and the republic itself, despairing of preserving, decided upon abandoning them to the bank of St. George on the 15th November, 1453. This cession, by politically detaching the colonies from the metropolis, naturally led to fatal results. A general discouragement took place in the colonies, each man thought only of himself, and the consular government, formerly so remarkable for its integrity and virtue, instead of making friends of the Tatars to defend them from the Porte, completely alienated them by their want of good faith, and by selling their assistance for gold to the various parties who at that time were desolating the Crimea. So many faults were followed by a fatal catastrophe. On the 6th of June, 1473, Kaffa was obliged to surrender at discretion to the Turks, and some months later, all the points occupied by the Genoese fell successively into the power of the Ottomans. After the disaster of the Genoese colonies, the great lines of communication with the Trans-Caucasian countries, the shores of the Caspian Sea, and those down the Volga, the Don, and the Kuban, deprived of their support, were broken up, and all commercial relations with Central Asia were momentarily suspended. The Venetians, who had obtained from the Turks the right of navigating the Black Sea, on the condition of paying 10,000 ducats a-year, endeavoured without success to take the place of their rivals. They were in their turn expelled, the passage of the Bosphorus was interdicted to the nations of the West, and the Ottomans, with the Greeks of the Archipelago, subjects of the Porte, had alone the right of navigating the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof. The commerce of the East then found for itself new débouchés by way of Smyrna, and the discovery of Vasco de Gama produced a complete revolution in the trade.

A slight sketch of the Crimea when it formed the seat of government of the khans of Little Tatary has already been given, and during all that period the Black Sea was unfrequented by the European nations. The English, however, always had the nominal right of navigating it; there are some vestiges of our having had a footing there in the days of Queen Elizabeth or James I., and when we ceased to frequent it is not ascertained. In the treaty made in 1675 between England and Turkey by Sir John Finch, there is an express article giving a general permission of ingress and egress into the Black Sea, “to enable English merchants and all under their banner to go by the way of the Tanais into Moscovia, and also to and from Persia, and to traffic by land and by sea through all their confines.” There is even a provision for the protection of English vessels should they be forced by stress of weather into Kaffa.⁠[152]

This permission, however, remained a dead letter until the beginning of the present century, when our right to navigate the Black Sea having been claimed afresh and allowed, an active trade sprung up, which has been yearly increasing in importance.

It might naturally be expected, after so many different nations had occupied the Crimea, that its population would be of a very mixed character, and such indeed is the case. It is not, however, in the plains, which are inhabited chiefly by Nogai Tatars of late date, nor in any of the towns, that the remnants of the ancient inhabitants of the country are to be sought. The mountains are in every country the refuge of the oppressed, and it is in the mountains of the Crimea, among the so-called Tatars, who are, however, a very different race from those of the plains, that a people is to be found of very mixed origin.

CHAPTER XII. BALACLAVA AND VALLEY OF BAIDAR.

Balaclava is now a busy scene; the little bay is crowded with transports; thousands of our countrymen disembark here to exercise their perilous profession, and as many re-embark, poor wounded soldiers, shattered in constitution, or with the loss of limbs, but henceforth immortal heroes, whose deeds will be the theme of the historian and the poet, whose future welfare will be a subject of anxious solicitude to their country, and who henceforth, however humble their rank, in whatever country they visit, will be marked men; marked for honour, and distinction, and respect, from all who admire chivalrous boldness, and that still rarer quality, calm unimpassioned endurance. Sevastopol is the grandest theatre of events that has yet been seen. The audience, so to speak, is the largest, and, for the first time, really comprehends the whole world. Even the wars of Napoleon were a subject of little interest in China, or Australia, or California; but each swaying to and fro of the mighty combatants at Sevastopol interests literally the whole globe, and that interest is doubled by the speed with which the news is carried, and the increased knowledge which all nations now possess of each other.

When I visited Balaclava before the present war, nothing could be more quiet than this little port, and a few Greeks sauntering about, or exercising their peddling occupations in the village bazar, were the only persons to be met with. Yet even then, like most out-of-the-way places in the world, there were some representatives of the British nation to be found, and I was asked to go and visit a crew of shipwrecked English sailors in the lazaretto, who had been saved with difficulty on the rocks at the entrance of the harbour. The ship had struck; the poor fellows were thrown on a ledge of the cliffs, where they remained for nearly a day and a night before they could be rescued; yet when they were brought in at last, exhausted, and at death’s door, nothing could induce them to touch the hot brandy that was brought them, lest they should break their pledge as teetotalers. It was impossible not to admire in them that British firmness of purpose, which was the same quality which showed itself in the defence of Inkerman, however mistaken in this application of it.

Balaclava is the only bay on the southern coast resembling those about Sevastopol, where the land rises suddenly on each side, and the water is so deep that the largest ships may anchor close to the shore. On approaching it from the East, the geological formation is seen at once to change in its vicinity; the summits of the rocks are still, like the rest of the Tauric chain, calcareous; but they have been changed by violent action into red, blue, and grey marbles, below which reappears the coarse red pudding-stone of the Tchatyr-Dagh mountain, while a great rent, which opens on the sea, and was called the Valley of the Devil (Shaitan Déréh), shows a black or yellowish schist. I will here quote the words in which Dubois describes his arrival on this singular spot: “Each step,” he says, “in approaching Balaclava is an enigma to me, such an inconceivable disorder reigns among these masses of pudding-stone with enormous pebbles, which alternate with layers of marble and sandstone; and the marble finishes this strange series, which seems like a world turned topsy-turvy. When arrived at the top of the sterile mountain that overhangs Balaclava, I cry out with astonishment, What are these white antique towers perched on the top of rocks descending so rapidly to the water? What is this brilliant lake shut in by the steep mountains? And that red promontory reflected in the waves of the sea? Can this be Balaclava? Nothing but ruins are visible, where then is the town? Contemplating with admiration this romantic scene, I descended the mountain, looking continually for the town, of which I saw no vestige. My guide at last directed me suddenly to the left, and like magic, I found myself in Balaclava, which, placed on the narrow strip of land between the mountain with the ruins and the tranquil bay, is not seen till it is entered.”⁠[153]

Like many other places in the Crimea, Balaclava has a very ancient history. Our first notice of it is in the dim twilight of archaic times. We have the high authority of Karl Ritter for supposing that it is the port of the Læstrigons mentioned in the Odyssey; and the extreme accuracy of Homer’s description of it, as will be presently more fully shown, seems to make Ritter’s supposition extremely probable. But before entering into the particular identification of Balaclava, I will shortly state what Ritter’s views are as to the part which the shores of the Black Sea played in very early times.⁠[154] He has undertaken to prove, from the most ancient monuments which are offered to us by ancient geography, archæology, mythology, architecture, and religious systems, that colonies of Indian priests, having departed with the ancient worship of Buddha from the centre of Asia, came directly or indirectly, before the historic times of Greece, to establish themselves on the banks of the Phasis, around the Euxine Sea, in Thrace, on the Ister, and in many countries of Western Europe, and even in Greece; that these colonies exercised a remarkable religious influence, and that these facts are proved, not only from the relations of the Asiatics, but principally from the study of the most ancient fragments of the historians of Greece and Asia Minor. We in Europe, receiving our lights from Greece, are habituated to adopt all the illusions of the national pride of the Greeks; and, according to them, Greece was the focus of all light, whence science, and civilization, and religion had their origin. But in looking back to their myths, in reading Homer, and the history of the Argonauts, and of Phrixus and Helle, and others, it would seem that the Greeks were always civilized by those whom they called barbarians. The king and the people who received the Argonauts, the Tyrians, the Trojans, were all superior in civilization to the armies of adventurers, who, like the Normans of the middle ages, came to plunder them, in violating the laws of hospitality. All the ancient poets and historians seem to have chosen the Black Sea for the theatre of the exploits of their heroes. All their relations look towards it as the point whence civilization and wealth proceeded. Up to our days the wanderings of Ulysses, in the 10th, 11th, and 12th Books of the Odyssey, were supposed to be on the shores of Italy and Sicily. There were sought the Læstrigons, the Cyclops, and Scylla and Charybdis; but this is certainly wrong, and the poet wished to make Ulysses wander on that inhospitable shore, which appeared to him at the extremity of the world. The moment that Ulysses reaches the coast of the Læstrigons, we must recognize ourselves as on the shores of the Black Sea. Their country can be no other than the barbarous Crimea, and he evidently called the Tauri the Læstrigons, from the Greek “lêstês,” meaning pirate or brigand.

After leaving them, Ulysses was driven on a low coast, the island of Æa, where the enchantress Circe reigned, the sister of Æetes. This was evidently Colchis or Mingrelia, which may be easily recognised by the broad river (the modern Rion) which received the fleet of Ulysses, the vast forests which covered its banks, and the palace hidden in the trees, which exactly represents the Nikolakévi of our days. The wine there is as tempting as ever, the honey as fresh, and the women still pass their time in embroidery as in the time of Homer. From the beauty of the country and its inhabitants it is still the land of enchantment.

That there may be no mistake about the position of Æa, here the poet places the palace of Aurora in which take place the songs and dances of the Hours, and where the sun renews its birth. After leaving Colchis Circe sends Ulysses to consult the oracle of the infernal gods, and when the hero has crossed the empire of Neptune, which he thinks the end of the world, he finds a coast of easy access, shaded with high poplars and sterile willows, where are the habitations of the Cimmerians covered with thick clouds and black obscurity.

The Cimmerians, we know from later authors, lived at Kertch and in the island of Taman, at the extremity of the Black Sea, which to Ulysses appeared the end of the kingdom of Neptune. There he is described as finding one of the entrances to the infernal regions, and there to this moment exist the springs of black and burning naphtha, which roll their stinking waters like the Cocytus and the Acheron; and there also are the mud volcanoes, belching forth a mixture of fire and water, which have altered the form of all the country round.

Then Ulysses returns to Circe, and starts for Ithaca, and leaves the Black Sea by passing through Scylla and Charybdis, which closed the entrance with their rocks surrounded by whirlpools. These are the islands of the “blue Symplegades,” familiar to all who have passed from Constantinople to the Crimea, standing at the entrance of the Bosphorus; and Homer cannot mean the straits of Messina, because he says that the only ship which had passed these straits was the Argo, when it went to Colchis on the expedition for the golden fleece.

Thus it seems almost beyond a doubt that the shores of the Black Sea were the mysterious regions where some of the scenes of Homer were laid, and in parts of which in the very earliest times, as in Colchis, were settled highly civilized communities. Let us now observe Homer’s description of Balaclava, as Pope has translated it:—

It is impossible to give a truer or clearer picture of Balaclava than that which was thus drawn by old Homer nearly three thousand years ago. The two high rocks which advance into the bosom of the waves, and seem approaching to embrace one another, are there, and only leave a narrow passage turned towards the south, which barely allows two vessels to cross one another. Its width is eight hundred feet and its greatest depth one hundred fathoms, and the water of the bay looks very black. When the narrow passage is passed, the port enlarges to a width of twelve hundred feet, and its depth goes on diminishing from ninety to six fathoms, its entire length being nearly a mile.

This bay is a phenomenon in geology, deeply encased as it is at its entrance in rocks of calcareous marble and pudding-stone, and finishing in a black schist, which opens on a basin of chalk.

Wherever Ulysses landed, whether on the right hand or the left, terrible rocks border the shore; and after scaling them, he could only see, as we do now, an unfruitful rocky soil, with no plants but a few juniper trees, and no trace of the labour, either of men or oxen. The smoke could alone show him the town of the Læstrigons hidden in the rocks.

Homer then continues:—

The herald and the two companions whom Ulysses sent, whether they went to the right or the left, must have come out on the chalky valley of Balaclava, where the people, as is done to this day, export the spoils of the forests on the neighbouring mountains, while the environs of Balaclava are quite naked. By following this road they arrived at the extremity of the port, where is still the only spring of water, or, as it was then called, the fountain of the nymph Artacia, which was free to all the citizens. The younger daughter of Antiphates, the King of the Læstrigons, showed them the lofty gates of a palace which touched heaven, which stood no doubt where now are the ruins of the fortress of Balaclava. This was the palace of her father, which had been built by Lamus, an ancient King of the Læstrigons.

The savage Antiphates, faithful to the character which the ancients always attributed to the Tauri, seized one of the ambassadors to devour him, while the other two fled away. Meanwhile the alarm had been given in the town; the people had seen the fleet of Ulysses enter, and they rushed to it from all parts.

Balaclava was called the port of Symbols by the Greeks, and this name was corrupted into Cembalo by the Genoese, and the place was taken by them from the Greek dukes of the Crimea in 1365, and they then built the fortress which now exists, and by their enterprise greatly increased the commerce of the port. In 1433, the Greeks, who had remained at Cembalo, having conspired, drove out the Genoese, and replaced the town and castle in the hands of a noble Greek, called Alexis, the lord of Theodori (Inkerman). He was driven out in the following year by Charles Somellin, who was sent from Genoa with a fleet of twenty vessels, further augmented in passing through the Greek islands, so that he arrived with 6000 men.

In 1475 Balaclava experienced the fate of Soudak, and was taken by the Turks, who gave it up uninjured to the Tatars, by whom it was held for several centuries, till they were driven out by its present inhabitants, the Arnaout Greeks, in 1780.

When Catherine II. took the Crimea, the Tatars were still a powerful people, with a strong nationality. The object of Catherine was to break this up, and to prepare the country for the future habitation of the great Slave people. She, therefore, encouraged as many of the inhabitants of the Crimea, as she could influence, to emigrate, and appealing to the religious sentiments of the Greeks, and their hereditary hatred of the Turks, she called in Greek soldiers to assist her in expelling the Tatars that were refractory.

A regiment of Albanians was raised, chiefly from the Greeks who had been in the Russian service in the Archipelago, and they were first called Arnaouts at Balaclava. The Tatars having emigrated, or been dispersed, this town, together with the surrounding country, extending to the banks of the Bouiouk Ouzéne, including the villages of Kadikói, Karáni, Kámara, and Alsou (after removing the rest of the Tatar families to other places), was given to the Albanians as a settlement.⁠[155] A few years before the breaking out of the present war they numbered 600 fighting men, and each colonist was liable to be called out for four months of active service, and had the other eight at his disposal for the cultivation of his lands. Each soldier had twenty-eight roubles yearly pay (about 4l. 10s.), and found his own equipment.

The town of Balaclava has probably received its modern name from the strong Greek castle of Pallakium,⁠[156] which stood here, although some suppose it to have been taken from “Bella clava,” or “the beautiful port,” a derivation which every traveller would willingly concede as probable. It is mentioned by one Italian traveller of the seventeenth century under the name of Baluchlacca, and at that time it was inhabited by Turks, Greeks, and Armenians. “Its unrivalled beauty and security,” he says, “tempted him to stay there several days, and at that time its fine Genoese fortifications were entire.”⁠[157] This old fortress, like all the strong places of the Genoese and Greeks in the peninsula, is erected on inaccessible rocks, close to the mouth of the harbour, on the adjoining eastern hill, and is fortified with high walls and towers.

When Clarke visited this magnificent fortress, the arms of Genoa were still upon the walls. “The mountain on the north-east side,” he says, “is covered with its mouldering towers, and the rock itself has been excavated, so as to exhibit stately magazines and chambers, the sides of which were lined with coloured stucco. It is surprising,” he continues, “that the inhabitants of Balaclava do not use these caves, for they are very habitable, and the stucco is still in the highest preservation. We entered one, which was a spacious oblong chamber, lined throughout with stucco, and somewhat resembling the famous piscina mirabile, near the supposed villa of Lucullus at Baiæ. We could form no conjecture for what purpose this place was intended, except as a granary or storeroom; it bore no marks of any aqueous deposit on its sides, and was at the same time dry, and in perfect preservation; it could not, therefore, have served as a reservoir for water.”⁠[158] Might not some use be made of these dry caves for the stores of our army, if they be not situated at too high an elevation?

The port of Balaclava is frequented by fish of passage, especially by mackerel, by the mugil cephalus, in great numbers, and also by the red mullet, a most delicate fish, whether eaten in a fresh or pickled state, which is also caught in the lakes of the interior. The mackerels become as tender and savoury as herrings, after being kept twelve months in brine.⁠[159] The fishermen, when our army arrived at Balaclava, came with their nets to Lord Raglan, and offered, if they were allowed protection, to supply our army with fish, as the season was just commencing, but, from some mistake, their offer was neglected.

By the shortest road, Tchorgouna is about four miles from Balaclava, and occupies a romantic situation, in a gradually contracting valley, through which the Tchornaya Retchka discharges itself into the bay of Sevastopol. Here is, or was, a lofty octagonal tower, which dated probably from the time of the Genoese, and placed half way between Balaclava and Mangoup, was intended to keep open the communication between them, when Mangoup was an important fortress. At four miles from Tchorgouna, in a north-east direction, is the “Muilnaya gora,” or Soap-hill of the Russians, which is literally burrowed with pits for extracting the fuller’s-earth, which is found under chalky marl, at a depth of about forty feet. The soap-hill is a gentle elevation, in a broad tract of level country, about six miles wide, at the foot of the steep mountain called Mackenzie’s Farm. It received this name, because Admiral Mackenzie, who was commander of the fleet at Sevastopol, towards the end of the last century, established a farm on the summit of this mountain, for the erection of which a considerable portion of the woods was granted to him, but subsequently repurchased by the Crown for the use of the navy. The Tatar name for the mountain is Kok-agatch, from the numerous white beech trees which once covered it. The oak, Christ’s thorn, and cornel-tree also grew here, and of the latter the long pipes were made, in such request among the Turks. In spring the ground is covered with large-flowered primroses, bearing white, and yellow, and pale violet blossoms. Veronicas, euphorbias, hyacinths, broad pionies, asphodels, and yellow irises, also deck the ground in spring, and the clematis, wild vine, and wild rose may be found among the shrubs in the neighbourhood of Inkerman.⁠[160]

On leaving Balaclava for the southern coast, the traveller regains the high road, before it enters the celebrated valley of Baidar, which was much praised by the first travellers who wrote after the occupation of the Crimea by the Russians, even before its real beauties were fully known.

The valley is rather more than ten miles in length and six in breadth; so beautifully cultivated, that the eye roams over meadows, woods, and rich corn-fields, enclosed and intersected by green hedges and garden plantations. The villages are neat, and the inhabitants healthy. It is protected on every side from the winds that blow with great fury on the northern slopes of the mountains, and is irrigated by clear streams, that fall imperceptibly through the fields. The mode of enclosure, and the manner of cultivation, are like those of our own country, and there is much to remind the traveller of the vales of Kent and Surrey. The mountains, as well as the plain, were formerly thick set with oak, wild pear, crab, and cornelian cherry trees, which shaded the road, and kept off the scorching rays of the sun, but all these have now disappeared.

The domestic habits of the Tatars are very simple, and resemble those of other Oriental nations, except that they have been to a certain degree modified by contact with the Russians. When a stranger, says Clarke, arrives at a Tatar house, they conduct him to the apartment destined for the men, and present him with a bason, water, and a clean napkin, to wash his hands. They then place before him whatever their dwelling affords, of curd, cream, honey in the comb, poached eggs, roasted fowls, and fruit. After the meal is over, the bason and water are brought in as before, because all the Tatars, like the Turks and other Oriental nations, eat with their fingers, and use no forks. Then, if in the house of a rich Tatar, a long pipe is presented, of cherry-wood, which grows in the mountains, and with amber or ivory. After this, carpets and cushions are laid for the guests, that they may repose. All the houses of the Tatars, even the cottages of the poor, are extremely clean, being often white-washed. The floor is generally of earth, but smooth, firm, dry, and covered with mats and carpets. The meanest Tatar possesses a humble dwelling, one for himself and his guest, and the other for his women. They do not allow their most intimate friends to enter the place allotted for the female part of the family. With so much cleanliness, it is surprising to find the itch prevalent. It is also difficult to escape venomous insects and vermin. The tarantula, the scorpion, cockroach, lice, bugs, fleas, flies, and ants, are more or less to be met with everywhere, but, with proper precautions, the traveller need not be much incommoded by them.

A favourite beverage of sour milk, mixed with water, the yaourt of the Turks, is found in request with the Tatars, as among the Laplanders. They all shave their heads, both young and old, and wear in their houses a sort of scull-cap, over which, in winter, is placed a kind of helmet of wool, and in summer a turban. Their legs in winter are swathed in cloth bandages, like those worn throughout Russia, and their feet are covered by a kind of sandal. In summer both legs and feet are naked. Their shirts, like those of Turkey, are wide and loose at the sleeves, hanging down below the ends of their fingers. If they have occasion to use their hands, either to eat or work, they cast back the sleeve of the shirt upon the shoulder, and leave the arm bare. The jacket or waistcoat is generally of silk or cotton, and the trousers being made very large, full, and loose, though bound tight below the knee, fall over in thick folds on the calf of the leg.

They have no chairs in their houses, and a little short stool, about three inches high, is used for supporting a tray during their meals. This stool is often ornamented, either by carved work or inlaid mother-of-pearl. During the summer months the chief delight of the men consists in the open air, sleeping at night either beneath the shed before the door, or under the shade of the fine spreading trees which they cultivate near their houses. In the principal part of a Tatar dwelling there is a particular part which bears the name of Sopha. This is a platform raised twelve inches from the floor, occupying the entire side of the apartment, not for the purpose of a seat, but as a place for their household chests, the dii domestici, and heaps of carpets, mats, cushions, and clothes. The same custom may be observed in the tents of the Kalmucks.

In some things the Tatars display a taste for finery. Their pillows are covered with coloured linen, and the napkins for their frequent ablutions, which hang upon their walls, are embroidered and fringed.

If one of their guests falls asleep, although but for a few minutes, and by accident, during the day, they bring him water to wash himself as soon as they perceive he is awake. In their diet they make great use of honey, and their mode of keeping and taking bees accords with the normal simplicity of their lives. From the trunks of young trees, about six inches in diameter, they form cylinders, by scooping out almost all except the bark, and then closing their extremities with plaster or mud, they place them horizontally, piled one upon another, in the gardens for hives. They often open these cylinders to give their guests fresh honey, and the bees are detached merely by being held over a piece of burning paper, without any aid of sulphur. The honey of the Crimea is of a very superior quality; the bees, as in Greece, feeding on blossoms of the wild thyme of the mountains, and such flowers as the garden spontaneously affords. Every Tatar cottage has its garden, in the cultivation of which the owner finds his principal amusement. Vegetation is so rapid, that, in two years, vines not only shoot up so as to form a shade before the doors, but are actually laden with fruit. They delight to have their houses as it were buried in foliage. These, consisting only of one story, with low flat roofs, beneath trees which spread numerous branches quite over them, constitute villages, which, at a distance, are only known by the tufted grove in which they lie concealed. When the traveller arrives, not a building is to be seen; it is only after passing between the trees, and beneath their branches, that he begins to perceive the cottages overshadowed by an exuberant vegetation of the walnut, the mulberry, the vine, the fig, the olive, the pomegranate, the peach, the apricot, the plum, the cherry, and the tall black poplar; all of which, intermingling their clustering produce, form the most beautiful and fragrant canopies that can be imagined.⁠[161]

Through this beautiful valley, now devastated by contending armies, the high road, called the Woronzof road, leads past the villages of Miskomia and Arnoutka, to reach the southern coast, and crosses the mountain barrier, which shuts out the valley from the sea by the pass of Phoros, which, till the road was made, was only accessible by stone stairs cut in the rock, perilous alike to man and beast.

CHAPTER XIII. THE SOUTHERN COAST, AS FAR AS ALOUCHTA.

From the top of the pass of Phoros, over which a good macadamised road has been made, the traveller enjoys his first glimpse of the celebrated southern coast of the Crimea.

The sea lies at his feet at the distance of a mile, and the high precipitous mountains, which rise in an amphitheatre on his left hand, recede a short distance from the coast, and leave a narrow margin of fertile country, with a climate like that of Greece or Italy. The glittering haze of the blue sea, the balmy air, the lofty mountains, with clear outline drawn against a cloudless sky, and softened by the delicate tints of a southern atmosphere, are natural phenomena of which no description can give an idea, but which once seen enrich the mind with a new stock of images. To a traveller who like myself had just left the shores of Greece, this beautiful region seemed like a continuation of the same scenery. I felt pleasure at the view stretched out before me, but not that astonishment which many travellers from the north have expressed. The country from here to Alouchta is, however, quite an exceptional region, and although I think the coast of Italy about Amalfi, the south of Sicily, Corfu, or the bay of Corinth, offer spots still more striking and beautiful, there is nevertheless a great charm in the wildness and richness of the Crimean coast.

We cannot be astonished at the Russians themselves being much struck with it, for after a weary journey over the flat steppes from Petersburg or Moscow, the total change which it presents to the gloomy and monotonous aspect of their own country must make it seem to them like a land of enchantment. The temperament of the Russians also, like that of all the Slavonic race, is highly poetical, and it is no wonder that they should be strongly affected by their first glimpse of a southern land—that they flock to the only spot in their empire (except the Caucasus) where they can feel the genial warmth and admire the beauties of the Mediterranean region, or that they covet a larger share of those countries where such charms can always be enjoyed.

The climate of the southern coast is completely different from that of every other part of the Crimea. To the north of the mountains, even as far as Balaclava and the valley of Baidar, there is always a severe winter, and the ground, as we too well know, is covered with snow. But when once the pass of Phoros is crossed, the climate entirely changes. No snow ever falls on the sea region, but a perpetual spring reigns there. Thus our poor soldiers, during this lamentable winter, have been within a few miles of a genial climate, where they would have wanted no warm clothing and no huts. The call of duty, the necessity of guarding the trenches and watching Sevastopol, has kept them at a tantalizing distance from it. It may indeed be a matter of doubt, whether, if our army had left Sevastopol in November, and then entered into winter quarters on the southern coast, we should not have been as far advanced towards taking the place as we now are. Its capture depends upon beating the army in the field; and if the bivouac on the Chersonese could have been avoided, we should now have a complete army of veterans, instead of the skeleton regiments which survive. Unfortunately also the mountains jut out to the sea between Balaclava and the southern coast, thus preventing any communication with it, except through the Valley of Baidar. Were this not the case, perhaps some warm spot might have been occupied, where at least the sick and convalescent might have regained their health and strength.

From Phoros there runs an excellent macadamised road all the way along the coast for forty miles to Alouchta, which was made by Mr. Hunt, an English gentleman, who came over to superintend the building of the palace of Prince Woronzof, at Aloupka. On descending from the pass of Phoros, the road leads to the left, but before we follow it we will visit one beautiful site to the right, the furthest on the southern coast before the mountains reach the sea. This secluded nook, being out of the high road, is seldom visited, although it was a favourite spot in early Greek times.⁠[162]

The sheltered little valley of Laspi has been created by an igneous agency, which has detached Mount Ilia from the principal Tauric chain, to which it is united by a ridge of schist and sandstone, about six hundred feet broad. On the top of this ridge arise at intervals about a dozen enormous aiguilles, forty or fifty feet high, which look as if, like Stonehenge, they belonged to some gigantic work of man. Here, however, a close inspection shows them to be natural, as the strata of the neighbouring mountains are vertical, and these are débris of rocks of similar formation, that were raised up in this way at the time of the convulsion which tore away Mount Ilia.⁠[163] All the way from Phoros to Laspi, the ground, although a labyrinth of trees and verdure, is covered by vast blocks of porphyry, and in some places there are jets of it rising to the height of a thousand feet.

The ancient village of Laspi was on the side of the valley, high up on the connecting ridge, touching the aiguilles, and its inhabitants thus enjoyed a magnificent view over the valley and the sea, and far away along the coast on the other side of the bay, which is terminated by the promontory of Mount Aia. Just below the village are the ruins of a church of the early Christian times, surrounded by a cemetery in which are tombs in the shape of long sarcophagi, with a square tower at the head, entered by a small door, which is finished above in a triangle. Over this a cross is sculptured, and some attribute, as a pastoral staff, or a Tatar hatchet with two edges, a pick-axe, a spur, a plough, or a table,⁠[164] emblematic of the occupation of those who sleep below. These tombs belonged to the Greeks, who inhabited many places in this part of the Crimea;⁠[165] but there are no inscriptions remaining here, except one of the late date of 1772. Around the church of the cemetery are the ruins of houses and esplanades, with allées of fruit-trees now become wild, among which one observer counted not less than five thousand plum-trees.

The village of Laspi, true to the ancient Greek traditions, according to which they placed their temples on elevated sites, whence the majesty of the gods might be recognised from all parts, had on the summit of Mount Ilia a church which might be recognised from the vast plains of the sea around it, dedicated to St. Elias, and still a favourite place of pilgrimage. From the top of the ridge it is easily approached by a winding path across the mossy turf, on each side of which are the ruins of houses. The church, now a ruin, occupied the highest point of the mountain, and near it is a sacred cavern, vaulted with the stone of Inkerman, of which the church itself was built. A sculptured cross marks this as a Christian construction, and a warm damp air that escapes from it is the cause of the superstition attributing to it miraculous powers for the recovery of health. A sheer precipice is in front, and the view from it splendid.⁠[166]

From ancient Laspi the road descends through a fine wooded valley to modern Laspi, an estate belonging to General Potier,⁠[167] and one of the most beautiful along the southern coast. It is placed in the centre of the amphitheatre of mountains, which terminate on each side respectively in Mount Ilia and Mount Aia; the view all around is delicious, and the sea advances to the port of Laspi, which is commodious and safe for the exportation of the timber of the surrounding forests. The valley in ancient times was thickly peopled, and the ruins of seven villages have already been discovered. In the month of February there was no frost, the yellow crocuses were in full flower, and, with the exception of two rainy days, the weather was constantly beautiful. Mr. Rouvier, the father-in-law of General Potier, introduced the vine here, and brought his plants from Malaga.⁠[168] On the summit of Mount Aia there are the remains of an ancient fortress, and beyond the mountain, between it and Balaclava, is another little valley, filled with ruins, but now uninhabited.

Returning to the high road at Phoros we travel to Kíkineis, over twenty versts of a road comparatively uninteresting, since it is bounded on the side of the mountains by a regular precipice of Jurassic limestone, from five hundred to eight hundred feet high, which, having as an understratum a crumbling schist, is continually falling down in huge masses, which sometimes bury whole villages.⁠[169] Pallas observes that the Tatar mountaineers of the three villages of Kíkineis, Liméne, and Simëis, have a strange physiognomy, different from that of all the other inhabitants of Crim Tatary. Faces of uncommon length, as well as arched noses exceedingly long, and a high head compressed with a view to render them unusually flat, all contribute to produce diversified caricatures, so that the greater part of these persons have distorted countenances, and the least deformed resemble the figures of Satyrs. There was an ancient habit of the Genoese that may perhaps account for their peculiarities. They had adopted from their predecessors, the Moors, the custom of compressing the heads of the new-born infants about the temples, so that perhaps these villagers, with their singular faces, are the remaining descendants of the ancient Genoese who inhabited the Crimea, and, notwithstanding the lapse of time, have preserved their extraordinary visages. It is farther remarkable that the hair and beards of these mountaineers are almost uniformly light reddish or even flaxen; a circumstance seldom occurring in the Crimea. It is certain all the inhabitants who at present occupy the villages situated on the southern coast, though regarded as Tatars, are nevertheless the offspring of other nations, who have either landed here or have been driven thither from the interior, and who were strangers to the later race, but especially to that of the Mongols; hence the original natives of Crim Tatary consider them as aliens, and point them out by the contemptible name of Tat.⁠[170]

From Kíkineis to Aloupka is twelve versts, or about eight miles, and between them lie Liméne and Simëis, with very ancient olive-groves and splendid fig-trees, and country houses occupying each favourable spot.⁠[171] Liméne was one of the most important fortresses along the coast, placed on a high, steep rock, only approachable by one path, and defended by a strong wall, the construction of which the Tatars attributed to the Genoese.

Liméne is about three English miles from Kíkineis, and here the traces of a violent volcanic action are apparent. The whole space, from the top of the mountains to the sea below, is covered with stupendous blocks of stone thrown pell-mell one upon another, some even half-buried in the sea, whence only their tops are visible beaten by the waves; one of the largest of these erratic blocks is called Pánea, and upon it are the ruins of an ancient castle. The agents of all these convulsions are to be seen in two jets of porphyry, which, piercing through the schists underlying the limestone, have struck against the stupendous walls of the limestone itself, which forms the flat table-land or yaila of the mountains above. In one place the yaila is broken, and through the limestone there appears forced up the schists and the porphyry mixed together in a paste, which proves that they were in a liquified state when the jets arose.⁠[172]

Passing on now a few miles further through the same kind of scenery we come to Aloupka, the seat of Prince Woronzof, where he has built a magnificent palace on a spot where the rocks approach very near to the sea, and are tossed about with great violence. The promontory of Aithídor is seen to the East jutting out into the sea, and giving a curve to the coast, which adds greatly to its beauty; while immediately behind the palace rises Mount Ai Petri, or Mount St. Peter, to a height of nearly four thousand feet.⁠[173]

The strata of schist, from the promontory to the mountain, may be seen rising in a great arch up to about thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, heaved up by the volcanic rocks which are seen beneath, and bearing on its stupendous span the limestone aiguilles which form the mountain.

The palace of Aloupka is built after the design of Mr. Blore, the English architect, in the Moorish style, and was at first intended to be a small villa, which afterwards grew to be a vast palace. The whole exterior is faced with a green granite, which is extremely difficult to cut, but takes a beautiful polish. In consequence of the immense labour required to work it, the green sandstone from Nikita and Oursouf, which is soft and of the same colour, has been used for the less important parts of the buildings. The palace stands at the height of about one hundred and fifty-five feet above the level of the sea, and the gardens descend to the shore. Behind it the mountains rise at once precipitously, so that there is no room for the stables, which were intended to have been built on the other side of the public road running close behind the palace. The gardens and the park extend to the east of it, where the view is more open, in the direction of Miskhor, and here cascades, and fountains, and lawns, and shady thickets succeed one another. The vegetation is most luxuriant, and the trees grow to an enormous size. M. de Castelnau measured three walnut trees, which were respectively sixteen, eighteen, and twenty-one feet in circumference, and an olive tree, at four feet from the ground, measured eleven feet round, and several vines from two to three feet.⁠[174] There are also two remarkable cypresses, said to have been planted by Prince Potemkin, when the Empress Catherine visited the Crimea in 1787. In the midst of all this vegetation vast masses of granite rock are seen lying about, in some places piled into grottoes, or bordering the edges of a beautiful little lake, fed by the purest streams, and inhabited by a number of trout. Behind the garden the visitor is led to a very different scene, which is the solution of the whole enigma of the appearance of the surrounding country. Here is a large hollow basin, filled with masses of granite of every conceivable shape, both angular and rounded, forming the crater of a volcano, while around rise the perpendicular walls of schist, through which the fiery agent forced its way. There is a second crater like this near the village of Aloupka, and both have a depression on the south side, next the sea. The explanation of these phenomena appears to be, that the granite formed a solid bed, which, by a violent commotion from underneath it, was broken and forced up to the point of eruption, and some of the blocks rolling down over the ground as far as the sea-shore, are scattered over the garden, and give to it so picturesque an appearance.

Such is the character of this singular spot, which has been chosen by the venerable Prince Woronzof as his favourite residence, and in which he hoped to spend the declining years of his life. No man in Russia holds so high a position in public estimation as Prince Woronzof, who is valued equally by the Emperor and the people. He was born at Petersburg, but educated in England, where his father was for a long time ambassador, and afterwards lived till his death as a private individual. His son, the present Prince Michael Woronzof, remained here till he was sixteen years old, when he entered the military service, and from an early age has held high appointments in the service of his country. When Russia was pressed for money, at the commencement of the revolutionary wars, father and son placed a considerable portion of their immense fortunes at the disposal of the late Emperor Alexander, and materially assisted in relieving his financial difficulties. At the age of twenty the son was “chef d’état-major” to General Tiziánof when Georgia was taken, and the Russian army narrowly escaped annihilation before Erivan, by cutting their way during the night through the Persian force which surrounded them. He greatly distinguished himself in the wars of Napoleon, and commanded a division of 12,000 men at the battle of Borodino, in which he was severely wounded, and had the whole of his division cut to pieces, so that I have heard that the next morning a serjeant-major was left in command of the survivors, all the officers having been either killed or wounded.⁠[175] He commanded the Russian cavalry at the battle of Leipsic, and offered so obstinate a resistance to Napoleon himself at the battle of Craon, in the campaign of 1814, as to elicit from the emperor the flattering observation, “Voilà le bois dont on fait des maréchaux.” He subsequently commanded the Russian army of occupation in France after the peace of 1815, and when, on leaving, many of his officers, seduced by the temptations of that delightful country, had contracted debts, and left the country without paying, he, in order to save the honour of the Russian name, ordered all the bills to be brought to him, paid them out of his own pocket, and burnt the whole of them. For the last twenty-five years he has been Governor-general of New Russia, and governor of Bessarabia, and in 1844 was made Lieutenant⁠[176] of the Emperor in the Caucasian provinces, commander-in-chief of the army of the Caucasus,⁠[177] and admiral of the Caspian Sea, so that he held the supreme command over all the country from Poland to Persia.

Since his assumption of the reins of government in the Caucasus, the whole aspect of the country has changed. Towns have been built, roads made, peculation checked, honourable feelings stimulated in the officers, and the condition of the private soldiers greatly improved. The natives have been raised to a level with the Russians, and all have been alike treated with respect and urbanity. He displayed administrative abilities of the highest order, and possessed the rare quality of securing the affection and raising the tone of all around him. The soldiers admired him for his calm intrepidity, and loved him for his never-failing generosity and kindness, and the officers feared him for his inflexible justice. Those who hated the Russian name made an exception in his favour, and the chivalrous Georgians would have died to serve him; in short, I never yet have met an individual in whom the fundamental virtues of courage, prudence, generosity, and magnanimity were enhanced by such acute sagacity, such delicate refinement of sentiment, such simplicity of manners, and a modesty which when it survives the trial of power is the surest sign of a superior mind.

A German poet once observed to me that although the general average of them was low, the most perfect women he had ever seen for charms both physical and mental were Russian women, and in the same way, although the character of the men is often chequered by various failings, we sometimes find among them wise men like Prince Woronzof, whom it is no sin to covet for our own country. Prince Woronzof, although a true Russian patriot, has always been a great admirer of England, the country of his education, and he is understood to have been much opposed to the present war between Russia and England, believing that the two countries might long have pursued their glorious careers without clashing. Intemperate pride in the ruling power on one side, and lamentable incompetence on the other, have brought about a struggle which skill and firmness would probably have averted; and the French and English have lately visited as enemies the halls of Aloupka, where in years gone by so many of their countrymen have found the heartiest welcome.

At two or three miles from Aloupka is Miskhor, the seat of the late General Leon Narishkin, a celebrated beau, who followed the prevailing fashion of having a villa on the southern coast, and a vineyard of six hundred acres, which produces a wine something like hock. Adjoining it is the estate of the Princess Galitzin, called Koureis, one of the earliest formed upon the coast. Princess Galitzin was one of a celebrated trio of ladies who, under the reign of the impressionable Emperor Alexander, first exercised a great influence at the Court, and then, turning from the world to heaven, endeavoured to form a religious society for the immediate conversion of the whole world to Christ, which they thought had been too long delayed. The poor surrounded their doors in crowds at Petersburg, for they were very charitable of alms for the body as well as the soul, and their influence rose so rapidly, that the ministers grew frightened lest the Emperor himself should join them. He was therefore induced to sign the order for their banishment to the Crimea, a sentence which they accepted with joy as a mission from heaven to evangelize the Tatars.

The other two ladies were the celebrated Madame de Krudener and a mysterious personage who went under the name of the Countess Guacher.

After their arrival in the Crimea, the police soon put an end to all their efforts at conversion, and Madame de Krudener died within a year, worn out by her strong religious feelings, which were not permitted to exercise themselves. The Princess Galitzin renounced the russet conventual dress which she had adopted, and the mystic principles of Madame de Krudener, to return to the free Voltairian ideas in which she had been brought up. Endowed with a masculine intellect, a prodigious memory, wonderful powers of conversation, once the admiration and fear of Paris and Petersburg, and possessing an immense fortune, she made herself the centre of a little court of beaux esprits at Koureis, and lived there till her death in 1839. Her daughter married the Baron de Berckheim, and is a permanent resident on the coast. The third of the trio, the Countess Guacher, gave up her dress as a nun and her religious enthusiasm very soon after her arrival, and lived at a romantic cottage on the wild sea-shore, perfectly secluded, and only seen occasionally in her gallops along the beach. Both she and Princess Galitzin adopted a kind of male attire suited to their independent mode of life. When she died, after a few years, it was discovered that she was the Countess de la Mothe, who was publicly whipped and branded on the Place de la Grève as an accomplice in the scandalous affair of the diamond necklace of Marie Antoinette.⁠[178]

At each moment from this spot the coast widens, and leaves a greater space between the overhanging mountains and the sea. Around the little village of Gaspra the ground undulates prettily, and every spot is cultivated, and covered with rich woods, orchards, vineyards, and gardens, in the midst of which peep out villas and country houses. It resembles a view in the neighbourhood of Naples. On the top of a hill not far from the road and near some old ruined fortresses is an ancient monument we should little expect to find in Crim Tatary, namely, rocks piled up exactly like the Celtic remains of Brittany and Cornwall.⁠[179]

Beyond Gaspra the road winds inwards in order to pass the high limestone strata of the promontory of Aithodor. A wild path of two miles leads from the road to the summit of the promontory, in the midst of oriental juniper-trees and ruins at every step. On the top are five columns of white marble, and the remains of an ancient monastery, which probably occupies the site of some ancient Greek temple, placed like that at Sunium. Beyond it is Mourgoudoú or Oriánda de Witt, the palace of Count de Witt, built on a terrace nine hundred feet above the sea, and forming a fantastic assemblage of buildings in a mixed oriental Gothic and Greek style. Around it is a kind of natural park, in which splendid trees grow on the broken ground interspersed with enormous masses of rock at the foot of the precipice of Mount Megábi, and here the arbutus and juniper-tree grow to an enormous size.

The width of the plain is here nearly four miles, and Mount Megábi rises in the midst of it, and close to the sea-shore is the spot chosen by the Emperor Alexander to build a retreat, which he called Oriánda. In the midst of the picturesque chaos peculiar to the coast, he formed an English garden, and planted a vineyard and olive-grounds near the modest dwelling-house. The late emperor, however, erected here a splendid palace, having the disposition of an old Greek house, and richly ornamented with wall-painting. The celebrated Schinkel was the architect, and a beautiful work has been published upon it at Berlin. Its low situation on the sea-shore, with high cliffs and tall trees overshadowing it, render it gloomy, but suited to the health and taste of the Empress Dowager of Russia, who has spent here several winters. In the grounds are shown two celebrated fig-trees seventy feet high. Here the Emperor Alexander intended to retire, surrounded by his friends, to whom he meant to allot estates near his own. His sudden death put an end to these projects, and Marshal Diébitch, who afterwards commanded in the Turkish and Polish wars, was the only one who had already received a property of about one hundred acres adjoining the emperor’s garden. Just where the two estates meet is a precipitous hill, with many traces of a settlement of the ancient Tauri, whose acropolis occupied its summit. At a mile from Oriánda is the little Greek village of Livadia, which now belongs to Count Leon Potócki, and near it is the castle of Outchansoú, in a gloomy gorge of the mountains, which was used by the Turks as a prison, for which it was well suited.

About three miles further on is the port of Yalta, which is quite a new town, in an admirable position, whence in time of peace steamers ply regularly to and from Odessa. Its proximity to the finest scenery of the coast, a good port, and a charming situation, make Yalta the great rendezvous of the tourists, who flock in great numbers to the Crimea during the summer season. The quay then presents an animated scene, and small craft from all parts lie at anchor in the little bay. Nothing then can be more pleasing than the effect of the white town placed at the extremity of the bay, surrounded by rich scenery, with the high crests of the hills behind, also covered with verdure. The elegant buildings, the handsome hotels, and the general appearance of the population, all announce it as a town favoured by the rich and pleasure-seeking. In fact Yalta depends entirely upon tourists, who fill the hotels for several months, and rich people who live in its neighbourhood. There is here a custom-house and a garrison. The valley of Yalta is very beautiful, and there is nothing on the whole coast more grand than to look down upon it in descending the hill from Magaratch, stretched out in a noble amphitheatre at the foot of the precipices of the Tauric chain.

Mount Megábi is then in front, with the village and vineyards of Aoutka at its foot; and Oriánda and Cape Aithodor may be seen behind it. On the right looking down upon Yalta, a great promontory of the Tauric chain, called Mount Yoprákl, about four thousand feet high, divides the valley into two parts, and at its foot is the little village of Derekoi, hidden by the trees. The right branch of the valley is called Ai Vassili; and a village whence it takes its name is situated at the foot of Mount Lapata.⁠[180] To judge by the steep rough aspect of this mountain one would not imagine that down its sides is one of the principal roads leading from Baktchéserai to the coast. The road as far as Ai Vassili follows the course of a rivulet, and the surrounding country has the appearance of a natural English park, with magnificent trees and cascades. At Ai Vassili the gardens are filled with date plum trees, ash, turpentine trees, figs, and walnuts. Around the village and above it are seen the sandstone and the schists, and the oak and the elm cover the ground, but at the height of one thousand feet the limestone is reached, and the Tauric pine takes the place of other trees, and grows to a great size. It lasts over the first layers of the limestone for about seven hundred feet, and is succeeded by the beech and wich elm.

Above these is the naked summit of the mountain, and then on passing a narrow gorge in the rocks, the traveller emerges on one of the mountain plains, called Yailas. As far as the crest of the mountain, the sunny landscape of the valley of Yalta in all its beauty is spread out, with a glorious expanse of sea beyond it shining through a warm and clear atmosphere. Upon the Yaila everything becomes changed in a moment, and to the warm rays of the sun succeed a cold damp air and the thick icy fog of a northern region. To mark the road across it, lest travellers should lose their way, heaps of stones are placed at distances of twenty yards, as far as the woods on the northern slope which extend nearly to Baktchéserai.

But to return to Yalta. The road on leaving the town ascends a hill, and on the left are some Cyclopean remains, the stones of which have been partly removed to build the new pier at Yalta. At the top of the hill is the church of Marsánda, which has been rebuilt by Prince Woronzof, in the Doric style, on the ruins of an ancient chapel famous for its spring of water, which bubbled forth beneath the altar. The spring still follows its ancient course undisturbed, and escapes from the church by an arch in the wall, and here the weary traveller may refresh himself with a cool draught, and rest under the fine trees which surround the church, among which is one of the largest and most venerable oaks on the whole southern coast. Near it is the village of Magaratch, which the crown has divided among a number of wealthy colonists, who have planted vineyards and built houses, and form an agreeable little society of their own.

About three miles further on is Nikita, where are the Imperial botanical gardens, a vast establishment for experiments on acclimatation and practical studies on the plants and trees which might be profitably introduced into the Crimea.⁠[181] Here on the public road may be observed distinctly the three formations of which the Tauric chain is composed, and which have been raised up by volcanic action. First the schists from the sea to the road, then the sandstone, and above that all the strata of the jurassic limestone.⁠[182]

After passing Cape Nikita and the mountain of St. Daniel, which belongs to Prince Woronzof, we enter the valley of Ourzouf, the Gorzubita of ancient times, where the emperor Justinian built a castle, the walls and towers of which still crown an immense rock on one side of the valley. The part built by Justinian is easily distinguished from a second system of defence round it, which appears to be Genoese, on the walls of which Pallas saw embrasures for cannon which have since disappeared. The country here is still extremely rich, and the view from the ruins magnificent. Enormous walnut trees, fig-trees, and poplars, form labyrinths of verdure, and here is situated the retreat which the Duke de Richelieu, the second founder of Odessa, created for himself among the wild Tatar population, when as yet there was no road along the coast. This was the first of the modern Russian attempts at colonisation on the coast, and the Duke bought this estate in 1817, with rights upon the village of Ourzouf for 120l. Up to 1825, this and Kutchuk Lambat and Nikita were the only European establishments in this now fashionable locality.

A mole and a tower are still visible defending the little bay of Ourzouf. The eastern side of it is formed by the mountain of Aioudágh which juts out into the sea to the height of about 1800 feet, presenting a precipice on the side of Ourzouf, and only to be ascended from the village of Partheníte, on the opposite side. On the summit are the remains of an ancient castle, the walls of which are composed of enormous blocks of stone without cement. The fortifications are in a large semicircle, the diameter wall of which is about seven hundred feet in length, and the thickness of the walls about five feet. Where the wall can be approached from the land thirteen towers defend it, but on the side of the precipice there are none.

In looking at the style of this construction, it is impossible to recognise in it a work of the Byzantine Greeks, or the Genoese, who always used lime and mortar, as may be seen in the ruins of Alouchta, Ourzouf, Soudak, Theodosia, and Balaclava. These ruins are built like those at little Castéle, Demir Kapou, and other of the most ancient remains in the Crimea. They resemble the Cyclopean walls of Kimmericum (Opouk), and the Tumuli of the Gold Mountain near Kertch, and Dubois attributes them to the Tauri, and the Tauro-Scythians.⁠[183]

This little fortress has not been inhabited since 1475, that is to say, since the destruction of the Genoese power in the Crimea, but there is no reason to think that it was ever inhabited by the Genoese or the Greeks. There is no trace of temple or other edifice within it, and the only remains of such are to be found immediately on arriving at the top of the mountain, where, nestled among some large trees, rise the ruins of a monastery dedicated to St. Constantine and St. Helen. It immediately overlooked the village of Partheníte; and Dubois, who imagines that it occupied the site of the ancient temple of the Tauric Diana, thinks that this would be a most interesting place to commence some excavations. He believes that, while the temple at Cape St. George in the Chersonese was also dedicated to the goddess, this one of Aioudágh was the particular temple where Iphigenia exercised her cruel mission; that it was here that Orestes and Pylades appeared to her; hence the bodies of the victims were precipitated from the top of the rock into the sea below; hence she gazed over the wide horizon, and watched for the vessels of her victims.⁠[184]

There has been much discussion as to the cape which was really the Kriumetôpon, or “ram face,” promontory at which Iphigenia arrived.⁠[185] Some have placed it at Ai Petri near Aloupka, others at Mount Ilia near Laspi, others at Aithodor; but Clarke, Heber, Mouravief Apostol, Koeppen, and Dubois, consider it to apply to the Aioudágh.⁠[186] Its position is very distinctly indicated by Strabo where he says, “far along the Tauric coast there detaches itself into the sea a promontory, which looks towards Paphlagonia and the city of Amastris, and this is called Kriumetôpon. Opposite to it corresponds Cape Carambis in Paphlagonia, and they divide the Euxine Sea into two parts.” “At Kriumetôpon,” says Scymnus,⁠[187] “arrived Iphigenia, when she disappeared from Aulis. The Tauri abound here, and their numerous tribes lead a wandering life in the mountains. Barbarians by their cruelties and murders, they adore a divinity which resembles them in its impious crimes.” An additional reason for believing this to have been the place alluded to by the ancients is the fact that the Tatar village at the foot of the promontory is still called Partheníte, or the village of the Virgin. Partheníte is situated in a beautiful valley, and a sandy beach enables the inhabitants still, as in the Homeric times, to draw their barks up on the land. Two little streams irrigate the orchards and fields, in which are cultivated flax and the best flavoured tobacco along the whole coast. Here is a celebrated walnut-tree of enormous size, surrounded by benches, under the shade of which the Prince de Ligne wrote the letter to the Empress Catherine, describing to her his astonishment at the extraordinary beauty of the southern coast.

Pursuing our road we come to the two Lambats, Bouiouk and Kutchuk (great and little). The word Lambat is the old Greek name of the place, and means the town of the Lamps (Lampadôn). The Little Lambat is now a village on the shore of the bay, defended from the East by the promontory Plaka, and there is in it a good anchorage. Between the two Lambats the ground is covered with ruins of every age, from the most early at the Great Lambat to the most recent on the sea-shore. It is called Halmites by Arrian, and this name may have its origin in the Greek word to leap, as rough ground on which one is obliged to leap, and it may also have some connexion with the river Alma, which rises on the other side of the Tauric chain exactly opposite the plateau on which Great Lambat is situated.⁠[188]

After passing Cape Plaka, between Great Lambat and the sea-shore is one of the most extraordinary spectacles that can be witnessed.⁠[189] There suddenly appears a place which is called, by the moderns the Chaos, and by the Tatars Sunenkáia. It is a vast assemblage of enormous masses of rock, as large as houses, and as high as towers, composed of fetid black limestone, thrown together in confusion and sometimes leaning against one another, somewhat in the same way as at the Trossachs in Scotland. In one place they look like aiguilles or pyramids, in another place like the enormous ruins of some Cyclopean edifice, while further on they have the wild and broken appearance of the moraine of a glacier.⁠[190] The shumac, the walnut, the wild vine, and many different kinds of thorns grow in the deep crevices, and push their roots down to the water that filters below. Numbers of these blocks also have fallen into the sea, and form a chain on which the waves vent their fury. The Chaos lasts for about half a mile along the sea-shore, and is terminated by the black porphyry of Cape Plaka. This great amphitheatre of confusion goes on widening for a mile and a half inland, up to Great Lambat, and on crossing the high road, and going up towards the mountains, a new Chaos is met with, composed of blocks of ophitic granite instead of the limestone. From the highest point of the mountain all through the Chaos down to the sea-shore the ground is covered with ancient ruins, and the place was evidently chosen by the barbarous population of ancient times, as one secure from attack on account of the difficult nature of the country.

Above the second Chaos may be observed the solution of the whole scene. There is the enormous mouth of a crater, whence these vast fragments, broken in the bosom of the earth, have been vomited forth. The limestone, situated upon the ophitone, was rolled down to the sea-shore, while the ophitone itself appears only at the mouth of the crater, or near it, in a disturbed state. The schist and the grey limestone, whose beds were broken by the eruption of the ophitone, have been turned into red marble at the points of contact with it, which shows it to have been erupted in a heated state. The best situation for observing these interesting phenomena, is Mount Aithodor, or the hill of St. Theodore,⁠[191] so called from the ruins of a Greek church on the summit. Hence may be contemplated, as a whole, the mighty agency by which the Tauric chain, which towers above us, has been raised up, and the igneous domes of Kastele, Ouraga, and Aithodor itself are perceived as the immense levers which have raised up Mount Babougan, and the plains surrounding it, for several thousand feet.

At a place called Karabagh, near Bouiouk Lambat, is the country-house of M. Peter de Koeppen, whose valuable works on the statistics and geography of Russia are well known.

Further on, Mount Kastele completely bars all passage along the coast, and the road is carried through a defile between it and the main chain, which the Tatars call Demir Kapou, or the gate of iron, and, according to their usual system, the Tauri had here established one of their fortresses, in the narrowest part of the gorge, to defend their settlements at Lambat.

Three walls formed the enceinte; two, about two hundred paces long, run from the perpendicular flanks of Mount Kastele, and meet a third nearly at right angles on the opposite side of the valley.⁠[192] They are composed of great blocks of granite piled one on the other without cement, and sometimes as much as six feet in thickness and in height, and the interior forms a narrow enclosure, in which are the remains of some rude edifices. Everything here shows the infancy of art, and recalls the Cyclopean constructions of Greece, or even the Gaulish camps of France and Switzerland.

On the eastern side of the Kastele, the only remains of the Greeks or Genoese, are the foundations of a little edifice outside the fort in the midst of some trees looking towards Alouchta. The Tauri are probably the builders of a second fortress much more considerable than the first, and occupying a part of the summit of the mountain. A wall, constructed without cement, here runs from north to south from one precipice to another, and encloses numerous traces⁠[193] of habitations, and fragments of pottery. The traveller, after passing the gorge, soon finds himself at the top of the descent leading to Alouchta, with the town placed on the opposite side of the valley, which here widens out again considerably, presenting its usual features of wildness and Asiatic luxuriance. Here ends the really fine scenery of the southern coast, which extends over a distance of about forty miles from Phoros to Alouchta.

CHAPTER XIV. THE EASTERN COAST AND SOUDAK.

Alouchta⁠[194] is beautifully placed on the sloping side of a gentle elevation, near the sea-shore, and the cultivation of the vine has made here rapid progress. Its situation, in a wide and fertile valley, at nearly the centre of the southern coast, must always have rendered it an important place, although the only mention of it in ancient times is with reference to the castle built here by Justinian, the remains of which are to be seen on a little hill near the sea-shore. The ancient town of Alouchta was built in front of the fort on the right bank of the river Oulou Ouzéne, but the place is now deserted and covered with the wild vine and tamarisk. Some remains may still be discovered of houses and of several Greek churches placed on the most elevated positions. The churches are nearly as large as those of Kherson; and in the principal one a semicircular apse shows that either a bishop or at least a priest of high rank presided over the clergy attached to it. Alouchta is the limit between the eastern and western coast, which are great rivals for public favour. There can, however, be no doubt that in remarkable scenery and romantic beauty the western coast has greatly the advantage. The igneous jets of ophitic granite do not come further east than Alouchta; and while the granite domes of Kastele, Aioudágh, and Liméne form promontories and bays, and sublime variations of scenery, the eastern coast is a monotonous repetition of narrow ravines, covered with meagre vegetation, of the wich elm (the commonest tree in the Crimea), the turpentine-tree, and the oriental juniper, some specimens of which measure as much as a foot and a half in diameter.

A ride of eight miles along a sterile and desert shore of the eastern coast brings the traveller to the valley of another river, called Oulou Ouzéne, the property of Mrs. Lang, who has planted vineyards and orchards, and converted it into one of the most agreeable residences along the coast. Some miles further on is the bay of Soudak, and the residence of an eccentric French lady, Mdlle. Jacquemart, who, having originally gone to Russia as a governess, and then, by her brilliant conversation and wit having gained a great reputation in the highest circles, both in Petersburg and Vienna, suddenly renounced the world, and retired to solitude on the shores of the Crimea. Marshal Marmont, in his works, tells a romantic tale about a rejected and despairing lover, who in a paroxysm of fury attempted her life; but according to Mdlle. Jacquemart’s own account the story differs wonderfully from the unpoetic truth, which was, that a Greek, whom she had never seen before, brutally attacked and nearly murdered her, as she was returning home one evening to her solitary dwelling.⁠[195]

The view of the bay of Soudak, on approaching it from the west, is very striking. Its shores present a charming rural prospect; and the valley which leads down to the water is entirely occupied with orchards and vineyards. Near the extremity of the bay, on the right, the rocks jut out boldly, and the fortifications of the old Genoese town crown the heights. Soudak, as will presently be more fully explained, was in ancient times a very important place, and its beautiful position attracted here the population of a town even in time of the ancient Greeks. The Russians, since they have possessed it, have done much injury to the ancient remains; but even the ruins of the fortress and citadel, which alone have been spared, possess great interest. The traveller threading his way among the vineyards may approach the pyramidal rock, on which is built the three stages of the vast and carefully-constructed fortress, which once protected the surrounding city of Soldaya,⁠[196] as Soudak was anciently called. The rock is inaccessible on the side of the sea, but may easily be approached from the interior of the valley, where it opens on a broad terrace, defended by an immense rampart, flanked by ten towers.

The entrance-gate is defended by an exterior work; and in front of it, where a German colony has lately been planted, there formerly stood the Genoese part of the town of Soldaya. Between the colony and the gate is a beautiful fountain, of ancient workmanship, the water of which formerly supplied the fortress; and above it is placed a bas-relief, which has been brought from the ruins, of St. George killing the Dragon, and the scutcheon of the Doge Adorno. Over the gate is an inscription, declaring it to have been built in the year 1385, when the noble and puissant lord, James Gorsevi, was the consul and castellan of Soldaya.

On entering the gate the traveller stands within the lower fortress, and finds the ground covered with ruins. Here are the immense brick cisterns which contained enough water to supply the garrison for several years; and the aqueducts of earthen tubes, which conducted the rain-water from the rocks above are still visible. Near them are the remains of some Genoese houses in the Gothic style, with dates and scutcheons; the only ones which escaped destruction when the Russians occupied the place.

Here are also the most uninteresting remains of the huge Russian barracks, to construct which, the beautiful architectural erections of the Genoese were destroyed. These barracks were built by Prince Potemkin after the conquest of the Crimea, when he entertained an idea, which was afterwards abandoned, of making Soldaya the Russian capital of the peninsula.

Beyond the ruins of the barracks, in the north-east corner of the platform, where the rock overhangs the sea with a sheer precipice, is a curious edifice, which bears traces of many styles of architecture. It must have been originally built as a mosque, because it does not look east and west, like a Christian church, but north and south, with the altar, formerly the maharab of the mosque, turned in the direction of Mecca.⁠[197] It was probably raised by the Tatars, when, in a moment of fanaticism, they drove the Greek Christians from Soudak in the beginning of the fourteenth century, as the arrangement of the parts and the style of the ornaments are of an earlier date than the Turkish occupation. In 1323, on the demand of Pope John XXII., Soldaya was restored to the Greek Christians; and it was from them that the Genoese captured it in 1365, when the Greek churches were turned into Catholic ones. In 1575 Soudak was taken by the Ottomans, and all the churches were again turned into mosques; and thus they remained till, on the conquest of the Crimea by the Russians, the mosques were once more devoted to the Greek form of Christianity. Thus this church has undergone no less than five changes of religious destination, having first been built as a Tatar-Mongol mosque, then converted into a Greek Christian church, then changed to a Latin Catholic church, then once more a mosque, and being at the present day, for the second time, a Greek church.⁠[198]

A steep path leads from near the church to the middle fortress, called Katara Koullé, built in a ledge of the precipitous rock, with the sea chafing round its base. The principal tower is constructed in the noble style of the fifteenth century.

A narrow path along the edge of the precipice leads to the third and highest fortress, called the Kiz Koullé (The Girl’s Tower), which is the real acropolis on the summit of the rock, and consists of a simple square tower, placed like the eyrie of an eagle, commanding a view of the expanse of the sea, the whole of the fortifications, the recesses of the valley, and the circuit of the ancient town of Soudak, in which the smallest details may be observed.

The eye also follows the windings of the coast as far as Kastele and Aiondagh, and wanders over the terraces of the Tauric chain that rise one above another, while turning round and looking inland, the traveller sees the Swiss colony which has replaced the Scythians, Greeks, Komans, Genoese, and Turks, and occupies the entrance of the beautiful gulf of verdure which stretches inland in the midst of the dark grey rocks.

As early as the eighth century, Soldaya, or Sougdai, the origin of which goes back to the remotest times, was the seat of a bishop, and although then depending on the empire of the East, had its own sovereign princes. Four hundred years later the Komans, an Asiatic people, driven from its seats in Asia towards the West by the hordes of Zingis Khan, arrived in the Crimea, and were the precursors of the terrible invasion of the Mongols, which occurred soon afterwards. The arrival of the Komans in their flight was fatal to the Greek establishments in the Crimea, and the princes of Soldaya were exterminated, and the conquerors seized on their capital.

The Tatars soon followed, and the Komans, after thirty years’ possession, were obliged to abandon the Crimea, and seek an asylum in the more western countries of Thrace.

Under the Tatar domination the Greeks re-entered Soldaya, which again became a Christian city, and the most important port in the peninsula. Although it was certainly tributary to the Tatars, it had a bishop, and governed itself.

In the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the Tatars of Kiptchak adopted the Mahometan religion, Musselman fanaticism predominated for a moment in the Crimea, and the Christians, driven from Soldaya, saw all their churches converted into mosques. But it is a remarkable fact, that the remonstrance of the Pope John XXII. was sufficient in 1323 to procure from Usbek Khan the restitution of the city to the Christians, and the restoration of their ancient privileges.

Thirty years had hardly elapsed when a new revolution, arising from intestine discord, annihilated in Soldaya the Greek power. On the 18th June, 1365, the Genoese, already masters of Kaffa for nearly a century, incorporated in their dominions the ancient capital of the Komans. It was then that these bold merchants, to secure the possession of the fertile country of Soudak and to defend it from the Tatars, constructed on the most inaccessible part of the rock commanding the entrance to the town the formidable fortress with three stages, that has been mentioned, crowned by the gigantic Maiden Tower (Kiz Koullé), whence sentinels were ever on the alert to watch over the port, the sea, and the neighbouring country.

The Genoese remained undisturbed possessors of their castle for more than a century; but after the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet II., and the immediate destruction of Kaffa, the capital of their colonies in the Crimea, the last hour arrived for unfortunate Soldaya. In 1475 the Turks besieged the place,—the resistance was long and obstinate, and famine alone achieved the triumph of the besiegers over the valour and heroism of the garrison. With the Genoese possession terminated the glory and prosperity of Soldaya, which had lasted for so many centuries. The population of the town was expelled and dispersed; the port, once so animated, became desert, and grass grew in the streets, formerly trodden by the elegant Greeks of Byzantium, the victorious Komans, and the proud citizens of Genoa. To all these various populations, so rich or so powerful, succeeded a feeble Turkish garrison, which witnessed during three centuries with indifference the degradation and solitude of one of the most ancient and famous cities on the shores of the Black Sea.

In 1781 the imperial eagle of the Czar floated on the towers of Soldaya, and then began, for the monuments of the Genoese colony, that destruction which everywhere characterizes the conquests of Russia. All the public and private buildings, which Pallas in his first voyage had so much admired for their beautiful architecture, disappeared, and their precious remains were used by the Muscovite Vandals to build huge barracks, which were utterly useless, and which now form themselves the most uninteresting of ruins. At this day Soldaya, utterly effaced from the list of towns and fortresses, does not possess even a guard to watch over its walls and magnificent towers with their proud inscriptions. Each year new mutilations take place, and soon there will remain none of the tablets of marble, with elegant arabesques, which adorn each tower and gateway, retracing their origin and history. Certainly the absence of all Russian authorities is the only thing that can preserve the Genoese castle from utter destruction.

Unfortunately the government seems now to wish for its preservation, and no doubt the remains of Soldaya will be threatened with entire destruction the moment an employé, having nothing to live upon but his wretched pay, becomes officially invested with the right of protecting them from the ravages of time and men.

The best view of the valley of Soudak and the surrounding country is from the monastery of St. George, placed on a high mountain, a projection from which runs into the sea, and forms the eastern side of the bay. There are few eminences in the Crimea that offer so vast and varied a landscape. Every detail of the valley is visible; and the vast fortress is below, a pyramid of ruins, without a living soul near them, except a stray traveller, or the children from the neighbouring German colony, who make it their play-ground. The coast is visible far beyond Alouchta; and in the interior of the country the dark and barren mountains are thrown pell-mell; while among them penetrates, in pleasing contrast, the bright green valley of Soudak. Here the dark foliage of the fruit-trees and the tall poplars is mixed with the pale green of the vineyards; and white houses are dotted about, each in their own domain. Although there is a considerable population, there is no town at modern Soudak; and the only spots where a few houses are placed together is near the church, where a Greek has built a hotel.

Near here, also, are the vast establishments of the wine company of the Crimea, and the house of their manager, M. Larguier, a French gentleman. As the wine company have chosen Soudak as their head-quarters, and the wine of this neighbourhood has always been famous, this will, perhaps, be a proper place to say a few words upon the cultivation of the vine in the Crimea.⁠[199] The Crimean wine company has been established to make known the different kinds of Crimean wines in the markets of the world, and to facilitate the sale of them. The production of wine has received an immense development in the Crimea since the beginning of the present century, and especially since Prince Woronzof has been governor-general of New Russia; but a great difficulty has always been found in disposing of the produce.

In all times, the Crimea has exported wine into Southern Russia. Bronevski,⁠[200] in the middle of the sixteenth century, says that Soudak had large vineyards which gave the best wine in the Crimea. De la Motraye, in 1711, speaks of a wine of Soudak, which did not differ from Burgundy in colour, and was not inferior to it in taste. He also mentions a wine of Katche (Katchik) which sparkled in the glass like Burgundy or Champagne, and was sold at a farthing a bottle. At a later period, Peyssonel, in 1762, speaks of the wines of the Crimea, and praises their excellence and abundance. They were white, light, and wholesome; and the wine of Soudak was the only one that was strong. The best qualities then came from Soudak and the banks of the Belbek, the Alma, and the Katcha. The price was about a penny a quart for the best wine of Soudak, and the Cossacks of the Ukraine and the Zaporogues bought a large quantity every year.

The wines of the Crimea could not, however, compete with those of France or Greece, and they were consumed only among the people; while the rich classes, accustomed to the wines of Sauterne, Bordeaux, Hungary, and the Rhine, despised the productions of Soudak or the Katcha, where the vine, cultivated after the Greek or Tatar method, at the best, produced only a feeble aqueous beverage, without body, and impossible to keep. The wines of the Crimea, therefore, had no reputation; the mode of making them was defective; and it was necessary that there should be a complete revolution in the whole system of culture and manufacture before the vines of this country could enter into competition with those of foreign ones.

A number of proprietors in the Crimea resolutely undertook this task, and, with Prince Woronzof at their head, spared neither money nor encouragement of every kind. They procured from Spain and France, and the Rhine, plants from the most celebrated vineyards; and Prince Woronzof collected 200 sorts, in small quantities, at Aloupka, for experiments. They also brought over good vine-dressers, and consulted the best works on the subject. The most suitable lands on the coast were carefully prepared and covered with fine plantations. Experienced persons were brought over to teach the art of treating the wines; vast cellars were built and fitted up with immense vases; in short, neither trouble nor expense were spared to perfect the qualities of the wine. The enterprise, however, still failed, because the rich continued to drink Bordeaux and Burgundy, and the common consumers the cheap wine of Soudak and the Katcha; so that the bad old kinds of Crimean wines still found a market, and the good remained unsold in the cellars of the proprietors. As a remedy, the Crimean wine company was established, with a considerable capital, managed by M. Larguier, to buy the choice wines of the proprietors, and to place itself in relation with the principal towns of Russia; to make known by their travellers the best sorts of Crimean wines; and to have dépôts in the towns; and try, by every means, to remove the prejudices against them. This was the more necessary, as the common wine-merchants, by adulteration, continually depreciated them in the public estimation. The greater part of the weak wines of Soudak and the Katcha, which they bought cheap at the time of the vintage, and carried immediately to their cellars at Moscow, and elsewhere, were mixed with all kinds of substances, and lost their reputation as soon as tasted: the pure wine was nowhere procurable.

The head-quarters of the company were fixed at Soudak, and cellars and an office were established at Simpherópol. The commencement was difficult, as relations had to be established; and only inferior sorts could at first be bought with any chance of obtaining a profit. As the proprietors had been at great expense, they asked an enormous price for the good wines; and, besides this, their quality could never be depended upon, on account of the newness of the vineyards, and the consequently uncertain and variable flavour of the grapes.

The ancient culture of the vine by the Greeks and Tatars, who looked only to quantity, was carried on entirely on the flat grounds in the bottom of valleys, which were easy to irrigate. The valley of Soudak, which runs in nearly two miles from the sea to Taraktache, was adapted for this cultivation; and no doubt the vine was planted here in the early Greek times, when Athenæon flourished where Soudak was afterwards founded. At Alouchta, also, there was then much wine made, as is evident from the immense quantity of amphoræ found there.

The other vineyards of the Crimea were on the Katcha, the Belbek, and the Alma; where the clayey or limestone soil was favourable, and the valleys easy to irrigate. The climate however was inferior to Soudak, and so were the wines, with the exception of some parts of the valley of the Belbek near the sea. The vine is buried each winter in these valleys; and its culture must be very ancient, as wine-presses are found cut in the living rock in the grottoes of Katchi Kalene.

Such were the ancient vineyards of the Crimea.

The new vineyards extend all along the southern coast from a place near Kertch to Laspi. One of the first plantations was that of Laspi. M. Rouvier entered into an engagement with the government to introduce merino sheep, and plant with vines a certain extent of ground which should be given him; and, bringing his plants from Malaga, his wine retains some qualities of the original. In 1826, Prince Woronzof began the first vineyard of Ai Daniel. The Princess Galitzin began at the same time; and the example once set, vineyards quickly sprung up all along the coast; and already, in 1834, 2,000,000 of vines had been planted.

The climate of the coast is very like that of Provence. The winters are mild, the spring early, the summer hot and stormy, and the autumns long. In winter the thermometer seldom falls below 6° or 7° Réaumur. The soil is generally a black decomposed schist, mixed with limestone, and forms into a grey clay, more or less stony, very compact, and in dry weather impossible to work, so that it can only be broken up in winter, when softened by the rain. The vines are planted in terraces, and in winter have plenty of water from springs, which disappear in the dry time of the year. The grapes are retarded by this cause, and by the great heats of the coast, so that their development is checked till the rains of September, and then, being gathered very late, the fine quality of the wine is injured. Alouchta is the only place that never suffers from drought.

From wherever the plants come, they all, after a certain time, have a tendency to the strong qualities of the Spanish wines. In a new plantation, when the first grapes appear, they give a wine like that of the country from which they have been transplanted; but scarcely two more years pass before there is a change; and from year to year the difference becomes greater, till at the end of ten years there is no longer Burgundy or Bordeaux, but a particular sort of wine, far less delicate and strong.

The vineyards of Prince Woronzof at the Ai Daniel, and those of the Baron of Berckheim at the same place, where the plants have been kept totally distinct, give the results that have been mentioned. In the other vineyards the plants are much mixed, and Gros Bourgogne, and Pincan Fleuri, Rissling, Bordeaux, and Kakour, are all mixed together. The last plant, of uncertain origin, is said to give a very good flavour, and a bouquet which would make it sought even in Europe, as it differs greatly from all known wines. Here is planted also a certain quantity of Aleatico, and some ancient Crimean plants from the Katcha. The grape which loses the most of its primitive qualities by the change of climate is the Rissling from the banks of the Rhine. It has been particularly grown in the valley of Alouchta, where a schistous soil, mixed with calcareous particles and the detritus of sandstone, lighter, and less exposed to drought than the rest of the coast, would seem to recall the qualities of its primitive soil. At Miskhor also, Mr. Leon Narishkin planted, in 1834, a vineyard of Rissling, which produced a good wine, of a fine taste, but without the exquisite qualities of Rhine wine.

Everything then proves that the wines of the coast of the Crimea are still in a state of transition, and cannot have a fixed reputation for some time to come. Then alone can the wines of the Crimea be spoken of as a class, and their place will probably be between the fine wines of the north and the strong wines of Spain. The Crimea has so many different climates, and soils, and situations, that if the stony lands of the coast will not give the qualities desired, they may be found elsewhere. Long experience has shown that the soil and climate of the Heracleotic Chersonese is as favourable to the cultivation of the vine as that of the coast of the Crimea, for already in ancient times this peninsula had vineyards and cellars and amphoræ. This fact is, besides, proved by an inscription found in 1794 in the ruins of Kherson, stating that the people had voted a crown of ivy to Agazikletos, “who had made the cultivation of the vine to flourish in the country;”⁠[201] so that this cultivation was a branch of the industry and commerce of the Khersonians.

Mr. Bardac, captain of the port of Sevastopol in 1803, again introduced the vine on the soil of the Chersonese, where the flocks of sheep and goats of the Tatars had extirpated it. He planted with vines from Smyrna some land near Sevastopol, on the ravine running into South Bay, and the successful results encouraged other proprietors. In 1834 a wine was made at least equal to any other in the Crimea, and this may perhaps be accounted for by the nature of the soil, which is a detritus of limestone, mixed with cinders and volcanic remains, the whole reposing on the rock as a subsoil.

I will now give some account of the prices of land in the Crimea. At the beginning of the present century the coast-lands were worth nothing, and persons were able to buy large tracts for a trifling sum, which they afterwards sold for fifty times their value. The Duc de Richelieu bought in 1817, for 140l., the estate of Oursouf, and laid out upon it about 800l. In 1834 the Prince Woronzof, who had become the proprietor, retained 200 acres, and resold the house and the remaining 80 acres for 4000l. The estate of Khanime, containing 160 acres, was bought by M. Poniatowski for 240l., and was valued in 1834 at upwards of 3000l. The lands fit for the vine in the valley of Alouchta, which were first sold at 15s. and 1l. an acre, now cost 30l. or 40l., and this is about the average price along the coast. The valuation of the new vineyards that have been planted can be only approximative, as no proprietors of them are inclined to sell. The valuation of a vineyard is made according to the number of plants it contains, and not according to the extent of the ground it covers. The number of plants varies considerably according to the nature of the soil, and there are generally 12,000 plants an acre in the heavy land, and 17,000 in the light land.

There were vineyards sold in 1842 at 600l. an acre, and afterwards at as much as 1000l. an acre, while on the gravelly soil they were not worth more than 80l. an acre.

In 1834 the Crimea possessed in new and ancient plantations 7,100,000 plants, distributed as follows:—

Since that time the number of vineyards has enormously increased, but I have not been able to procure any details upon the subject.

The road from Soldaya to Theodosia is very mountainous, and the country thinly peopled. The great calcareous chain of mountains here recede from the sea, and are barely covered with a meagre vegetation, and only a few Tatar villages occupy the low valleys. Completely abandoned by the aristocracy, with impracticable roads, and none of the luxurious habitations which fashion has raised about Yalta, the shore between Alouchta and Theodosia is rarely visited by tourists, and only occasionally explored by some scientific traveller.

Although the coasts of Soudak are abandoned by the Russian nobles, although there are there no Italian villas, or Gothic mansions built in porphyry, there is instead a hearty welcome to the traveller and real Oriental hospitality. Far from the centres of civilization which the Russians have raised in the Crimea in the last twenty years, the Tatars of these regions have preserved intact the traditions of the past, and all the remarkable traits of their primitive character. In every village the traveller, especially if he be not a Russian, is received with the most affectionate care. Everywhere the best house, the most beautiful cushions and carpets, are placed at his disposal, and he is installed in a good apartment with coffee and a tchibouk, in a way which can be appreciated only by those who know the inconveniences as well as pleasures of travelling in the East. At Toklouk, Kouz, and Otouz, the Tatar dwellings, with their flat roofs, are raised against the hills which border the valley, and by this arrangement the inhabitants communicate generally by the terraces of their houses. Nothing can be more picturesque than the appearance of these terraces of an evening: at that moment the whole population, men, women, and children, are on the alert, and desert their dark chambers, where they seek a refuge against the sun during the heat of the day, to install themselves on the roofs of the houses.

The most agreeable animation succeeds the silence of the day, loud conversations are heard on all sides, and a very picturesque effect is produced by the various groups, who, still employed in household occupations, thus enjoy the coolness of the evening.

At Koktebel, a little village situated on the borders of the sea, about twenty miles from Soudak, near the sombre Cape Karadagh, are the really mountainous parts of the Crimea. Beyond it the country possesses no features of picturesque beauty; vast plains gradually succeed to the hills, and at a distance the Steppes, which form all the northern part of the peninsula, extend to the east of Theodosia as far as the Cimmerian Bosphorus. On all the line from Soudak to Theodosia there is no ancient monument or ruin; and the nature of the coast, sometimes abrupt, sometimes open and undefended, appears little favourable for the foundations of a town, or the establishment of either a military or commercial port.

CHAPTER XV. FROM ALOUCHTA TO SIMPHERÓPOL, KARASOUBAZAR, ESKI KRIM, AND THEODOSIA.

The macadamised road does not extend along the coast further than Alouchta, and here turns off northwards to Simpherópol, a distance of about forty miles. It mounts for the first twelve miles through the rich valley of Alouchta, till an obelisk marks the highest point, whence it descends through the cheerful little valley of the Angar, which runs into the Salghír. Here the Tchatyr-Dagh, the highest mountain in the Crimea, rises immediately on the left, and the valley is an enormous rent in the red pudding stone of which the mountain itself is composed.

A little further on, a shady spot, called Tavshan Bazar (the Hare market), serves as a resting-place for carriages coming from Simpherópol, before they encounter the hilly part of the journey to the coast, and from Tavshan Bazar to Simpherópol the road is good and even.

Two limestone mountains⁠[202] here rise above the road on the right, and vast blocks which have rolled down from them nearly fill up the valley of the Angar, and advantage has been taken of the narrow passage, called Demirkapou, or the gates of iron, to erect one of the walls so common in the Crimea, by which the southern coast was protected against invasions from the north.

A little beyond Tavshan Bazar,⁠[203] to the right, is the village of Yenisála, occupying the bottom of the valley. This was a Greek village, abandoned in 1778, of which there only remain now the ruins of a chapel and some tombs. The inhabitants were induced to remove at the great emigration which took place five years before the Russian conquest of the Crimea, and were transferred to the shores of the Sea of Azof, near Mariopol, where they founded a new Yenisála. They never, however, forgot their old abodes, and the present possessor of the village, M. Grot, has seen old men arrive to visit the scenes of their youth, and find out among the tangled bushes their ancient home, which they came once to revisit before their strength failed them. A little beyond Yenisála the Angar falls into the Salghír, and the high road follows the banks of the latter river all the way to Simpherópol. There are no remains of antiquity, except an old Tatar palace, called Eski Serai; but the country around is rich and wooded, with fine poplars and aspens, and Tatar villages are dotted thickly over it, with tiled houses and white minarets rising among the trees.

It is worth while, however, to stop on the high road at Tchafki and make an excursion to the source of the Salghír and the summit of the Tchatyr-Dagh. From Tchafki the ride is short to the little Tatar village of Aian,⁠[204] which is close to the sources of the Salghír, to visit which the traveller must descend from the limestone terrace, on which the village is situated, into the neighbouring narrow valley, which is a rent in the red marble rocks, terminating, at a few hundred yards distance, in a great chasm in the flank of the mountain. There, under an enormous rock, surmounted by other broken fragments, is a large mouth, which vomits forth the Salghír in the midst of mossy blocks of stone. The wave, scarcely escaped from its cavern, falls in a cascade over a mass of marble, and the noise of the waterfall is mingled with the roaring of the waters in the gulf from which it issues in the very bowels of the mountain. From a grotto above it the water may be seen boiling and foaming in the dark abyss. These subterranean gulfs penetrate into the heart of the mountain, where they communicate with other gulfs and abysses, which reach the whole way through the mountain from near its summit, and, preserving the snow during the whole year like glaciers, continually feed the river.

To mount the Tchatyr-Dagh,⁠[205] on its eastern side, the first part of the ascent is in the direction of Tchafki, over the schists, which to a considerable height compose the western side of the valley of the Angar. Then follows the red marble, and a very steep ascent, which leads to the table-land or Yaila of the mountain, four or five miles in length and two miles broad, and upwards of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. It is very even and covered with fine pasture, on which feed numerous flocks of sheep; but strange to say the strata of black limestone which compose it are not horizontal, as might have been expected from its even surface, but vertical, at right angles to the surface of the earth, and planed off by some agency which nobody has been able to determine. The heads of the beds may be seen running east and west, and the harder strata rise slightly above the others, and have scarcely any vegetation upon them. There are frequent slight depressions in the soil, from 40 to 100 feet in diameter, and about 10 feet deep; but sometimes they sink into the unfathomable abysses which have been mentioned as forming reservoirs of snow to supply the rivers which issue from the Tauric chain. From this lower table rises another, 700 or 800 feet high, which forms the summit of the mountain, offering the magnificent view I have already described in a former chapter.

Nothing of interest occurs on the road from Tchafki to Simpherópol; from which latter place there is an agreeable excursion up the valley of the Little Salghír, which runs on the east, parallel to the great river of the same name.⁠[206] After passing the village of Mamak, at a short distance from Simpherópol, a vast wall of porphyry, fifteen miles long, closes the valley to the east, and extends from Djamatai to Yenisála, which has been mentioned as being close to the high road to Alouchta. This wall is the eastern side of the great circular crater, in the midst of which Mount Tchatyr-Dagh has been raised up, and along it there are rents, which form narrow valleys to the east, in many of which villages are situated. At Terenair is some black schistous earth, somewhat resembling coal in appearance; but although it would no more burn than so much granite, the possessor of it, Mr. Kortchan, always uses his utmost endeavours to obtain a certificate of its carbonaceous virtues from geological travellers, that he may enter into contracts to supply it as coal to the fleet at Sevastopol. Higher up is the valley of the Kisilkoba, with a village of the same name at its entrance, and a rivulet running through it, shaded by high trees. After passing the village, and following, for a short distance, a narrow path by the side of the stream, we come to a very steep ascent among the rocks, where numberless fragments of pottery mark the spot as once having been inhabited. Ascending the sombre and narrow glen, we then arrive at an even terrace, some acres square, covered with fine trees, and surrounded by high rocks, in which grottoes have been excavated. It is impossible to conceive a spot more fitted for a hermitage, where the world is only seen at a distance through the entrance of the little valley. At the back of the terrace the stream bursts forth from subterranean canals, like those under the Tchatyr-Dagh, and at the time of the melting of the snows a great body of water issues forth.

The course of the stream appears to have been several times changed, for above its present place of exit, there are two other stages of the empty canals, which form a series of majestic grottoes. The least elevated, but the most beautiful, rise above the cascade, with a fine entrance about twenty feet high, and within them the ground is found to be sandy, and the cavern descends into the interior of the mountain. At half its depth there is a passage of rising ground, which leads into other canals, of such extent, that a French gentleman, having taken provisions and lights, walked for a whole day with the guide, Mambet, without reaching the extremity.⁠[207] In the lower grotto, at sixty paces from the entrance, there is a basin of limpid water, and between the strata of the limestone the Tatars of Karasóubazar collect a red and yellow clay for the manufacture of pipe bowls. The upper grottoes are two hundred feet above the terrace, and the access to them is difficult. Their entrance is low, but the passage rapidly increases in height and breadth in a north-east direction. It then turns towards the north-west, and three more caverns are passed, covered with white stalactites, which, by the light of the flambeaux, make a beautiful contrast with the red rocks around. The length of these caverns, as far as they are generally followed, is seven hundred feet, and supposing that the dislocation of the strata, which formed them, dates from the raising up of the Jurassic island of the Crimea, fossil bones might perhaps be found here of great importance.

At a mile and a half⁠[208] from Kisilkoba is another gorge, Koutchouk Yankoi, which much resembles the one I have described, and here ends the valley of the Salghír, between the foot of the Tchatyr-Dagh and the heights of the Samarkaia.⁠[209]

We will now return to Simpherópol, and follow the post-road thence to Theodosia. From Simpherópol to Karasóubazar the road is very uninteresting, and runs over a chalky undulating ground with little cultivation and few trees. Half way is the post station of Konia, near which are two large tumuli.

Karasóubazar,⁠[210] or the market of the black water, is one of the two towns reserved by Catherine II. at the conquest of the Crimea, for the exclusive occupation of the Tatars, and it therefore retains a strictly Oriental character, which has quite disappeared from the towns inhabited by the Russians.

The only public edifices of any importance here are the khans or caravanserais, where merchants rest on their journeys, and of these there are between twenty and thirty, not equalling in architectural beauty those of Georgia and Persia. The largest, called the Tachekhan, was built in 1656 by Sefir Ghazi Atcheiou, minister of Mehmet Geray, and is an immense square edifice, presenting outside only four blank walls, but in the inside there is a large court occupied with rooms for travellers and a number of shops. One of the last constructed khans is that of the Armenians, which contrasts favourably with the others in point of luxury and comfort. It is built like one of the covered arcades or the “passages” of Paris, on a much greater scale, with wider arcades, lighted by large apertures in its lofty roof. The shops are ranged on each side, and there is a large passage or street between them always filled with busy groups. There are also twenty-two mosques in Karasóubazar, but none of them remarkable for beauty.

The Greek church deserves a visit for its originality; it is built in the shape of a cross with a dome which lights the centre. Karasóubazar was in former times celebrated for its cutlery, and about 1755 it exported to the Caucasus and Mingrelia as many as 400,000 small knives or daggers, such as are commonly worn in the girdle in eastern countries. The cemeteries round the town are of enormous extent, and from that of the Greeks there is an admirable view of the town, with its red-tiled houses, winding streets, and shady gardens.

Between Karasóubazar and Kertch are situated the vast domains of the Shireen family, which was the second in rank in the Crimea after that of the Gerays, and so powerful that they were almost their rivals. Their importance dated from the time when a certain Dangey Bey of this family, in a general revolt, saved the last scion of the Geray family, who was afterwards raised to the dignity of khan, and showed his gratitude to the Shireens by conferring upon them many privileges. They alone could marry the princesses of the Geray family, and near Karasóubazar is a mountain, called by the Russians Shireenskaia Gora, or the Hill of the Shireens, where they used to hold meetings of their dependents, when, as was often the case, they disapproved of the conduct of the khans, and wished to influence their government. According to one tradition, the ancestor of this family was the companion in arms of Zingis Khan, and conquered the Crimea for him, so that they might be even said to have some claims to the throne itself.⁠[211]

The only point of interest between Karasóubazar and Theodosia are the ruins of Eski Krim, which was the most ancient capital of the Tatars after their conquest of the Crimea. The date of its foundation is unknown, but already in 1266 it was the appanage of Oran Timour. Under the Mongols it was one of the greatest towns in Asia, and a well-mounted horseman required half a day to ride round it. It is now almost deserted, and scarce any traces remain of the great city where the rich caravans of olden times used to come laden with all the precious products of Asia. The traces of the pavements of the streets may be observed in the fields that now occupy its site. The ruins of five mosques and large vaulted baths remain; and one Greek church and one mosque are still used for religious purposes. The Armenians are the only inhabitants who have remained here, and they still retain their church and a convent, dedicated to St. George, on the neighbouring hill of Karasou, which is the object of numerous pilgrimages. The best view of the town is from the hill of Aghermiche, which embraces the whole valley, once occupied by buildings, and on one side may be traced the remains of the ancient wall, flanked with towers, which surrounded the city, and included an enormous cemetery, in which tombs may still be seen of every variety of form.

Near Eski Krim is the post-station of Krinitski, and beyond it begins the flat uncultivated peninsula of Kertch.⁠[212] There is now no sign of a tree or a shrub, although traces exist in some parts of ancient forests, and there is so great a want of water that the Tatars are obliged to dig ponds in the soil to water their flocks.

At fifteen miles from Krinitski is the once famous town of Theodosia or Kaffa, situated on the shores of the finest bay on the northern coasts of the Black Sea after those of Sevastopol.

Twice have the commercial advantages of this situation been recognised, and twice has a proud city arisen on the gentle slopes of this bay. The Milesians, at the time of their first expedition into the Black Sea, founded here a flourishing colony, which prospered long in an independent state, and was then incorporated into the kingdom of the Bosphorus. After an existence of 900 years, from the seventh century before Christ to the third of our æra, there then intervened a period of ten centuries, during which the plough passed over the site of Theodosia, and it is barely mentioned by contemporary historians. Thus it remained a ruin during the millennium, from the third to the thirteenth century, when so many nations in succession made the Crimea their temporary dwelling-place. Then, in the thirteenth century, soon after the Tatars had made their first inroad, there landed on the shores of the Crimea navigators, not less intelligent and enterprising than the Milesians, and soon, on the site of the ancient Greek city of Theodosia, arose Kaffa, the annals of which form undoubtedly one of the brightest pages in the political and commercial history of the Black Sea.⁠[213]

In the middle of the thirteenth century, after the conquest of the Crimea by the Mongols, at the moment when three powerful republics were disputing the empire of the seas, the Genoese, landing in the bay of Theodosia, on the deserted spot, which was then called Kaffa, obtained from Prince Oran Timour a small territory on the shore. In 1280 the colony was founded, and its rise was so rapid, that nine years afterwards it was enabled, without neglecting its own defence, to send three galleys to the relief of Tripoli besieged by the Saracens. The Genoese obtained from the Tatars the monopoly of wheat and salt, and established themselves at Kertch (Cerco), Taman (Materca), and Tana at the mouths of the Don. The foundation of Kaffa increased the hatred between the Genoese and the Venetians, and in 1295 the former massacred the latter at Constantinople, and the next year, in 1296, the Venetians took their revenge, defeated the Genoese in a great battle on the Bosphorus, near Constantinople, and, having surprised Kaffa with a fleet of twenty galleys, utterly destroyed the town. Such was the energy and vitality of the Italian republics at that time, however, that the next year the Genoese again took possession of their territory,—Kaffa arose quickly from its ruins, and in 1318 Pope John XXII. erected it into a bishopric. It was then governed by a consul, and the Podesta, the supreme ruler of all the Genoese establishments in the Black Sea, resided at Galata.

In 1343 a war having broken out with the Tatars, Djanibek Khan, the King of Kiptchak, besieged Kaffa, and a crusade was preached in its favour by Clement VI. The Genoese were victorious, but the dangers to which they had been exposed made them feel the necessity of a formidable system of fortification. The southern ramparts and palisades of the town were replaced by high and thick walls, flanked with towers, and surrounded by a deep ditch, lined with masonry. These magnificent works, of which even the traveller at the present day may admire the admirable execution, were commenced in 1353, by Godefrey de Zoaglio, and finished in 1386 by Benedict Grimaldi. The most remarkable tower of the enceinte, the southern one, which commands the whole town, was consecrated to the memory of Pope Clement VI., with an inscription relating to the crusade preached by him at the moment the Tatars were besieging the colony. The Genoese probably drew the materials for their fortifications from the ancient Greek city of Kimmericum, now Opouk. In 1365 they conquered the Greek colonies of Cembalo (Balaclava), and Soldaya (Soudak), which were tributary to the khan of the Tatars, and in 1380 obtained from him a grant of Gothia, or all the sea-coast between Balaclava and Soudak, which was inhabited by the Christians.⁠[214] After that time Kaffa went on increasing in prosperity, and had commercial relations with the most distant countries of Asia, and soon, according to its historians, it equalled in size and population the capital of the Greek empire, and surpassed it in trade and wealth.

The Genoese colony thus arrived, in the middle of the fifteenth century, at the zenith of its glory and power, when the capture of Constantinople by Mahomet II. isolated it from the mother city, and prepared the way for its entire destruction. On the 1st of June, 1475, four hundred and eighty-two sail of galleys, commanded by the grand Admiral Achmet Pasha, appeared before Kaffa, and some hours afterwards the Genoese town saw its walls bombarded by the formidable artillery of the Ottomans. The siege lasted only a short time, and a large portion of the enceinte, raised at a time when artillery was unknown, gave way; breaches were multiplied, and on the 6th of June, 1475, the besieged surrendered at discretion, after having in vain attempted to obtain a capitulation. Achmet Pasha entered Kaffa irritated by resistance and hostile to the Christian name. After taking possession of the consular palace, he disarmed the population, levied a large sum of money on the town, and seized half the property of the inhabitants, as well as all slaves of both sexes. The Latin Catholics were then embarked on board the Turkish fleet and carried to Constantinople, where the Sultan established them by force in the faubourgs of his new capital, after taking fifteen hundred of their male children, to incorporate in his guards. Thus in the space of a few days, after a glorious existence of two hundred years, was ruined this celebrated city, which European genius had raised in this remote country, and which had developed a most important traffic with Eastern Europe and Asia.

Kaffa, the ruin of which was followed immediately by that of Soldaya and Cembalo, was directly united to the Ottoman Empire, and was not, like the rest of the Crimea, left as a fief in the hands of the Tatars. During one hundred and fifty years it had no other importance than that which it derived from being the seat of a Turkish garrison, and a strong military position on the borders of a Mussulman state, which the Sultans were always anxious to conquer. In the middle of the seventeenth century the ancient Genoese city again became considerable on account of the great commercial and manufacturing movement which took place at that time among the Tatars, and which caused it to become once more an important commercial port of the Black Sea.

In 1663 Chardin found in the bay of Kaffa more than 400 ships. The town was then called by the Turks Kutchuk Stamboul (little Constantinople) and had 4000 houses, and more than 80,000 inhabitants. The prosperity of Kaffa, however, did not last long. Since the time of Peter the Great, Russia has been continually advancing towards the Black Sea, and already in the time of that monarch, she had pushed her victorious armies to the Danube. In this progressive march towards the south, the Crimea especially excited the ambition of the Tzars, and in the reign of Catherine II., was incorporated into the Russian Empire.

Under the Muscovite dominion Kaffa sunk again. It lost even officially the name under which it had pursued so glorious a career in modern times, to resume at the caprice of the Emperor Alexander its ancient Greek name, and it now does not possess more than 4500 inhabitants. At Kaffa, as at Soldaya, the erection of useless barracks was the signal for the destruction of the ancient Genoese monuments. The revêtements of the ditches were first carried away, and then, owing to the indifference of the government, the walls themselves disappeared. The magnificent towers which defended them were successively thrown down, and at this day there only exist three remnants of the remarkable bastion, christened in honour of Pope Clement VI.

The Genoese fortifications once destroyed, the vandalism of the administrative authorities next attacked the civil monuments. When the Russians took possession of the place, two imposing buildings ornamented the principal square of Kaffa; the great Turkish baths, an admirable monument of Oriental architecture, and the ancient episcopal church of the Genoese, an edifice built in the fourteenth century, and then converted into a mosque after the Turkish conquest. Under the reign of Catherine II., it was decided to restore the mosque to the Christian faith, and it was given to the established Greek church of Russia. Unfortunately, instead of preserving it intact, they entertained the fatal idea of decorating it with a miserable portico in the quasi Doric style, such as is seen from one end of Russia to the other. The elegant domes, which surrounded in a graceful manner the principal part of the building, were then demolished, and the bases of the new columns were hardly laid, when money failed, and the government refused to make further advances. The beautiful mosque, from which the lead had been torn off, doubtless to be sold for the profit of the employés, was thus abandoned to the injuries of the weather and the public, and soon became a perfect ruin.

In 1833 the civil governor, M. Kasnatcháief, in a most barbarous and ignorant manner, completed the work of destruction, by attacking the great baths which had hitherto remained intact. He asked permission from Prince Woronzof to enlarge the great square, because it was too small for a parade ground, and the instant he obtained it (knowing that he would be stopped when his intentions were found out), he set about destroying the mosque and the baths.⁠[215] In the space of a fortnight, by the aid of the pick-axe and powder, both these admirable monuments, with which the Genoese and Turkish occupations had enriched the town, completely disappeared. In 1840 the great square was filled with their precious materials, which the local administration were selling at the price of common stone.

Of all the splendid edifices of the Genoese colony, only two churches have escaped the Russian vandalism; having been granted to the Catholics and the Armenians, and preserved by them. For a long time, these two foreign communities struggled against the indifference of the government, and endeavoured to obtain assistance to repair their churches; and having been unsuccessful, they in a spirited manner restored them at their own expense.

If from the interior of the town we cast our eyes to the environs, the same spectacle of destruction saddens the view. All the beautiful gardens, and the rich orchards, which surrounded the town in the time of the Tatars, have disappeared. One single winter was sufficient for two Russian regiments to annihilate every trace of the brilliant cultivation which formerly covered the hills.

From⁠[216] the fort of the tower of Clement VI. there is a fine view of the town and the bay. In the midst of the panorama rises the ancient Genoese citadel, now dismantled, with its walls threatening to fall down. Before the citadel, a building, remarkable by its two massive groups of building, but without any exterior ornament, is the principal Armenian church, which the emigrants of that nation constructed when they arrived here under the protection of the Genoese, after the terrible earthquake of 1319, which destroyed Anni,⁠[217] and so terrified one portion of the Armenian nation, that they took refuge with the Tatars of Kiptchak, in the environs of Astrakhan. Hence they sent colonies into the Crimea and established themselves, with the consent of the Genoese, at Kaffa, Eski Krim, and in the environs of Soudak.

Before the Russian conquest, in 1713, Peyssonel relates that the Armenians had twenty-four churches at Kaffa, and Levasseur de Beauplan, a century earlier, counted thirty-two.

The church in question is now converted into a warehouse, but its interior has preserved the distribution of the religious edifices of Armenia—a grand oratory as an entrance, then a nave, a dome, and a choir with lateral sacristies. The other Armenian church, which has been already mentioned, deserves a careful study as a good and well preserved specimen of Armenian architecture, and is an exact copy of those still to be seen in Armenia. The portico is the most ornamental part of the edifice, and the mouldings and roses are as varied as in Gothic and Byzantine styles. There are two images of St. George, the saint in which the Georgians and the Armenians have so much confidence, and the walls of the church are covered both inside and outside with funeral crosses, as in Armenia.⁠[218] In every detail it is interesting to observe how faithfully the Armenians, in their distant colonizations, preserved the artistic traditions of their country.⁠[219]

Hommaire de Hell is not the only traveller who deplores the vandalism of the Russians. Dubois says, “that he dare not express his feelings at seeing the noble works of the Genoese so uselessly ruined.”

The “mild and amiable” Pallas was a Russian subject, and dared not express his indignation at the atrocities he saw perpetrated. When he first visited Theodosia, the great mosque was complete, with its noble cupola 54 feet in diameter, surrounded on three sides by eleven smaller domes. “There were also,” as Pallas says, “two minarets 96 feet high, furnished with serpentine staircases leading to the top; though both structures have been since destroyed.”⁠[220]

Clarke, it appears, was an eye-witness of this last barbarous proceeding, and describes the painful feelings it occasioned to all the civilized persons who beheld it. “The melancholy devastation,” he says,⁠[221] “while it draws tears down the cheeks of the Tatars, and extorts many a sigh from the Anatolian Turks who resort to Kaffa for commercial purposes, cannot fail to excite the indignation of every enlightened people. At Kaffa, during the time we remained, the soldiers were allowed to overthrow the beautiful mosques, or to convert them into magazines, to pull down the minarets, to tear up the public fountains, and to destroy all the public aqueducts, for the sake of a small quantity of lead, which they were thereby enabled to obtain.

“Such is the true nature of Russian protection; such the sort of alliance which Russians endeavour to form with every nation weak enough to submit to their power, or to become their dupe. While these works of destruction were going on, the officers were amusing themselves in beholding the mischief. Tall and stately minarets, whose lofty spires added such grace and dignity to the town, were daily levelled with the ground, which, besides their connection with the religious establishments for whose maintenance the Russian empire had been pledged, were of no other value to their destroyers than to supply a few soldiers with bullets, or their officers with a dram. I was in a Turkish coffeehouse, at Kaffa, when the principal minaret, one of the ancient and characteristic monuments of the country, to which the Russians had been some days employed in fixing ropes and blocks, came down with such violence that its fall shook every house in the place. The Turks, seated on divans, were all smoking, and when such is the case, an earthquake will scarcely rouse them; nevertheless, at this flagrant act of impiety and dishonour, they rose, breathing out deep and bitter curses against the enemies of their Prophet. Even the Greeks who were present testified their anger by similar imprecations. One of them, turning to me, said, with a countenance of contempt and indignation, Εκυθαι! Scythians! which I afterwards found to be a common term of reproach; for though the Greeks profess the same religion as the Russians, they detest the latter as cordially as the Turks or Tatars. The most lamentable part of the injury thus sustained has been in the destruction of the conduits and public fountains which conveyed, together with the purest water from distant mountains, a source of health and comfort to the people. They first carry off the leaden pipes to make bullets; they then take down all the marble slabs and large stones for building materials, which they employ in the construction of barracks; lastly, they blow up the channels which convey water, because they say the water-porters cannot earn a livelihood where there are public fountains.”

In spite of all the depredations of the authorities, and the stupid ignorance of the governor, Kaffa has never been completely metamorphosed into a Russian town. Its principal monuments have been demolished, its walls razed to the ground, its later population expelled, but the general appearance of the town, the private dwellings, the streets paved with large flags, all announce a different people. It is to be hoped the town may long preserve this picturesque aspect, which resembles that of many little ports on the shores of the Mediterranean.⁠[222]

There is a museum at Theodosia, which is an ancient Turkish mosque, with two lions at its entrance, which were brought from Phanagoria. Whatever ancient Greek monuments are here have been brought from Kertch, when Theodosia was the capital of this part of the Crimea; and among them is a griffin of fine workmanship. But there are no inscriptions or important monuments of the ancient Theodosia, which, indeed, Clarke and others suppose to have been at some distance from the site of Kaffa.⁠[223] There are, however, many Genoese inscriptions in the museum, and among them an important one found on the tower of Pope Clement VI.⁠[224]

The peninsula of Kertch was formerly closed by three ramparts, which were raised for political reasons to defend it from dangerous enemies. The most ancient is that of Asander. It starts from the extremity of the Tauric chain, and finishes at the sea of Azof, near the commencement of the tongue of Arabat. The Scythian slaves of Sindic origin raised it to defend themselves against their masters when they returned from Asia. Asander, King of the Bosphorus from 49 B.C. to 14 B.C., renewed it and fortified it with towers as a defence against the invasions of the Scythians, and it has ever since borne his name. It may still be traced with the places for the towers. The rampart of the Golden Mountain, at a few miles from Kertch, was the primitive frontier of the kingdom of the Bosphorus and the colony of Panticapæum. The success of the Leuconides in the 4th century before Christ had carried it beyond the peninsula of Kertch, by uniting Nymphæum and Theodosia to the kingdom. Asander fixed it at the rampart of the Scythian Slaves, and this was for several centuries its limit. In the mean time the Chersonians replaced the Scythians as the predominant people in the Crimea, and they had taken Panticapæum during the absence of Sauromates V., who had gone to pillage Asia Minor in the third century after Christ, notwithstanding the army which the Emperor Constance opposed to him. In order to re-enter his capital, Sauromates was obliged to give up his prisoners and booty. His grandson, Sauromates VI., who reigned A.D. 302 to 310, wished to avenge himself on the Chersonians; he was however beaten by them near the rampart of Asander, and obliged to swear never to pass it in arms. Violating his oath, he again appeared in the field, and consented to terminate the war by a single combat with Pharnáces, the chief of the Chersonians. He was killed, and his army, undergoing the yoke of the conquerors, was obliged to retire half-way from Theodosia to Kertch, where the Chersonians permitted the limits of the kingdom to be fixed. Then was erected the rampart of Akkos, or Cybernicus, which commences at the salt lake of Itar Altchiek and finishes at the Sea of Azof. It is very well preserved; the ditch turned towards the Crimea is still very deep, and the mounds along the rampart would lead to the belief that it had been supported by towers. These three ramparts are almost the only ancient monuments between Theodosia and Kertch; and the road is most uninteresting and monotonous, passing through a thinly-peopled steppe, covered with deserted Tatar villages and vast cemeteries.

The first station from Theodosia is Porpatche, at 22 versts distance. The second is Arghin, at 27 versts; and between these two is passed the rampart of Asander. At Arghin travellers turn off who wish to visit or to pass along the Arabat. The third station is Suftanofka, at 28 versts distance, and in this stage the rampart of Akkos is passed. At this station there are springs and a well, and here for the first time the horizon is seen crowned by the tumuli and coral-rag peaks which characterize the environs of Kertch. Those who go to Simpherópol from Kertch, and have their own horses with them, may avoid the détour by Theodosia, and continue their road straight across the Isthmus to Krinitski. The road then lies through Ormeil and Karagos, celebrated for its ancient mosque in the primitive style of Tatar architecture. This is one of the four most ancient mosques in the Crimea, in the architecture of which are to be observed only straight lines or semicircles.⁠[225]

CHAPTER XVI. KERTCH.

After⁠[226] a long journey across an uninterrupted flat steppe, slight undulations appear above the horizon on approaching the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and shortly after this appearance the traveller finds himself in a principal necropolis of the ancient Milesian city. Immense cones of earth rise on each side of the road, and ridges of coral rag lying among these sepulchral monuments, give a grand aspect to this singular field of death. On arriving at the extremity of the plateau, the view extends over the whole Bosphorus. On an evening in summer the last rays of the setting sun tint the cliffs on the Asiatic side, and light up the triangular sails of a few fishing boats lazily floating down the current. The outline of the tumuli of Phanagoria becomes distinctly traced on the blue sky, and, as the sheet of water of the straits gradually assumes the sombre colouring of evening, the shadow of Cape Akboroun stretches over the water. These fine effects of light and shade are visible but for a few moments; the sun descends with tropical quickness below the horizon, and the uniform tones of the dark twilight envelop the Bosphorus, its shores, and the solitary barks upon its waters.

Descending from the plateau, the traveller enters the town of Kertch, which is completely Russianized, of new construction, occupying the site of the ancient Greek colony of Panticapæum, once the queen city of the Bosphorus. The straits on which it stands, called the Cimmerian Bosphorus, leading from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azof,⁠[227] and separating Europe from Asia, are about eight miles wide, and in parts so shallow, that they do not admit vessels drawing more than twelve feet of water, although in the time of Peter the Great, at the taking of Azof, corvettes of forty guns could pass through them. Kertch is a corruption of the name Gherséti, which the Turks gave to the fortress erected here by the Genoese, which was called by the geographers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Bospro, Vospro, and Pandico. The Russians took possession of Kertch in 1771, and then 500 or 600 huts surrounded the Turkish fortress, which was circular. This the Russians at first strengthened, but afterwards abandoned, because it was completely commanded from behind.

Yenicáleh, at a few miles distance, was then fortified for the defence of the straits, and Kertch dwindled away, until, in 1821, the Emperor Alexander, appreciating its commercial importance, declared it a port of the empire, and raised it to the rank of a town, with an independent municipality.⁠[228] Since that time Kertch has slowly increased, although it has scarcely now as many inhabitants as it had during the occupation of the Turks; for Peyssonel allowed it, in 1787, from 3000 to 4000 souls. It is now the chief town of a little government, comprising Yenicáleh and about 13,000 acres of land, which form the eastern point of the peninsula; and the whole number of inhabitants in Kertch and Yenicáleh together is only 2800 souls, living in 680 houses.

On the proposition of Prince Woronzof in 1833, the suggestion which Pallas⁠[229] had made forty years before was acted upon, and Kertch was declared the place of general quarantine for the Sea of Azof, and since that time no vessel has been allowed to pass the straits without a clean bill of health obtained here. The object of the Russian government in this measure was to do away with all quarantine establishments in the Azof, which has been effected, and to throw into the hands of natives the carrying trade between the ports of the Azof and Kertch, which has not been found so easy of accomplishment. Kertch has not become, as was expected, the emporium for all the valuable commerce between the Black Sea and eastern Russia; this still remains in the ports of the Azof; and Rostof, notwithstanding the difficulty of reaching it with large vessels, still goes on increasing in importance far more rapidly than Kertch. Of all the ships that frequent the Azof, by far the greater number are content to pass a long quarantine at Kertch, and to ascend the sea to load, although, if Kertch were the emporium, and merchants had large stores there, ships might arrive at the straits, load at once, and be off with their cargoes without any quarantine at all.⁠[230] In accounting for the fact that advantage has not been taken of the great privileges accorded to Kertch, something is doubtless due to the difficulty of changing any established course of trade; and merchants who have laid out capital in establishments at Taganrok and Rostof have, of course, been unwilling to remove to a new town. There are, however, real advantages for commerce at the towns of the Azof, which Kertch does not possess. The trade of that sea is almost entirely confined to exports, and the merchants at the ports on its shores are nearer to the country which supplies them, and to their agents who are scattered over it, and with whom they want to maintain a constant communication, than they would be at Kertch. At present there is no steam communication in the Azof, and the means of transit across it must be very much improved before it will be possible to transfer to its southern extremity the point of rendezvous between the internal and external commerce. And, again, if Kertch should become the emporium of trade, a larger capital would be required for carrying on business there, because stocks would be longer on the road, and more of them would have to be kept in store. The necessity for a larger capital is a great objection to the change, because capital is very scarce in Russia, as in all new or ill-governed countries, so that even that which is required for the tillage of the ground is supplied by foreigners, as will afterwards be explained. It is besides doubtful, if an emporium were established on the Black Sea, whether Kertch is the most eligible place for it. The merchants generally are in favour of Theodosia rather than Kertch, because the anchorage at the former place is better, and the bay of Theodosia does not freeze in winter, like the Bosphorus. A glance at the map will also show, that a railway might be made, or a canal cut across the peninsula of Kertch, which at Theodosia is only forty miles broad, to some point between Arabat and Cape Kazantip, where the Russians landed their stores last autumn for Sevastopol, and then the difficulties of the navigation of the Bosphorus would be avoided, the distance shortened, and the communications would be easier with the western parts of new Russia.

Kertch, like all Greek colonies, is charmingly situated. A hill, called the Arm-chair of Mithridates, on the top of which the rock is scooped out in a peculiar way, rises at a short distance from the shore, and gently slopes down to the sea. Around this hill was originally built the old Greek town, and on its sides were once clustered a variety of Greek temples, crowned on the top by the acropolis, which in Greek cities was nothing more than the walls surrounding the sacred spot in which was placed the tutelary deity, upon the safe custody of which the security of the town was supposed to depend. The Turkish fortress below the hill has now been cleared away to make room for a handsome open square surrounded by arcades, from which streets are building in all directions.

I was kindly lodged during my stay here by Mr. Cattley, the English vice-consul, a son of one of the great Russian merchants of St. Petersburg, whom I had met at Sevastopol, and who is now the interpreter to Lord Raglan in the Crimea.

The civil Governor was Prince Herkheolídze, of Georgian extraction; and the military Governor, whose command extends all down the eastern coast of the Black Sea, and includes all the fortresses erected against the Circassians as far as Redout-kalè, was General Budberg, who had been the aide-de-camp of Marshal Diébitch in the first Turkish and Polish wars, and who was lately commissioner to the Emperor in the Principalities.

General Budberg was exceedingly polite, but would not allow me a passage to Redout-kalè, down the eastern coast of the Black Sea, in one of the Government vessels, which then occasionally plied there, although as soon as Prince Woronzof came to the Caucasus he made them start at stated times, and receive passengers at fixed charges, to the great convenience of travellers and merchants. During the ten days I staid in Kertch I spent the time very agreeably in visiting the numberless ancient remains in the neighbourhood, and profiting by the kind hospitality of the society there.

As I was going to visit a country so little known as the Caucasus, having obtained leave to take the road along the line of the Kuban, and across the mountains to Tiflis, I was anxious to obtain every information in my power, and met with many officers at Kertch who had served in various parts of the mountains, and were very obliging in satisfying my curiosity. General Budberg told me of the anthracite which is found in large quantities on the banks of the Don, and which was found to be, he said, better than coal for the steamers. He had just been superintending the experiments which two new English engineers had been making with it, and they found that a ship could be provided with it for one-third time longer than with coal, although it required a different arrangement of some parts of the machinery of the vessels.

I met here several educated Russians, of what I may call the middle classes, and was pleased to find in the unguarded moments of familiar conversation a tone of sound good sense in all their remarks, which I believe fairly represents the general state of feeling through the country.

Giving generally the fruit of my observations among many classes of Russians for several years, I believe they think their government a wise and good one on the whole, although they are not slow to criticise it in its details. They believe that an iron hand is necessary to keep the empire together, and that a great destiny is in store for it, and as long as progress is made, and the Slavonic name upheld, it has always seemed to me, and I think my opinion has been borne out by recent events, that they would be willing to rally round their Government, and make every sacrifice required by it.

Great efforts have been made of late years by the Government to rouse a national feeling in the people, and for this reason almost insurmountable obstacles are placed in the way of Russians either leaving Russia, or having their children educated abroad. As a general rule, to which very few exceptions are allowed, no Russian can be absent from his country between the age of twelve years old and twenty-five, or the whole time during which the character is supposed to be forming; and after the age of twenty-five a medical certificate is necessary in order to obtain permission to travel, and a tax of one hundred silver roubles, or about 16l., is levied during each year of absence as the price of a passport. No Russian can be absent more than five years from his country without ceasing to be a Russian subject, and forfeiting all his property. These rules were a good deal the subject of conversation while I was at Kertch, and they seemed generally approved of, on the grounds that young Russians came back with such very absurd notions after having been to foreign countries, and that, without understanding what was good in them, they aped everything that was bad. It was also observed that the revolution of 1824 originated entirely with the army that had served in Western Europe, which brought home notions of freedom that were impracticable in their native country. A constitution it was said was now impossible in Russia, and so little was the meaning of the term known by the people when they called out for it at the revolution of 1824, that they thought “Constitutia”⁠[231] meant the wife of the Grand Duke Constantine, who resigned his rights to the throne in favour of the late Emperor Nicholas.

The church of Kertch, which formerly stood in the fortress, is a curious specimen of Byzantine architecture, and the date of its erection engraven on one of its columns, viz. the year of the world 6225 (757 A.D.), proves it to be the oldest Byzantine temple now remaining in the Crimea.

The plan of the church is that of a cross with very short transepts, and a cupola rising in the middle, which lights the centre by eight narrow windows. The cupola is supported by four short marble columns of the Corinthian order, and some idea may be formed of the small dimensions of the church, as the distance between these columns is only twelve feet.

The appearance of the whole is mean and gloomy, and resembles the churches which may be seen in various parts of Greece. Under the Justinians and their successors, in the sixth and seventh centuries of the Christian era, architecture had degenerated, and leaving more and more the beautiful models of Greece, had changed into a new style suited to the wants of the Christian ritual, and therefore continually less like the old Greek edifices. This new style, which took its origin at Constantinople, was called the Byzantine style, and all the countries which bordered on the Black Sea adopted it. The cupola was necessary for the church service, as its light being shed on the table of the love feast, or the altar, was considered emblematic of the divine light descending from heaven.

Such was the origin of the Byzantine style, and it was natural that the Crimea, which was so near Constantinople, should be greatly influenced by it, and that the traces of it should be everywhere found throughout the peninsula. There are the remains of such churches at Phanagoria and Taman, and the churches of Kherson, Aithodor, and Aioudágh, in the Crimea, are built in the same style. There were several in Kertch, the remains of which may still be seen.

The marble that was commonly used at this period was white with large grains, striped with blue bands. Dubois supposes that there was a quarry of it near Constantinople, and that it was a great manufactory for church columns and ornaments, which were exported all round the Black Sea, because it is in all the principal ports that traces of churches are found, adorned with this marble. It is not found in buildings erected before the foundation of Constantinople, and the two kinds, then most usual, were the marble of Paros, of which fragments are found belonging to all ages, and a streaked marble of blue, or grey, or white, called “cipolino” by the Italians, the use of which is confined almost exclusively to the Bosphorus.⁠[232]

The ancient name of Kertch was Panticapæum,⁠[233] and it was one of the many Milesian colonies founded in the Black Sea, in the seventh century before Christ. After about half a century of independent existence, it became the centre of a kingdom the political limits of which varied considerably. In its palmiest days the territory extended as far north as the Tanais, while to the west it was bounded on the inland side by the mountains of Theodosia. This fertile and narrow region was the granary of Greece, especially of Athens, which drew annually from it a supply of 400,000 medimni of corn.⁠[234] Although there are no fine buildings, or even fragments left standing, as at Athens and Rome, to attest the ancient magnificence of Panticapæum, heaps of brick and pottery and the foundations of buildings encumber the soil for a considerable distance round the Hill of Mithridates, and show how great was the extent of the ancient city.

The acropolis occupied the summit of the Hill of Mithridates, in shape an irregular polygon, and the ditches and some parts of the walls, the last in the coarse limestone of Kertch, may still be traced. The fortified town touched the acropolis in the form of a long square, of which the acropolis occupied the south-east angle. The wall in its circuit enclosed only the summit and the northern slope of the Hill of Mithridates. The southern side seems never to have been fortified, although there are numerous traces of the foundations of buildings.

It is probable that, in very early times, the bay advanced much further into the land. Not to speak of the groups of tumuli which seem to mark the ancient limits of the water, the alluvial nature of the soil, its low level, which is almost that of the sea, and the absence of all buildings on this space, make it probable that this ground was formerly covered by the water. This was the case with all the other bays of the Bosphorus, and particularly of one to the south of Mount Mithridates, which formed in ancient times a second port, but is now covered with a salt-lake, separated from the sea by a bar of sand, which the waves sometimes overleap in stormy weather.

Thus in ancient times the hill of Panticapæum was bounded on three sides by the sea. The principal faubourg extended from the mole, the remains of which are still visible, along the sea-shore to the foot of the mountain, and as far as the southern port. In the midst of the immense heaps of ruins which cover the surrounding country, may be traced the principal streets which ended at the gates of the town, and among them one of the most distinct is that leading from the port to the acropolis, entering it at what seems to have been its only gate. This is probably the gate that is seen on the coins of the king, T. J. Reskóuporis, because it is not placed in the middle of the wall of the polygon, and the same peculiarity may be observed on the coins. The street after entering the acropolis, ascended the hill by a zigzag, until it reached the peak at the top called the Arm-chair of Mithridates. The base of the peak is hidden under a mass of ruins, and the whole rock has been carefully hewn. This is especially the case on the western side, where a niche is excavated, eight feet wide with steps leading up to it, and evidently intended for a statue, and this is the work which has given rise to the name of the “Arm-chair” of Mithridates. This “Arm-chair” is evidently only part of an ancient edifice in which it was included, the form of which may be traced by the foundations of the walls.

This edifice had probably a religious destination, as in the excavations which M. Scassi made at the foot of the rock, he discovered a fine torso of a colossal statue of Cybele in white marble, which forms one of the chief ornaments of the museum. There are also friezes and cornices which came from the same spot. The head of Cybele is found on the coins of some of the kings,⁠[235] although not on those of the town of Panticapæum, and Cybele is the same divinity as Astarte, or the Eastern Venus.

The interior of the acropolis, which was 200 yards square, allowed plenty of room for the erection of two sanctuaries, one to Cybele and the other to Ceres, and still left space for the lodgings of the priests, and the garrison, and for a palace for Mithridates the Great, who came here to die. The acropolis of Athens had not more available room than that of Panticapæum. The plateau of the Hill enclosed in the walls of the town was also ornamented with palaces and perhaps temples, for several peaks of rock have been sculptured like the Arm-chair of Mithridates, and the inscriptions and medals of Panticapæum show that there was the worship of several other divinities besides Cybele and Ceres.

There are no signs of aqueducts in the acropolis, but the lower town was probably supplied with water from two springs at the bottom of the valley, which now furnish the two principal fountains of Kertch. One is within the old fortifications, and has been repaired by the Turks with the fragments of ancient marbles, on one of which is an inscription, showing it to have belonged to a monument which Sauromates III. raised to his father Mithridates Eupator (A.D. 162).

The principal gate of the town was turned towards the interior of the peninsula in the centre of the western wall. It led to Nymphæum and Theodosia, and the place is easily recognized by the interruption of the deep ditch which ran along it. At 240 yards from the gate the road which led to Theodosia reached an allée of tumuli ranged several rows deep on each side in an irregular manner, and continuing for two-thirds of a mile. This long series of tombs seems to date in great measure from the foundation of the town by the Milesians. At a later period the dwellings of the dead became more extended, and occupied the range of hills in continuation of Mount Mithridates for six or seven miles in length, and here are found the tombs of the kings. Tumuli are also found on the other side of the low plain to the north, where they form three grand groups, the best known of which is near the modern quarantine. The gate to the north of the Theodosian gate led to the Greek city of Dia, near Kamishboroun, and the road crossed the hill through a gentle dip. Along it were the tombs of the poorer inhabitants, who buried their urns and cinders around a coral-rag peak, 245 feet above the level of the bay.

Such is a short sketch of the Milesian Panticapæum. Afterwards, as the bay became filled up, and the low ground between the mountain and the sea increased, the population descended and left the old site of the town, until in the fourth century, soon after Kertch became converted to Christianity, its Kings disappeared, and barbarous hordes destroyed all the cities of the Bosphorus. The population then became very much reduced, and the Panticapæum of the Eastern empire was a decayed and unimportant town.

As soon as there was space enough on the sea-shore, the inhabitants fortified themselves there; and the Milesian acropolis, on the summit of the mountain, with its temples and palaces, has ever since served as a cemetery. This was proved by the excavations which were made for building a mortuary chapel for Mr. Stempkovsky, who wished to be buried on the highest point. To the depth of eight or ten feet were found broken Etruscan pottery, fragments of marble, and building stones with inscriptions. In the midst of this new soil were a number of tombs, irregularly placed one on the other, containing stone coffins made of thin layers of Kertch limestone, filled simply with bones, which proved them to be Christian.

The Greeks never allowed the dead to be placed near the temples of the Gods, as their contact was considered pollution. Even close to the Arm-chair of Mithridates was found a sarcophagus, like those of Inkerman and Tepekerman, 7½ feet long and 1½ feet broad, and the eastern end, that of the head, cut in the shape of a semicircle. The tomb was covered with a great slab, and approached by five steps cut in the southern side of the rock. The Arm-chair itself was perhaps the apse of a little Christian chapel.

The enormous quantity of tumuli round Kertch form one of the distinguishing features of the place—many of them have been opened, and unfortunately without sufficient care. The tumulus on the shores of the Bosphorus is essentially Milesian. This is also remarkable on the Asiatic side, where the towns of the Sindes have no monuments of this kind, while Phanogoria, Kepos, and Kimmericum, which are known Milesian colonies, are surrounded by them. The same is the case on the European shore where Panticapæum, Myrmékium, Porthmium, Nymphæum, Milesian towns, are distinguishable from a distance by the multitude of their tumuli, while the other Kimmericum, now Opouk, and Kherson, colonies of Heraclea, and consequently Dorian, have none. The same is the case with the towns of the Tauri; except the residence of Skilouros near Simpherópol, which has a few tumuli near its walls.

It would be curious to inquire what is the reason of the tumulus being peculiar to the Ionic race. Does it arise from their differing with the Dorians in their religious ideas respecting the dead? and are the same facts observable in Greece and other Greek colonies? Must we go back for an explanation to the origin of the Greek nation, of the Ionians from the Pelasgians, and of the Dorians from the Hellenes?

The group of tumuli near the Theodosian gate⁠[236] are the most ancient, as is proved both by the nature of the objects found in them, and by their worn appearance. Mr. Blaremberg was the first to excavate them in 1824; and he has left in the museum of Kertch a list of the articles which he found in four, which had not been previously opened.

The head was generally surrounded by leaves of beaten gold, of which it was the custom to make a crown; and the following is a list of the articles found in one tomb, which he calls, without any good reason, that of the wife of King Eúmeles.

1. A bust of Isis in terra cotta.

2. Two doves in terra cotta.

3. A fragment of a Serapis in plaster.

4. A fragment of a large necklace in carbonated silver, finished by two heads of lions.

5. Ornaments in a vitreous paste imitating glass.

6. Fragments in oxided iron.

7. Two medals in bronze of King Eúmeles (died B.C. 304), having on one side a head of Apollo, and on the reverse a Priapus before a branch of myrtle.

8. A pair of golden bracelets, beautifully worked.

9. Two golden ear-rings, with small cupids, ornamented with precious stones.

10. Two golden rings, with convex green stones.

11. A golden ring, with an engraved stone of Minerva, very fine.

12. A golden pin, with a stone, on which is a butterfly.

13. A silver pin, with an engraved stone, with a head.

14. Four chalcedony ear-drops, and some leaves in beaten gold.

The tumuli near the quarantine are clearly less ancient than those on the road to Theodosia. They are less worn by time, of more colossal dimensions, and their interior construction, and the objects contained in them, show a more advanced state of civilisation. These tumuli were also crossed by a public road, which branched off on the right to Myrmékium, and on the left to Porthmium. The greater number contain vaults built of masonry, instead of excavations in the limestone, and their floor is on the same level as the ground outside. The arch of the ceiling is formed by each row of stones projecting more than the one below, until they almost touch at the top; and there are several tombs in the same tumulus. On cutting through one, on the new road to Yenicáleh, three tombs were found. The two first were those of men, as was proved by two swords and a lance which were found in them, and in the third was a skeleton of a woman, crowned with leaves of golden laurel.

There were also the following golden ornaments, which evidently belonged to a lady of high rank. Ear-rings two inches long; a necklace in filigree an inch broad, with ornaments below like the points of lances; two fibulæ, four inches long, worked with beads; a large bulla, like the fastening of a belt, with a head of Mercury upon it. Besides these, there were many plates of gold, which had fallen from the dress, now disappeared, on which were embossed vine-leaves and bunches of grapes; pearls of gold, with little tubes, separated by small enameled flowers, composed necklaces of various patterns. There were two rings, one very massive, with a stone having a head upon it, and the other with a stone cut into the shape of a lion couchant; and there was another representing two owls. By the side of the body was a gold coin of Philip of Macedon, a metal mirror, a clay vase two feet high, and a shallow covered vessel a foot and a half in diameter. At the same time another discovery was made by chance; by the side of the third tomb a fourth was found, in which were two large Etruscan urns, and one amphora about the head of the dead, who was crowned with a crown of golden laurel; with it were two necklaces, a pair of precious ear-rings, and a coin, all of gold.

It is interesting to find, on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, the same vases which in Italy are called Etruscan, from the place in which they were first found. They were soon known, however, not to be peculiar to Etruria, and Magna Græcia was discovered to be a still more prolific mine of them. Further researches established the fact, that wherever Greece had carried her civilisation and her colonies, these vases were found, and that there was not a spot within those limits, even as far as the banks of the Kuban and the Sea of Azof, which did not possess this kind of pottery, manufactured on the spot.

The number of these vases found at Kertch is small, but many were broken when the tombs were first opened, and fragments of them are scattered in great quantities all over the ruins of the town. The late Empress possessed two at Petersburg. General Potier and Prince Volkhonsky each had one, and a fourth was sold by Count de Betencourt for 160l. The Chevalier Gamba, in his Atlas, gives a drawing of one found at Kertch. There is a fine series in the museum there, and many private persons in the Crimea and Odessa possess others.

The following is a short account of the form and destination of these vases:—⁠[237]

In the East manners and customs have always remained in a singular degree unchanged, and this remark applies to all the objects of exterior life, and even to the vases. Each form had its particular destination, and, when manners do not change, forms likewise remain the same.

The Greeks partook with the East of this stability and uniformity in their vases. This may be observed from one end of Greece to the other, and both the fine and coarse vases of Italy are precisely on the same model as those of the Greek islands and Panticapæum.

They may be divided into two categories—profane and sacred. First, those for domestic use, or ornaments and offerings, as the kados, cups, bowls, viols, and lacrymatories; and secondly, the sacred or funeral vases, which formed a distinct kind. The latter are always of the shape of an urn with two handles, more or less large. The forms of all the vases are Greek, and, with few exceptions, they are ornamented with designs upon them.

Of the profane vases, or those for common use, the kados was that one used for drawing water; and for this all the people of the East, and the Greeks, had a peculiar form, varying in different countries according as the pitcher was carried on the head or the shoulder. Rebecca carried it on her shoulder when she met the servant of Abraham near the fountain of Charan.⁠[238]

The Greeks gave to this vase the name of kados; and with them it had three handles, of which the one in the middle served to hold it while water was poured out into smaller vessels, and the other two were to balance it upon the head. The kados of the Tatars of the Crimea has two handles, because they carry it on the head, like the Greeks. The Georgian kados is very broad below, and has only one handle, being carried on the shoulder. The Armenians use tinned copper vessels ornamented with designs.

The funeral vases, wide below, with narrow necks, nine to fifteen inches high, are found in the tombs, always with two handles, and two compositions painted on them, one on each side, differing both in execution and the style of the subject. On comparing them with those found in Italy, they will be seen to be precisely similar, even to the singular difference in the two compositions which ornament them. The one is always some scene in private or public life; and the design is elegant and the execution very careful. The other is a coarse sketch, hastily done in a rough way, and an eternal repetition of the same personages, with some variations in the pose, the number of figures, and the emblems which accompany them.

The personages in the long cloaks are the initiated during some scene of the mysteries of Ceres Thesmophora, as may be seen by comparing them with the relief on the altar of that goddess, found in the acropolis of Panticapæum, where the whole scene is precisely the same. These vases placed in the tombs must, therefore, be regarded as a kind of certificate of baptism, to prove that the dead had been initiated into such or such a grade of the mysteries. As the principal object of these mysteries was to teach, that there was an Almighty Divinity, punishing vice and recompensing virtue, the presence of these vases would be a proof of their faith in this doctrine, by which they hoped to reap eternal happiness after death. Some of the scenes relate to the mysteries of Bacchus, as well as Ceres, and the two have an intimate relation with each other, as they both come from the mysteries of Isis and Osiris. The essential elements in the mysteries of Ceres are the ample cloak, or pallium, without sleeves, descending to the feet, and was the same as was used in the mysteries of Eleusis. The initiated, on the vases, have the head bare, and with some the hair is bound by a narrow white fillet, which seems worn only by those of superior rank. This fillet has a little ornament in front, which may be the leaf persea, or the little serpent knouphis, the good demon so often seen on the images of Isis and Osiris. The crown of laurel and myrtle belongs only to an important personage, perhaps an hierophant. There is also a white stick held in the right hand, and sometimes the strigillum, or scraper. There is also an altar in the form of a truncated pyramid, and a large branch, and sacred cakes, placenta, oval, round, triangular, or square, placed in baskets, which were not to be seen by profane eyes. They were generally marked by one of four mystic signs: 1st, — or ꖌ; 2nd, +, or ⁜, or + +; 3rd, Ϲ, or Ͽ 4th, ☉ —. These scenes were so completely considered, merely as a general emblem, that on some vases the figures can hardly be made out; and the whole care of the artist was devoted to the scenes of life on the other side of the vase. The subjects chosen go far to prove that they were manufactured at Panticapæum, for the griffin, which was the emblem of Panticapæum, constantly appears, and various details of Scythian costume. On one there is a warrior with the Scythian cap; in front the crest of his horse; behind him the griffin. On another is a Scythian on horseback, in his costume, covered with little plates of gold, fighting the griffin. On a third the griffin follows in a procession by torchlight, and carries on its back a personage with a sacred emblem. On another is the history of the Amazons, evidently a Panticapæan subject; for the Sauromatæ, governed by women, were in daily contact with the Bosphorians; and the Amazons on the vase wear a complete Caucasian dress, the bachelik, or covering for the head, worn still universally in the Caucasus, of precisely the same form; the narrow trousers, the Tcherkess coat, the little morocco shoes, without soles,—in short, the whole Scythian costume is represented on this vase in the dress of the Amazons, but elegant and coquette, as it would be, if adopted by women. In the Hamilton vases of Naples⁠[239] there is likewise one scene of three Amazons fighting three griffins, which may, perhaps, have come from the Bosphorus.

Three classes of tombs must still be mentioned—those of the poor, the catacombs, and the tombs of the kings. On going out of the gate leading to Dia, along the mountain of Mithridates, there is an eminence, which a gentleman began to excavate. His labours, however, seemed to end in the solid rock, below a mass of amphoræ, which contained the cinders of the poor population. At last he remarked a sepulchral slab, and, lifting it up, found the entrance to a funeral cavern. This was built with an Egyptian roof,⁠[240] and had been despoiled of everything precious, but was still most interesting, from a suite of small pictures drawn on the wall below the commencement of the roof, about a foot high, representing the war of the cranes and the pigmies. In one place there is seen a pigmy, armed with lance and shield, struggling against a crane; in another place he is overthrown by his desperate adversary; in another he is attacking him by the tail, and the crane is turning round to punish him; in another he is running away, or defending himself with his hands and feet against the terrible pecks of his enemy; while another pigmy is wrestling with a crane, and succeeds in vanquishing it by pressing its neck. The roof was ornamented with garlands and arabesques to suit the pictures, and at the end of the cavern are two peacocks drinking from the same vase,⁠[241] and a winged genius, with a basket of flowers in his hand, is over the entrance door. Unfortunately, soon after this tomb was discovered, it was completely defaced by visitors.

The catacombs are among the tumuli on the road to Theodosia, and are deep excavations 15 or 20 feet deep, 7 or 8 feet long, and 2½ feet broad, and, on descending and entering by an arched door, large subterranean chambers are found, cut in the white calcareous clay, with niches all around for the bodies. Some remains of coffins are to be found, and the whole is probably a Christian work.

The last group of tumuli to be mentioned are those of the kings, at what was called the Golden Mountain. After following the old road to Theodosia for two miles, Mount Mithridates is seen to offer a passage across it by a narrow valley. The mountain rises again directly, and continues in a north-west direction to the Sea of Azof. This continuation is called the Golden Mountain. An enormous tumulus, which rises above the road, where it passes between the hills, seems to announce a more powerful race than that which raised the tombs of the plain. On the crest of the mountain, at 323 feet above the level of the sea, rises the tumulus, in the form of a cone, 100 feet high and 150 feet in diameter, different from those of the neighbourhood, because it is walled from top to bottom like a Cyclopean monument. It is cased on its exterior, like the Pyramids, with large blocks of Kertch stone, cubes of three or four feet, placed without cement or mortar. This monument, almost unique of its kind from its size, was a tomb, and from all times had been the object of a number of mysterious legends. The Tatar, Turk, and more ancient traditions, spoke of immense treasures hidden in this tomb, which was known by the name of Altun Obo, or the Golden Mountain. It was even added that, on each feast of St. John, a virgin was seen on the summit of the tumulus, waiting for him whom she had chosen to share with her the treasures of the Cyclopean monument. It may be observed that there is the same style of legend from the north to the south of Europe, and this of the Golden Mountain is similar to that, which the Tatars relate of the Kisiltach rock, the Lithuanians of the golden table buried in the swamps of Vokroi, and the Rughians of the stone of the Virgin at Stubenkammer.⁠[242] The tradition existed that there was an entrance to the tomb, which the Tatars had often tried to find, without success. It was not until 1832 that Mr. Kareiche carefully sought for it, and employed thirty-five men for fifteen days in attacking the tumulus from the south-west. At last he had the good fortune to find the entrance to a gallery, by which he penetrated without obstacle to the centre of the tumulus. The gallery was constructed of layers of worked stone, without cement, and was 60 feet long, 10 feet high—taking in the Egyptian roof, and three or four feet broad. Arrived at the end, M. Kareiche found himself on the edge of a precipice which opened before him. He saw with astonishment that the centre of the tomb was formed of a circular tower 25 feet high and 20 feet in diameter. The floor of this construction was 10 feet below the floor of the gallery, and the vaulted roof was composed of four rows of advancing stones.

At length M. Kareiche perceived that he could descend into the tomb by stones placed at distances in the side, and was hastening to reap the treasures promised in the legend, when to his stupefaction he perceived that the tomb was empty. On the ground was a large square stone, on which a sarcophagus might have been deposited, and half way up the wall was a large empty niche. He searched in vain to penetrate further, supposing that the tower was only a well to arrive at other hidden caverns: nothing indicated any passage, or any loose stone, and it is still an enigma what was the object of this expensive and magnificent monument, the rival of the pyramids. The tower is not in the centre of the tumulus, and it is possible that there may be other interior chambers. The distance between the interior tower and the exterior Cyclopean wall is filled with fragments of stone from the fine quarries in the neighbourhood.⁠[243]

The modern Greek legend made this the tomb of Mithridates, although it is well known that he was buried at Sinope, and Souvorof, deceived by this account, is said to have made a pilgrimage to this tumulus as the tomb of the great king, and to have knelt and shed tears here.

This tumulus is placed exactly at the spot where the two branches of the long rampart meet, which extends from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azof. It is visible, extending from the foot of the tumulus to the gorge of Katerles, which opens in a second range of hills parallel to the Golden Mountain and Mount Mithridates, and the peaks above it are covered with ruins. To the south the rampart is quite effaced, where the road to Theodosia crosses it, but beyond it its zigzags are seen as far as the White Cape, where it of course terminates.

This rampart was probably the ancient boundary of the territory of Panticapæum, and the primitive kingdom of the Bosphorus, before the conquest of Nymphæum and Theodosia, which were added to the kingdom, the first in B.C. 410, and the second about B.C. 390.

Within the rampart, at 150 paces to the east, near Kertch, there is another monument of the same kind as the other, but unfinished. It consists of a circular esplanade, 500 paces round and 166 in diameter, with an exterior covering of Cyclopean masonry, built of worked stones, 3 feet long and high. There are five layers of these; but it seems to have been the intention of the builders to raise a monument like the one before mentioned. Perhaps a revolution, or the death of the prince who was building his own monument, like the kings of Egypt, caused the works to be abandoned. Several ranges of enormous stones between this and the first monument indicate ancient walls of houses, and adjoining these are traces of ancient gardens, while on the slope of the mountain, in the midst of the ruins near the Khouter Scassi, there is a fine well in good preservation, cased with wrought stone and full of water. This seems extraordinary in the midst of a country now so dry, desert, and devoid of wood; but proves that in the time of Panticapæum the general aspect of the land was very different, since country houses and trees existed where there are now only wild rocks.

The view from the summit of the hill, and still more so from the top of the tumulus, is magnificent, and extends as far as the rock of Opouk, the ancient Kimmericum, which is 24 miles distant. To the north it extends over several pretty country houses, situated at the foot of the mountain. That of M. de Scassi is a real Italian villa, surrounded by gardens and orchards, where the proprietor has planted 30,000 plants of vines and more than 2000 fruit-trees, which he imported from France. There is in the park the ash and the elm, and the red pine of the Caucasus. There are several small tumuli around; but a detailed description must now be given of the great discovery of all, which was made by accident.

There is a spur of the Golden Mountain running south, called by the Tatars Kouloba,⁠[244] or the hill of cinders, beyond the ancient rampart, and four miles from Kertch. Near it is a tumulus 165 feet in diameter, and some soldiers, carrying away stones from it, discovered an interior construction. They soon arrived at a vestibule, 6 feet square, turned to the north, covered by an Egyptian roof of three rows of stones, which they were obliged to remove in order to penetrate further, because this roof was supported by beams reduced to dust. At the end of the vestibule was a door, 8 feet 10 inches high and 5 feet 9 inches wide, closed half way up by large wrought stones, and above by those of the common size. Large pieces of wood formed the covering, but the beams were reduced to dust, and the stones which closed the entrance supported the upper part, which threatened soon to fall. This difficulty was soon removed, and two savans, Mr. Dubrux and Dr. Lang, were commissioned by the governor to enter alone and take an inventory of the contents. An immense crowd besieged the approaches, which were guarded by soldiers, while the commissioners entered the funeral dwelling of one who had evidently been an important personage.

The tomb was almost square, measuring 15 feet from east to west, and 14 feet from north to south, and the entrance-door was not in the centre of the wall. The walls were built of hewn stones, each 3 feet long and 2 feet high. Five rows of stones raised it to 7 feet 8 inches, and then began the spring of the Egyptian arch, formed by seven rows of advancing stones, the front row advancing 5 inches and the upper rows 6 or 8 inches, so that at the top there only remained a space 2 feet square, filled by a single stone: the tomb was thus 16 feet high. At 10 feet 10 inches above the pavement began the wooden ceiling, which had fallen, when the beams which supported it gave way. The floor had a stone pavement, and the principal place was occupied by a sarcophagus formed of a case of yew wood, 8 feet 9 inches long and 10 inches high, and was joined by thick beams, on which the outward planks were fitted. The side facing the interior of the tomb was open, and the interior was divided into two parts by a plank. In one of the compartments, larger than the other and nearest to the wall, was extended the body of a man of great stature. The thigh bone was 17½ inches long, and the skull extremely thick. On his brow were the remains of a mitra, or Persian cap, of which the top is more narrow than the base. Two plates of gold ornamented the top and the bottom: the one below was 1½ inches broad, ornamented with festoons and griffins, the emblem of Panticapæum, and was of less careful workmanship than the upper plate, ornamented with figures, leaves, and arabesques. Around the neck was a grand necklace in massive gold, of beautiful workmanship, in the form of an open ring, and twisted like a cord, with the extremities passing one over the other. At each end was a Scythian on horseback, and the extremities were for a distance of 2 inches enameled with blue and green. Similar ones have frequently been found of copper, and rarely of any other metal, in the tombs of the north, and, among others, in those of the ancient Lithuanians.

The arms were extended on each side of the body, and on the right arm, above the elbow, was a circle or bracelet in gold, an inch broad, and adorned with reliefs. Below the elbows were two other bracelets in electrum,⁠[245] 1½ inches broad. A third pair of open bracelets in fine gold encircled the wrists, and finished in Persian winged sphinxes, the claws of which held the thick thread of gold which served to close the bracelet when it was passed on the wrist. The workmanship was very fine, and their thickness about half an inch. At the feet of the king were a multitude of little sharp flints piled up. In Scythian mourning it was a custom to tear the face and the rest of the body with such instruments, and they were then placed in the tombs as a mark of grief; some bodies found in a tumulus near Simpherópol were covered with them. In the narrower compartment of the sarcophagus were placed the gods and arms of the king—first there was his iron sword, the handle of which, covered with leaves of gold, was adorned with figures of hares and foxes embossed on the gold. Beside the sword lay the Tcherkess or Cossack whip (called nogaik), adorned with a leaf of gold, and above it was the shield in fine gold. The thickness of the latter was about that of a five-franc piece, and its shape showed that it was principally a protection for the shoulder, and fitted to the arm. It was 8½ inches long and 7½ broad, and its weight was 1½ lbs. of fine gold. The umbo or centre of the shield was surrounded by a simple circular fillet, and one with the egg pattern, leaving an interval of 3½ lines, on which were chiselled dolphins and other fishes. The rest of the shield was divided into twelve compartments by a fillet, and was covered with masques imitating the head of Medusa, alternating with faces with pointed beards, and flies and heads of seahorses.

The bow and its wooden case⁠[246] were reduced to dust, and there only remained the plate, in electrum, which ornamented the quiver. It was adorned with embossed work, representing a wild goat seized by a tiger, and a deer attacked in front by the griffin of Panticapæum, and behind by the lion of Phanagoria. The deer was the emblem of the town of Diana, which was Kherson. A seahorse filled the wider part of the plate, and a masque the other extremity. Above the tail of the tiger was written the Greek word ΠΟΡΝΑΧΟ, engraven on the metal. Some suppose this to mean Pharnáces the son of Mithridates, whose tomb this may be, but Dubois considers it the name of the artist, which, under the more recent form, ΦΑΡΝΑΚΟϹ, frequently recurs in the inscriptions of Sindika, now Anapa.

Among these arms was found one boot in bronze, and the fellow was on the right of the king, opposite the head. In the same compartment, and near the head of the king, were found, in the exterior angle, five statuettes in electrum. One figure represented two Scythians embracing one another, and tightly holding a horn, probably filled with hydromel. The horn is like those which all the statues, or babas, so often found in one part of Southern Russia, hold with both hands. Another figure holds a purse in its right hand, and a strange instrument in the left, and is like a Celtic Mercury. There was likewise the Scythian Hercules among these divinities. Their costume recalled the Slavonic and Tatar dress, and particularly the tunic of sheepskin, which the Tatars call toun or teretoun, the Russians touloup, and the Poles kozuch, which was the Scythian garment found in the most ancient monuments. The fleece is turned inwards, or the garment is only edged with fur, and it is found of all lengths, from the short Tatar tunic, and the Slavonic katskaveika, to the long sheepskin gown of the Russian peasant. These different kinds are all visible in the different dresses of the figures of this tomb, where may be recognized the real Lithuanian sermedje and the Tcherkess tchok.

Thus was arranged the sarcophagus of the king, and around it, on the pavement, were the objects which completed the furniture of the tomb, in which nothing had been forgotten which could contribute to the material wants of life. At his feet a kind hand had placed three large cauldrons of molten bronze. Two were oval or oblong, and one was spherical, and all reposed on a cylindrical foot, of which the base spread out into three hooks to fix it on the soil. These three vases had been often on the fire and used for cooking; there was a thick coat of suet still on them, and the interior was filled with mutton bones.⁠[247]

There was another oblong vase, near the door, filled in the same manner. After the kitchen of the king came his provision of wine, and his drinking-cups. The wine was contained in four clay amphoræ, placed upright against the wall on the right. On the handle of one was inscribed ΘΑΣΙ, and below ΑΡΕΤΩΝ, and in the midst was a fish. These then were filled with wine of Thasos, which, to judge by the quantity of amphoræ found in the tombs, bearing this name, was the favourite kind of wine. Two large crateres were naturally placed near the amphoræ, because the Scythians always drank wine mixed with water. The first, the nearest to the door, was of silver, nearly eighteen inches in diameter, and contained four drinking cups in silver, two of which were of beautiful workmanship, particularly the one which terminates below in the head of a ram. The second crater in bronze contained also four silver drinking cups, the largest of which is ornamented with chiseled work gilt, on which may be recognised the birds and fish of the Black Sea and the Cimmerian Bosphorus. On the right is a duck plunging and seizing a fish; under it swims a labra and a sturgeon, and further on a cormorant with extended wings is seizing while flying a small fish. On another is a combat of a wild boar about to yield under the claws of a lion.

On the right is a toura⁠[248] of the Caucasus, brought to the ground by two griffins of Panticapæum. On the left the deer of Kherson suffers the same fate, being torn by a lion, while a female leopard, with open mouth, is about to seize it by the throat. In the part which the wild-boar, the deer, and the toura play in the midst of griffins and lions, there is a manifest design. The lion of Phanagoria and the griffin of Panticapæum are not always represented as victorious without intention, while the deer of Kherson, the toura of the Caucasus, and the wild-boar of the Kuban, are always vanquished by them.

Beyond the drinking-cups were the arsenal of the king, composed of two lances and several bundles of arrows, laid along the wall. The last had triangular points in bronze, with three barbs, to prevent their being drawn out of the flesh, and are similar to those found in Scythian monuments in Southern Russia. Between the arrows and the sarcophagus there appeared a second skeleton, laid on the pavement, and much covered with earth, but adorned so richly that it was impossible not to recognise the wife of the king, who thus accompanied him to his last resting-place. She was laid in the same direction as the king, and wore on her forehead a mitre like him, with a plate in electrum terminating it, which showed a skilful workman. Four women, in Greek costume, sit in the midst of garlands of lotuses, the stalks of which form seats and backs. Four masques of lions formed on each side the means by which the plate was attached to the mitre. On the bottom the mitre was bordered by a diadem of gold, adorned all round with small enameled rosettes. The queen bore on her neck, like the king, a grand necklace with the ends moveable, and, instead of horsemen, the extremities were formed of couchant lions. She had on besides another necklace of gold filigree, to which were suspended small chains, supporting little bottles of fine gold. Five medallions of exquisite workmanship, and different sizes, descended on her bosom, and they were fastened together by small chains and bottles. These were enameled blue and green, like other objects that have been mentioned. The two largest of these medallions represented Greek Minervas, but evidently worked at Panticapæum, because of the chiseled griffins on the wings of her helmet. The attributes of Minerva, besides the owl and the winged Pegasus, are the serpents of Medusa, which ought to ornament her shield, a winged sphinx like that on the bracelets of the king, and a row of deer’s heads on the viser of the helmet. The arabesque which surrounds the helmet is also enameled.

At the foot of the skeleton was discovered a magnificent vase in electrum, resembling in form and size those in the second crater, which stands on a foot. It probably contained perfumes, particularly as some of the little bottles usually called lacrymatories were found, as in the other tombs. The exquisite chiselings upon it are of the greatest interest for art and history. (See Plate.) Four groups of figures succeed each other as episodes in the same history, in which the personage playing the principal part reappears three times. In the first group, beginning from left to right, he is seated, the two hands and the head leaning on the lance, listening attentively to the report of a warrior. The king is known by the royal band round his head, perhaps the very one which is placed in the tomb. His costume is completely Scythian: he has the narrow trousers, the boots, and the tchok which has been described. The warrior who makes the report is also a Scythian, kneeling before him, dressed as on the Etruscan vases, and armed with lance and buckler. Neither the one nor the other has the warlike quiver; their hair is long, and spread over their shoulders; but the bearer of the despatch has no diadem; he wears only the bachelik of the Caucasus, or the Phrygian bonnet, or rather the Lithuanian bonnet, which has for many centuries remained the same. The next figure turns its back to the messenger, and, kneeling on one knee, is much occupied in bending a bow, which may be that of the king, for this warrior has his own by his side. They are preparing for war. This war then takes place; and next are depicted the fruits of it, for the king has been badly wounded. He is recognised in the half sitting, half kneeling, figure, from whom the Scythian magus is extracting a tooth from the left side of the jaw. On examining the skull of the king, deposited in the museum, it may be seen that the lower jaw presents the marks of a wound, with a fracture which has carried away several teeth; for the two large teeth are wanting, and a third, shorter than the others, has been attacked by a disease which has made the jaw swell.

A fourth episode represents the king wounded in the leg; a warrior is fomenting it with bandages. In this place the trousers and a part of the tchok are covered with something that looks like embroidery. These are the little golden and electrum scales sewn on the garments. Strabo says that the Aorses, on the banks of the Tanais, wear gold on their garments.⁠[249] These little scales are embossed, pierced with holes at the sides to sew them on, and represent an infinity of subjects. This tomb furnishes some very rich examples of them.

On attentively examining the interior when it was first opened, it was perceived that at the foot of the walls were heaped up an infinity of these little plates. The walls showed signs of having had pegs of wood fixed in them, to which were suspended the rich wardrobe of these great personages. The clothes had fallen, and nothing was found but a mass of dust, mixed with these little plates, which were carefully collected. The greater number were in the form of triangles or roses, of different sizes, without any relief; on others were fine heads of women or divinities, and figures of griffins, lions, hares, foxes, and other animals. One of them, with the figure of a woman upon it, proves that if the men of that period wore the Caucasian dress, the same was the case with the women, whose long veil or tchadra seems just the same as that which the Caucasian women still wear. The robe is flowing. One of the women bears in her hand a goblet, and in the other a key. Another little plate represents two Scythian archers, back to back, ready to shoot their arrows. Two others represent Scythian hunters on horseback, pursuing a hare. In the left hand they hold the reins, and in the right the javelin.

By the side of the body of the queen were found two golden bracelets with bas-reliefs in two ranges, that is to say, six figures on each bracelet, the breadth of which is three and half inches. Around the head were disposed six knives, with handles of ivory, the blades of which were like surgical instruments. A seventh knife had a handle of gold, and reliefs upon it. A bronze mirror, with a handle of gold, ornamented with a griffin pursuing a deer, in relief, was also one of the objects which surrounded the queen.

According to the Scythian customs, the queen must have been strangled before being placed in the tomb of her husband; and the same cruel laws required the presence of the king’s servant. He was found accordingly stretched across the tomb, along the southern wall, and round him were many plates of gold. His helmet and greaves, in silver, very much oxidised, were laid with the bones of a horse in an excavation two feet square, which occupied the south-east corner of the tomb. Among the things which were taken out of the cavern were several highly-worked pieces of wood, which belonged to musical instruments, the only thing wanting to complete the whole establishment. Several of the pieces showed designs executed with an engraver’s point, of exquisite workmanship. There was a chariot, a woman holding a helmet in her hand, a slave with a large bowl giving drink to a horse, some women seated, and other designs.

If all the objects which adorned the inside of the tomb bear the stamp of Scythian ideas and the customs and usages of that nation, the same cannot be said of the ornaments and pictures of the sarcophagus of yew wood, which presents in perfect preservation paintings on wood, which have resisted upwards of twenty centuries. These paintings covered the pannels of the sarcophagus. The principal subject is entirely Greek, and proves that if they buried a king surrounded by Scythian luxury, Greek artists were employed at his interment. Two Victories, mounted on chariots, turned one against the other, filled the extremity of the picture, of which seven Greek figures, in different positions, occupied the centre, three women and four men. A goose and a swan are mixed with these figures, all represented as very agitated, running, gesticulating, with expressions of joy, which is justified by the approach of the two triumphal cars. The chariots are drawn by four white horses, two of which are spotted. On the frieze, which surrounded the pannel above, the artist has represented warriors drawing the bow.

When the tomb was opened, the savans deputed for the purpose were busy in making a plan and putting down the position of each object which they found. This occupied the whole day, while two soldiers guarded the entrance. These gentlemen in the evening thought their work was finished, but for greater precaution the sentinels kept at their post, with orders to let no one pass. The crowd which visited the tomb during the night from curiosity was so great, that the sentinels could not keep it back. The people penetrated into the tomb, examined everything, and then were discovered the little plates of gold which covered the pavement.

While they were thus occupied in examining and disputing about the smallest spoils, some persons perceived that the tomb resounded as if there was something hollow underneath. Raising the stones of the hollow square in the corner, they discovered a second tomb below much richer than the first, and from this the masses of gold were drawn which for several years afterwards were in circulation at Kertch. There was not a Greek woman there who did not retain some relic of this great discovery, especially in the form of ear-rings. It was said that no less than 120 lbs. weight of gold jewellery were extracted from these tombs, of which the Government obtained about 15 lbs., and the rest was dispersed. In this pillage the people acted in the most barbarous manner: they tore the objects from one another, and chopped up the most precious with the hatchet. Such was the fate of the golden shield of the lower tomb, part of which the Government bought back piece by piece for the weight of the gold. On one of the pieces recovered there is a Greek woman, like a Fury, with her long hair blown by a tempest, bearing in her hands a lance and torch: wolves, of which one carries a labrus in its mouth, surround her and complete the picture of this terrible divinity. The tomb is probably anterior in date to the reign of Mithridates, both from the style of the ornaments and various minor circumstances. The letter 𐅃 (P) is often repeated on the reliefs, and is written with one side shorter than the other, a form which quite disappears before the time of Mithridates the Great. It is so written on the great vase in electrum, which is of extraordinary enigmatical shape, representing a deer lying down, while on its sides are chiselled a griffin, a ram, like the one of Jupiter Ammon, a lion, and a dog turning its head, all of which appear on the most ancient medals of Panticapæum. Again the two medallions of Minerva, with her attributes, of exquisite workmanship, must have been made at a time when the kings of the Bosphorus were proud of their alliance with Athens, and of being citizens of that city, as were Leucon, Paerisádes I., and Eúmeles. At a later period the connexion ceased between the Bosphorus and Athens. There is, besides, no sign of the influence of Rome in any part of the tomb. Its construction is very ancient, and the idea of propping the ceiling with posts is not found in any more recent tombs.

The Scythian costume also was much in vogue under the Leuconides, as most of the figures on the vases wear it. We might indeed expect at that period to find the Scythian manners and costumes by the side of the Greek worship. The Scythians who had invaded Central Asia, destroyed by the stratagem of Cyaxares in 605 B.C., returned in small number, hoping to re-enter upon the territory which they had abandoned on the shores of the Bosphorus; but they were opposed by the children of their wives and their slaves, during the long absence of their husbands. Repulsed on every side, they renounced the idea of crossing the Cimmerian Bosphorus; and making the circuit of the Sea of Azof, they thought to force the rebels in their retreat in the peninsula of Kertch. They passed the Isthmus of Perecop and the Crimea; but their slaves were beforehand with them, and raised a rampart of earth from the Sea of Azof to the Tauric chain. The Scythians in despair are said to have then had recourse to their whips, when from old recollections the slaves ran away, and the Scythians re-entered on the possession of their domains, which their Sindic slaves cultivated for them. The Sindes of the peninsula of Kertch were then the ancient inhabitants of the peninsula and of the island of Taman, a race mixed with Mæotes and the remains of the Kimmerian population, while the aristocrats of the country were the Scythians, who levied tributes upon them.

It was among this Sinde people, governed by Scythians, that the Milesians came to found the colonies of Panticapæum, Nymphæum, Theodosia, Phanagoria, Kepos, and others, sixty years after the return of the Scythians. These colonies depended at first directly on the metropolis, paying a tribute for their establishment on foreign soil. Their commerce and industry enriched them and increased their population, and they then took up an independent position, and thus Panticapæum was governed by its proper archianactides, who remained at the head of the municipality from 480 to 438 B.C. But by the side of those magistrates there existed in the Bosphorus of Europe, as well as in that of Asia, an indigenous Scythian or Mætic power, whose ambition it was to conquer the Greek towns. In 437 B.C. a certain Spartocus seized on Panticapæum, and replaced the archianactides. Not to offend the Greeks, whom a royal title would have frightened, he called himself archon of the Bosphorus (i. e. Panticapæum and Phanagoria), while he took the title of king of the countries which surrounded the colonies, and which were his patrimony. The colonies preserved their municipal forms (which resembled the Swiss municipalities and the imperial towns in Germany) during 402 years, until Asander took the title of king of the Bosphorus in 36 B.C. Under the first Archon and his successor Seleucus, the rampart of the Golden Mountain was the limit of the territory of Panticapæum and Nymphæum; and the latter colony was in the power of Athens. The treachery of a certain Gelo, the maternal grandfather of Demosthenes, opened the gates of Nymphæum to Spartocus II., B.C. 410, and the Athenians were dispossessed.⁠[250]

Satyrus I. (B.C. 407), son of Spartocus II., was nevertheless a great friend of Athens. He increased the kingdom on the Asiatic side, and, having been killed at the siege of Theodosia, Strabo says that the tumulus of Koukóuoba was raised in his honour.

Leucon I., son of Satyrus (reigned 393-353 B.C.), was made a citizen of Athens, and took Theodosia, to which he left its municipal administration.

Paerisádes I. (349 B.C.) son of Leucon, increased the power of the Bosphorus, by his successful wars in the Crimea and in Asia; and one part of the Tauric chain and the valleys of the Caucasus obeyed him. There is a medal of Kherson, with his effigy on one side and a Diana on the other, that makes it probable that he also took Kherson, although there is no mention of this fact in history.⁠[251]

Diodorus relates the tragic history of three sons of Paerisádes—Satyrus, Eúmeles, and Prýtanas—who all died a violent death. Satyrus, the eldest, trying to appease the revolt of Eúmeles in Asia, was wounded in the arm, and died the next night. The body, it is said, was brought to Panticapæum, and buried with magnificence in the tomb of his ancestors. Thus we have mention of a family burial-place.

Dubois thinks that the king found in the tomb was either Leucon or Paerisádes I., on account of the allegories on the reliefs. Unfortunately the contents of the lower tomb were never investigated, so that the only thing that can be considered certain is that they belonged to the dynasty of the Leuconides, from the emblems, the allegorical scenes, the form of the letters, and the architecture.

The value and abundance of the remains of antiquity found at Kertch naturally required a Museum, which has been built by the government on the Hill of Mithridates. It is an exact copy of the Temple of Theseus at Athens, with a flight of steps leading up to it, and has a good effect overlooking the sea. Situated, as is Kertch, on the confines of Scythia, the Caucasus, the Sauromatæ, and other nations little known, it would require a very experienced antiquarian to arrange the contents of the museum; but, unfortunately, none such are to be found there, and its precious contents are thrown pell-mell, and daily plundered. When Dubois visited the Museum in 1832, there were three very curious skulls in it, with remarkably high foreheads, found in a very ancient tumulus near Yenicáleh, which probably belonged to the ancient Kimmerians. The only perfect skull had disappeared a few months afterwards, having been sold by the conservator for 100 francs to a stranger, who fortunately destined it for the museum of Munich, where it will be preserved.

The quarantine is about three miles distant from Kertch, and within its boundary are the ruins of Myrmékium, the highest part of which is on a little promontory overlooking the sea. Here, to hoist a flagstaff, some sailors made a hole in the rock, and were surprised to find the mast suddenly run down a considerable distance. On examining the ground they found that there was a tomb underneath, which had, however, been opened, and nothing remained in it but a very fine sarcophagus, ornamented with bas-reliefs, which had been dragged towards the entrance, and then left mutilated.

Yenicáleh is at the point of the peninsula, about seven miles from Kertch to the north-east, and its castle was built by the Turks to command the passage of the Bosphorus: it is inhabited by a few Greeks, who are occupied in the fishery for turbot. Two ranges of hills, with coral-rag peaks, cross the peninsula of Kertch, and terminate at the Bosphorus—the one at Yenicáleh, and the other a little higher up; on one is built the castle of Yenicáleh, and on the other the lighthouse. Between them was formerly a bay, which is now a salt lake, closed by a bar of sand.

Higher up the valley, ranged in an amphitheatre, are many different kinds of springs, and the celebrated mud volcanoes. The springs and the mud volcanoes have their principal seat in the formations of the foliated clay and the white chalk; and starting from the west, near the Khouter Khronevi, the series begins by a sulphurous spring rising at the foot of a limestone peak, and the sulphur is seen floating on the water. There are other springs in the neighbourhood, which seem to take their origin in the midst of a black, bituminous, brilliant mud, which when stirred sends forth a strong smell of hydrogenetted sulphur. The cattle are very fond of this water. To the east are pure springs, which supply the aqueduct of Yenicáleh; and near the lighthouse are the springs of naphtha and the mud volcanoes. These have continually been in activity for a very long period of time. The principal crater, which seems the patriarch of all this volcanic formation, is a tumulus completely isolated, of 500 feet in diameter and 35 feet in height. Its summit presents a depression of 6 feet, filled by a pond of mud and water, 70 feet long and 35 feet wide. The mud is grey and thick, and gives out a strong smell of sulphur and bitumen. Here and there on the thick mud are liquid spots, whence bubbles of hydrogen gas rise, of a foot in diameter, and sometimes they burst into fire, and the volcano is in a blaze. When this violent commotion happens, the mud flows on all sides over the borders; but in ordinary times it escapes in a little steam. Naphtha springs, of 14° temperature, rise at 150 paces from the crater, in the midst of a fine black mud, from a stream of water which passes near the tumulus. They have a very strange appearance, and seem like the chimneys of the infernal regions, as the crust of the soil is pierced with black holes surmounted by little cones, from whence the mud and gas bubble up together. The whole soil around trembles when walked upon, and one fears to sink into the bowels of the earth.

To complete our view of the peninsula of Kertch, I will now follow the coast line to the south of Kertch by Nymphæum and Kimmericum to Theodosia.

At Cape Akboroun, or the white cape, there are two groups of tumuli. One group has seven of enormous size. The other extends along a ridge which joins the southern spur of the Golden Mountain. Near the last there is a high cliff, with a depression beyond it, which has the appearance of an immense theatre overlooking the sea. This was the site of the old quarantine, and was originally covered with vineyards, whence it received its old Greek name of Ambeláki, from ampelos, a vine. There is here a rich mine of phosphated iron, where the fossils published by M. de Verneuil are found in great quantities. From the colour of the soil, this cape is called Kamish Boroun, the blue cape, in opposition to Ak Boroun, the white cape.

Between the iron mine and a country house of the same name as the cape are the ruins of Dia, which occupied the extreme southern point of the entrance of the ancient gulf of Nymphæum, now the Lake of Tchourbach, for the flow of the current of the Bosphorus has closed the entrance of the gulf, and no less than four lakes bordered with sand occupy its site. Their formation is recent, and up to 1830 merchant vessels of Kertch used to come and winter in the northernmost lake. Since then a bar of sand has closed the port; for, owing to the zigzag shape of the Bosphorus, it may be seen that the long bar of sand, called that of the South, in increasing, has driven the current to the European coast, and against the southern point of the bay of Nymphæum, which presented itself like a spur to catch the sand.

The ancient town of Nymphæum occupied exactly this southern point; but to visit it, it is necessary to go round the gulf, at the end of which is the village of Tchourbach, and the country-house of M. Gourief. There is salt on the lake, but its naphthous nature prevents its being used for salting purposes; and in the whole peninsula there is only the salt of Tchokrak which is perfectly pure.

Following a little rivulet which runs into the lake of Tchourbach, the rocks increase in height, and an ancient road leads to the summit of one of them, on which are the ruins of a large square castle, surrounded by a wall almost buried under the turf. There was a deep ditch outside, and there are no tumuli round it, but many tombs cut in the rock. It is about eight miles from Kertch, and may be the Tyrictaca of Ptolemy. Nymphæum is four miles from Tchourbach, and the road, which appears to be the ancient Greek road, leads to it amidst coral-rag peaks and a profusion of tumuli.

On the angle between the ancient gulf and the Bosphorus was situated the town, built on a kind of platform. The rampart is easily traced, and the faubourgs were around the metropolis. There are large masses of ruins everywhere, and the soil is several feet deep in broken pottery, much of which is Etruscan. At about one-third of a mile from the town the tumuli begin, and encircle it in great numbers; but nothing valuable has been found here, as at Panticapæum. The excellent port, of which Strabo speaks, is of course filled up, but three roads leading down to it from the town may still be seen. A small colony of Russians is established at the foot of the Acropolis, on the side of the Bosphorus; and here are wells of excellent water, which date from the time of Nymphæum. The colony is employed in the herring fishery, as masses of these fish come close to the shore: at a single haul 50,000 have sometimes been caught. In 1833 the government brought here from Holland a master-salter to teach the art of salting and curing them. According to his account the herrings of the Black Sea are not inferior to those of Holland; but those of Kamish Boroun are fatter and more delicate than those of the Danube. The fishery lasts from 15th October to the 15th of March, and as many as two millions of herrings are yearly caught here.⁠[252] Very possibly the Greeks also carried on this commerce, for their mother country drew from the Bosphorus their largest supplies of salt-fish.

Nymphæum was founded at the same time as Panticapæum, and fell into the power of the Athenians in the time of Pericles. It was betrayed into the hands of the Bosphorians in B.C. 410. In the time of Mithridates it was still a strong place, where he lodged the greater part of his army which he destined for his grand expedition by the Danube and the Alps against the Romans. Nymphæum afterwards rapidly decayed, and in the time of Pliny existed only as a name.

Takil-boroun, the promontory at the entrance of the Black Sea, where there is the lighthouse, was probably the site of Akra, another Greek town, mentioned by Strabo.

At thirty miles from Kertch, on the coast of the Black Sea, is Opouk, a Tatar village at the extremity of the fine roadstead which is defended by Cape Elkenkáleh from the north and east winds. Here a volcanic effort has raised the horizontal tertiary limestone of the peninsula of Kertch, and lifted the fragments to different heights, without very much disturbing their horizontal position. The largest is the hill of Opouk, about two-thirds of a mile long. The surface is raised about fifty feet above a chaotic mass of rocks below, which descend like steps to the sea, forming on one side Cape Elkenkáleh, which closes the western entrance to the bay of Opouk, and on the other side a similar cape which marks the entrance of another ancient gulf, now closed by a bar of sand. Here in very ancient times a numerous population was established, taking advantage of the strong and advantageous position, where the rocks advanced like a magnificent mole between two fine ports. Although the eastern one is filled up, the western one still affords a safe and convenient anchorage for vessels of war, which are here completely sheltered from northern and westerly winds. At a short distance from the shore are two rocky islands, called Karavi, and by these the place is identified as the ancient Kimmericum.⁠[253] Like all the towns of the peninsula of Kertch, it was almost desert in the time of Strabo, and at a later period was called Kibernicus. The south-east extremity of the rock was the acropolis, cut off from the plain by a wall 200 feet long and 9 feet thick. The corner of this wall touched on a construction of extreme solidity. The walls of it, about 50 feet square and 12 feet thick, and a ditch cut in the living rock, separated it from the exterior town. There are ruins and grottoes all around, and there is a block cut into the form of a pedestal, on which stood the statue of a divinity. There is likewise a well cut in the rock, and a great deal of pottery. A great gate communicated from the acropolis to the town. The most populous part was that to the south-east, and numberless remains of houses may here be traced. There were also exterior fortifications, and a polygonal wall defended the whole of the peninsula between the bay and the gulf, embracing a space of about four square miles. Thus there were two castles and two ports, and probably villas and gardens, within the circuit of the wall. An excellent fountain of water, which never fails, is the only thing which interrupts the solitude that reigns in this vast assemblage of ruins. There is not a single tumulus to be seen, probably because, as has been observed, Kimmericum was not a Milesian city. The Genoese are supposed to have carried away the remains of Kimmericum, in order to build Caffa.⁠[254] Opouk is twenty miles from the post station of Arghin.

CHAPTER XVII. THE SEA OF AZOF.

The Sea of Azof⁠[255] is situated from latitude 45° to 47° and in longitude 32° to 36°. From the straits of Kertch to the point of Bielo-Serái at the entrance of the gulf of the Don, is 90 miles, and from Bielo-Serái, to the mouths of the Don, is 76 miles, so that the total length of the Sea of Azof is 166 miles. Its breadth from the extremity of the Tonka, on the west, to the lagoon of Beislitz on the east, is 142 miles.

The north coast of this sea is from 84 to 132 feet in height, and is generally flat, although in some parts it is bordered by low hills and reddish cliffs. Extensive strips of land, bordered by sand banks, have formed around all the promontories, and, subjected as they are to the influence of the currents of the Don, have a tendency to move towards the west. The east coast of the Sea of Azof is inhabited by the Tchernomorski Cossacks, and, beginning at Temróuk, it is very low, often sandy, and cut up by lagoons and rushy marshes. There are also on the coast many sand banks, particularly in the gulf of the Don, which, like those of the opposite shore, incline towards the west. The Tonka,⁠[256] a low narrow long peninsula (called also the “Streolka” or arrow, or the Arabate), forms the west coast of this sea, which by it is separated from the Shiváshe or mud sea, an immense lagoon, into which all the rivers of the western side of the Crimea flow. The Sea of Azof is bounded on the south by the Crimea and the peninsula of Taman, on the east by the country of the Tchernomorski Cossacks, and the Don Cossacks, on the north by the country of the Don Cossacks and governments of Ekaterinoslaf and the Tauride, and on the west by the Tonka. Its greatest depth at present is 46 feet between the straits of Kertch and the point of Bielo-Serái, where the passage is narrow, on account of two vast sand banks. A little further on the depth diminishes to 26 feet and there are but 8 or 10 feet water in the greater part of the roadstead of Taganrok. It extends however southwards beyond the Greek bank, where there is about 18 or 20 feet of water, and where most vessels finish taking in their cargoes.

It has been remarked that from the year 1706 to the year 1808, the depth of this sea has diminished 3 feet; and from this latter date to the year 1833, it has again diminished 3 feet, so that it has lost 6 feet of depth in 127 years. This diminution in depth is caused by the accumulation of sand and mud from the Don, and in some measure likewise by the large quantities of ballast that are yearly thrown into the sea, by vessels loading in the roadstead of Taganrok. The sand banks have increased in extent, and new ones have been formed; which render the navigation of this sea daily more difficult and perilous. The bottom is everywhere mud and shells, and the water is of a dull yellow colour. The Don sweetens this sea, and the water of it is used for the provisioning of ships as far as 20 miles to the west of Taganrok. Besides the Don, several small rivers run into it on the north and east coasts, beyond the lagoon of Temróuk.

The current is not so rapid in the Sea of Azof as it is in the straits of Kertch. In the sea it rarely runs beyond one knot an hour, even with a violent north-east wind, and with a south wind it runs in an opposite direction. From the Don to the point of Bielo-Serái, it runs west, and then divides into two; the largest portion of the water runs direct for the straits of Kertch, and the other portion round the north coast, until it meets the waters of the Shiváshe, and, uniting with them, flows down the steep shore of the Tonka, and along the coast of the Crimea to Kertch. During the winter the ice renders this sea unnavigable, and it is available to shipping only from the middle of April to the latter end of October. When a vessel approaches the straits of Kertch, with a view of passing them from the Black Sea, she steers at about equal distances between Cape Panaghia on her right, and Cape Takli Coolári on her left. The latter cape is crowned with a lighthouse. The distance between the two capes is about 8 miles, and the depth of the water 55 feet. The course of the vessel is then nearly due north for about 8 miles, till she reaches Cape Karaboroun, which is remarkable for several hillocks and buildings which precede it. Here there is a sandy beach at a quarter of a mile distance, and 20 feet of water. About a mile and a half further on is Cape Kamishboroun, where there is a good anchorage, and a small lake near it, which has 12 feet water and communicates with the sea by a channel 5 or 6 feet deep.

The course of the ship is now nearly due east, and the narrowest part of the whole straits is approached. In them the water is 26 feet deep, the passage is very confined, and ships are obliged to pass near the western shore. This spot has therefore been chosen for the defence of the straits, and a battery, called the battery of Paul, has been placed there. It is a little to the northward of this narrow passage that thirty-three ships have been sunk to defend it, in the same mode that has been adopted at Sevastopol. The ships were only sunk in May 1854, two months after our declaration of war with Russia; and while our enormous fleet was inactive in the Black Sea, this passage was free and undefended, except by a few hundred invalids, who formed the garrison of Kertch. Cape Akboroun ends the passage, and immediately afterwards there opens on the left the snug little bay of Kertch, around which, as has been related, were situated the Greek colonies of Nymphæum, Panticapæum, and Myrmékium. When a vessel has passed Cape Akboroun, if she wish to continue her course to the Sea of Azof, without stopping at Kertch, she steers nearly due east, and having passed in 14 feet water the little town of Yenicáleh, about six miles from Kertch and further on the Cape Poritálo, on which there is a lighthouse, the water deepens to 30 feet, and the muddy expanse of the Sea of Azof opens before her. It is to be observed that the very shallow part of the straits does not occur till after Kertch, which is by far the most important place on the straits, and which is undefended by any fortifications.

The shores on both sides of the straits are very thinly inhabited: on the Asiatic side by the Tchernomorski Cossacks, the descendants of the famous Zaporogues, who were transplanted here by Catherine II., and on the European side by remnants of the broken nation of the Tatars, and a mixed population of Russians, Greeks, and Levantines, who only occupy the towns.

I will now make a periplus of the Sea of Azof, pointing out the most important places in the desolate countries that for the most part surround it. Beginning to the east, we first come to Temróuk, occupied by the Tchernomorski Cossacks, which is only a small village, situated on the border of a lagoon, celebrated for the immense quantities of fish caught in it. Vessels coming for their cargoes of fish anchor to the north at the mouth of the lagoon, in 17 feet water, with a sandy bottom. At 53 miles further up the coast is Okhtor, situated on the banks of a wide and shallow bay. In its vicinity there are salt lakes and fisheries. The bay terminates in Cape Kamishavát,⁠[257] which is 36½ miles from Bielo-Serái,⁠[258] on the opposite coast, and 56 miles from Kertch. At 12 miles further north is Cape Obriv,⁠[259] where there are two extensive sandbanks jutting out like horns, on the northernmost of which, that of Dolgoi,⁠[260] there is a beacon. At 9½ miles hence is seen the lighthouse on Bielo-Serái point, and the church of Mariopol almost due north.

Fishing-huts are to be found on nearly all the sandy points of the Sea of Azof. These buildings are raised on posts in order to preserve them from being carried away by the inundations, and seen from a distance they have an extraordinary appearance as if floating on the water. Beyond Cape Obriv, the coast runs 19 miles to the east as far as the mouth of the bay of Yeisk, which is 13 miles in length from east to west, and 6½ from north to south. This bay would be one of the very best anchorages in the sea had it a few feet greater depth; but as it is, the lead marks only 5 feet, and its entrance is five miles wide and from 13 to 7 feet deep. This is a populous locality, and the old town of Yeisk is situated to the south-east, near the river Yé. A new town was founded here in 1848 by Prince Woronzof, at Yeisk, on the western sandy point of the bay; but it will probably not answer the expectations formed of it, as the sea is so shallow that vessels cannot approach it, and the produce of the surrounding countries is too small to induce commercial men to settle there, notwithstanding the privileges accorded to it. One of these privileges is, that merchants settled here do not pay the personal tax levied on them, which is very heavy. Merchants in Russia are divided into three guilds, and the tax on a merchant of the first guild is about 150l. a-year, and every partner and clerk who has a power of attorney to act for the firm must pay the tax. By being the possessor of a house at Yeisk, exemption is obtained from it. From the mouth of this bay the coast runs 6¼ miles to the north, and forms Cape Sazanitskoi, near which are several fisheries. At 17 miles further east is Cape Tchimborsk, whence it is about 18 miles to Kagalnik, situated on the southernmost branch of the Don, called Staroi⁠[261] Don, and at the commencement of its delta. The whole country between Yeisk and the Don, and likewise all around Rostof, is cultivated with wheat. The land is similar to that on the opposite coast, and very fertile. It bears a crop of wheat once every three years, and lies fallow for the intermediate time. The inhabitants are Don Cossacks and Russian proprietors, who have bought lands and brought down peasants from the interior of Russia. There are no Calmucks or Nogais here.

The Don has several mouths between Kagalnik and Siniávka, the northernmost point of its delta, which measures 12 miles across in its widest part. The delta is uncultivated, and covered with rushes and high reeds, and the whole forms an immense lake in the month of June, when the waters rise. The climate of all this country is very dry, like that of the steppes in general, and the want of water often occasions severe injury to the crops. It is not unhealthy, although dysentery prevails in the hot weather at Rostof, which is to be attributed to imprudence in eating the melons, cucumbers, and other fruits, which grow there in wonderful abundance and perfection. Proceeding from south to north, the first mouth, called the mouth of the Don, used to be the principal one, and upon it, at 6 miles inland, is the town of Azof, which is now only a large village, with the remains of an old fort. The second mouth is the Kalántcha; the third the Perevóloki; the fourth the Kasterna; and the fifth the Donetse,⁠[262] near Siniávka. At present the only branches available for navigation are the Kalántcha and the Perevóloki.

The town of Rostof is placed on the north bank of the Don, 22½ miles from the sea before the commencement of the delta. Vessels of low draught can alone proceed to it, because of the bars at the entrance of the river. The town of Rostof is one of the most important on the shores of the Sea of Azof, and a great centre for commercial dealings with eastern Russia. A full account of it will be given in the next chapter.

In May and June the water of the Don rises to a great height, and the whole country is flooded. It then suddenly falls, although it is liable at all times to rise again when the wind blows up the river. This increases the difficulty of navigation, and a vessel of 100 tons can only take in a part of her cargo at the mouth of the river. She is obliged to take in the rest of it gradually, dropping down the gulf of the Don, followed by lighters. In this way she sometimes proceeds for 40 miles before she is completely loaded, and then she must again unload a part of her cargo at Yenicáleh if she draws more than 12 or 13 feet of water, in order to pass the straits. Shipments through the Azof are, therefore, very expensive. The bed which the waters of the Kalántcha have formed has 6 and 8 feet in depth at 2½ miles from the shore, and 9 at the mouth of the river. There are three successive bars at the entrance of the Don, but when these are passed, on nearing Rostof, the river becomes deep, and continues navigable for many hundred miles.

Taganrok is by sea about 8½ miles from the Perevóloki mouth of the Don, and the water may be said to average 8 feet. The depth of the water is, however, extremely variable in all the upper part of the gulf of the Don, and the common question asked by merchants at Taganrok and Rostof every morning is as to what is the depth of the water. South and east winds increase the depth, and north and west winds diminish it to 2 or 3 feet, so that with a strong north-east wind, the small bay to the eastward of Taganrok is sometimes quite dry. The water also varies much, according to the season of the year. When the snows have melted in Russia, and the Don becomes unfrozen, the whole country is one great lake, and this lasts for a couple of months, during which time the water is very deep, and vessels of any tonnage can come up to Rostof. Messrs. Yeames, at their wool washeries there, which are constructed on low ground, choose this season to bring the coals⁠[263] necessary for their establishment. The lighters, when they get to a certain point, pitch the coals overboard into the water, and when the river goes down they find them ready for use. Their houses, being of wood, are uninjured by remaining under water, and the stoves are rebuilt every year. The sheep are sheared in May, the wool comes in in June, and is washed in July and September. The water of the gulf of the Don is yearly becoming more shallow, one reason of which is, the quantity of ballast yearly thrown into it. As the trade is almost entirely an export trade, and ships come up to Rostof empty, the masters are in the habit of throwing their ballast overboard when they receive their cargoes. This is strictly forbidden by the government; and every vessel is measured at Kertch, and again at Taganrok, to see that there has been no alteration in the lading. A fee, however, to the harbour-master gets rid of all difficulties; and the constant practice is to throw the ballast overboard, and it forms nuclei round which the alluvium of the Don continually accumulates.

Both the Don and the Volga are frozen up in winter, and this is the case with the greater part of the Sea of Azof, which is then used as a means of communication between the opposite shores, considerably further down than Cape Obriv. The ice is very irregular, and, while in some places there are smooth plains many miles long, in others it is what is called “hummocky,” or raised in ridges as high as a house. The year before last year there was a regular mountain-chain of ice for many miles in length, between Cape Obriv and Yeisk; and an English vessel which was lost there, whose position was accurately known, was searched for in vain for many weeks, and at last only discovered by one of her masts that was seen sticking out of the ridge of ice.

Russians never skate, and communication is carried on by horses and carts, as on the land. At Medvidovka, on the Donetse mouth, some ancient ruins have been discovered on the estate of an enterprising gentleman who has excavated them; and they are supposed to be those of the ancient city of Tana, which was formerly considered to have stood near Azof. A commission of antiquaries has been appointed at Petersburg to investigate the matter, but their report, I believe, has not yet been received.

The town of Taganrok is prettily situated on high ground, on the cape of the same name, and contains 27,000 inhabitants, of whom one-third are Greeks. It stands in the government of Ekaterinoslaf, and is about 300 miles distant from the town of that name, and 50 miles from Rostof. It forms, however, with a small territory round it, a separate government of its own, and pays in taxes of all kinds a total sum of about 360,000l. Peter the Great laid the first foundations of it in 1706, after the capture of Azof, on the spot where there was at that time a lighthouse. The town was demolished in 1711, according to an article in the disastrous treaty of the Pruth. It was only rebuilt in 1769, at the commencement of the war between Russia and the Turks. The port was then deepened, and the place fortified. The fortress is constructed on the end of the tongue of land on which the town is built. The Emperor Alexander died here in 1824, and his bedroom is kept exactly as he left it, and is lighted with tapers, and shown to the public.

“The port of Taganrok,” says Vsevolovski, “is an absolute necessity for the Russians, independent of all commercial considerations, because this is the only means of procuring the masts,⁠[264] iron, and all stores which come down the Don and Volga from Russia and Siberia for Kherson, Nicolaief, Odessa, and Sevastopol. A coal of good quality is also exported from here, which comes from the sources of the Kryneka and Severny Donetse, at a distance of about 80 miles.”⁠[265]

The greatest depth of the basin of Taganrok is 10, 11, and 18 feet; but all measurements are very uncertain, and sometimes there is no water at all in the bay, and vessels stick in the mud for a length of time. At all the ports of the Sea of Azof the water is too shallow to admit loaded vessels to approach near the shore, and cargoes are, therefore, taken in with the aid of lighters in the manner that has been described. At the extremity of Cape Taganrok exist the remains of a port, 570 yards in length and 220 in breadth, constructed by Peter the Great: it offers at present but 2 feet water. Near this port, towards the north, a great quay has been constructed since 1847, ending in a mole resting on piles, which now forms the east side of Peter the Great’s port. The water which runs from the rivulet of Sambek, four miles beyond, into the bay of Taganrok, gives at its extremity a depth of 7 feet, and sometimes more, during high water.

Mariopol is eighty miles from Taganrok, on the right bank of the river Kalmiousse, and at two miles from the shore is an anchoring ground, in 15 feet water, with a muddy bottom. The mouth of the Kalmiousse forms a port for the lighters, which load and discharge the vessels in the roads. The port might be made a few feet deeper, if measures were taken for dredging the bar which obstructs the mouth of the river, where the water has only a depth of 3 or 4 feet. Mariopol is exclusively a Greek town, and was founded for the Greeks of the Crimea, who were induced to emigrate by the Russians in 1778, five years before its conquest. It is difficult to conceive how the Russian Government could ever have induced them to leave their beautiful seats for this dreary and comfortless town, or why since that period they have not made an effort to return to their old haunts, which they have never ceased to regret. Commercial considerations probably keep them at Mariopol, as the town has a good deal of business, and the wheat exported hence is the finest Russian wheat that comes to the English market, and bears the highest price.

Beyond Mariopol the coast for nearly 10 miles is bold, until it reaches Cape Bielo-Serái,⁠[266] which forms one side of the entrance to the Gulf of the Don; there is the whole way about 14 feet water at one mile distance from the shore. At Cape Bielo-Serái there are a number of fishing huts, and previous to arriving at the point, there is a lighthouse 81 feet above the level of the sea, and 72 feet above the level of the ground. Its light is fixed, and seen at 14¾ miles distance. At 23 miles south-west of Cape Bielo-Serái, the river Berda empties itself into the sea, but its mouth is barred by a strip of sand two miles long, called the tongue of Berdiansk, at the extremity of which, jutting out into the sea, is a lighthouse 85 feet above the level of the sea, with a light which is seen from minute to minute, and which is visible at a distance of 15 miles.

The town of Berdiansk is situated near the right bank of the Berda, at seven miles from the lighthouse, and at the foot of the bold table-land which backs it. It was founded about 1840 by Prince Woronzof, and has gone on increasing in population and commercial prosperity. I can find no account of its population, but its exports were upwards of a million, and its imports about 7000l., in the year 1853.⁠[267] This is the port where there is the best anchorage in the Sea of Azof, and there are 12 or 14 feet of water at a quarter of a mile from the landing place. The Bay of Obitochnia close by, with a river of the same name, is still more favourable for shipping, but no town has been founded on its shores. The land, however, gains ground every day in the roadstead of Berdiansk, which fills up, on account of the sea winds depositing great quantities of sand. A jetty, which was constructed some five or six years ago, is now completely useless, from being surrounded with sand, and a second, that has been constructed 220 yards in length, will evidently be soon in the same predicament. The commercial community of Berdiansk proposes to construct a barrier of 700 or 800 yards to protect it, and at the same time shelter coasting crafts of low draught. This will be useless, unless they previously concert means for dredging it, as the sands will accumulate all round it, and form a lagoon. At four miles to the south of Berdiansk, a large point running to the north forms a port which is the resort of coasters for wintering, where there is shelter from all winds, and 7 or 8 feet of water. Shallows extend to the west and north, and these are increasing, so that in time this port will become a salt lake, like many others that are found in the vicinity. Berdiansk is the port of shipment for the produce of the flourishing German colonies of the Moloshna, which are not distant from it.

At 33 miles from the mouth of the Berda, there is a lagoon, called Lake Moloshenska, into which the waters of the river Moloshnia Vodi have their issue. Cape Fedotov, on which several houses and windmills stand, is near it to the south. Here commences the Isthmus of the Peninsula of Berútchi, which, intercepted by a small table-land, detached from the mainland, runs to the S.S.W. for 12 miles, with a breadth of several yards. The peninsula of Berútchi, called also the tongue of Yedotov, turning to the west towards the Tonka, is 11 miles in length. At three quarters of a mile from the shore of this isthmus and peninsula, there are 18 feet of water, but much less towards the extremity of the peninsula opposite the Tonka. Between Berútchi and Vizariónov is a strong current running to the east, formed by the waters of the Shiváshe, which flow into the sea of Azof by the narrow strait of Yénitchi. This strait is 129 yards wide, and 18 feet deep, but at the entrance there is only 4 feet water. On its northern shore is the village of Yénitchi, which is eight miles from Point Berútchi, the last bold table-land which borders the sea of Azof. There is a very good roadstead between Berútchi and the Tonka, exposed only to the S.S.E. wind. The depth between the two shores at one and two miles is in 18 and 21 feet, muddy bottom. Behind the peninsula of Berútchi, and commencing just opposite the straits of Yénitchi, there is a vast gulf 20 miles long, but of its depth there are no accounts. At the bottom of the gulf there is a great lagoon, and on its western shore the Lake of Atsuanai.⁠[268]

CHAPTER XVIII. ON THE COMMERCE OF THE SEA OF AZOF.

Rostof is the key to all the trade of the Sea of Azof and the south-eastern parts of the Russian empire.⁠[269] It is a town of about 12,000 inhabitants, composed of Russians, Cossacks, Armenians, Greeks, and a few foreigners. The merchants generally have only their offices here, and live at Taganrok, which is 50 miles distant. They go to Rostof once or twice a week, and send there the orders for their purchases. Rostof is the capital of a district (Uezd) in the government of Ekaterinoslaf, and is the station of one of the two brigades of the reserve division of the army of the Caucasus. In the course of last year these troops were marched away to the Caucasus, and the town was left undefended, as it appeared in no danger of being attacked. Rostof has grown up from a small fishing village to its present importance, solely on account of its admirable geographical position with respect to trade, and so gradual has been its rise, that it would be difficult to say at what period it was first founded. It is since the year 1835 that its trade has undergone a marked yearly increase. Rostof enjoys no special privileges, and its flourishing state is entirely due to its convenient site, and to the large amount of foreign capital of which it is the centre, which has drawn to it the produce of the interior of the empire, and made it one of the most important commercial towns.

As Odessa is the outlet for the produce of the southern Polish provinces, and from this circumstance derives its importance, so Rostof is one of the principal débouchés for the agricultural produce of Great Russia, and consequently likely to become a place still more flourishing than it is at present. Great Russia, as the governments around Moscow are called, is the most thickly peopled and most productive part of the Russian empire, containing an industrious and active population, and the principal seats of agriculture and manufactures. It formerly sent its produce almost entirely to the Baltic for exportation, but of late years there has been a tendency in growers to avail themselves of the great arteries of the Don and the Volga, and shipments from the Azof and the other ports of southern Russia have consequently much increased.

Rostof from its situation may also compete with the North of Russia for a portion of the Asiatic trade, for it has a nearly complete water communication with the Caspian, and has likewise constant dealings with the northern parts of the Caucasus. Its great importance, however, arises from the fact that it stands at the point of communication between the widely extended river system of Great Russia and the Southern Seas.

The ports of the Azof are Taganrok, which is so intimately connected with Rostof, Mariopol, Berdiansk, and the nominal port of Yeisk. There is no import trade of any importance carried on in any of them, because of the high duties of the Russian tariff. The total amount of the imports at all the ports of the Sea of Azof was only 300,000l. for the year 1853, while the exports exceeded 3,350,000l.⁠[270] The imports consisted wholly of articles of luxury chiefly the produce of the Levant, such as fruits, oil, and wines, and the largest item was Greek wines, of which there was a demand for no less than 600,000 gallons. There can be no doubt that the imports are checked by the high tariff, for the exports have more than trebled in the last four years from 1850 to 1854, having increased from 1,100,000l. to 3,350,000l., while the imports in the same time have only increased 40,000l. It is true that the same population which finds it more convenient to export their produce by the Azof, may have the same reason for receiving their imports by Petersburg, and such to a certain extent is the case, for while the whole exports⁠[271] from all Russia amounted in the year 1852 to nearly 18,000,000l., the imports in the same year were upwards of 16,000,000l., so that the sum which had to be paid in cash was about 1,800,000l., and on looking to the tables of the imports and exports of bullion, it appears that in the year 1852 there was imported in gold and silver 1,988,000l.⁠[272]

The principal articles of exportation from the Azof are wheat,⁠[273] linseed, rye, wool, tallow, iron, and military stores. The stock of wheat, under ordinary circumstances, is comparatively small, as the vessels which carry it abroad reach the shipping port about the time when the chief supplies from the interior, either by water or by land, arrive. The wheat shipped from Rostof may be classed as follows:—First, the wheat from the country of the Line, that is, the districts occupied by the Line and Tchernomorski Cossacks, which are situated to the northward of the Terek and Kuban rivers, between the territory of the Don Cossacks and Circassia, and the Black and Caspian seas. Secondly, the wheat that is grown on the lands watered by the Don, which is superior to the former in quality and condition. Thirdly, the Volga wheat, which is with justice preferred to the Don and Line wheats, and is chiefly grown by the wealthy German colonies situated on both banks of the Volga and its tributary rivers northwards of Saratof. The bulk of the wheat shipped from the port of Taganrok consists of hard wheat which is principally consumed in the Mediterranean, where it is used for the manufacture of maccaroni, but a small quantity is imported into this country.

Hard wheat requires a virgin soil, and this accounts for its being in Europe almost entirely grown in the south of Russia.⁠[274] It is remarkable for its bright yellow colour, heavy weight and hard grain. Of late years the proprietors, whose estates are situated in the vicinity of Taganrok, have directed their attention to the growth of soft wheat, and their crops have yielded a wheat whose quality has been found quite equal to that of Mariopol and Berdiansk. It is worthy of notice that in some districts, if the same wheat be sown for three or four consecutive years, it gradually loses its original character, and finally turns into hard wheat. The wheat, whilst in this state of transition, bearing at the same time the character both of hard and soft wheat, is called by the Russians, “Pererodka” (from the verb perachadit, to go over). The wheat shipped from Mariopol and Berdiansk is grown in the immediate vicinity of those towns by the German and Greek colonists, and likewise by the Russians. It is of a reddish colour, weighing on an average from 60 to 63 lbs. per bushel English, and commands a higher price than either the hard wheat of Taganrok, or the soft Polish that is shipped from Odessa. Most of it was formerly shipped to the Mediterranean, but of late years the English millers have learnt to appreciate the peculiar qualities it possesses, which principally consist in the strength of the flour it produces, and since 1851 and 1852 large quantities have been imported into this country.

The linseed, which is shipped from Rostof, is grown throughout those districts that are watered by the Don and the Volga, as far as the point where, making a bend in their course, these two rivers approach for a short space, within 45 miles of each other. The linseed plant is cultivated by proprietors, as well as by the peasantry. The plant is of a coarse kind, and the fibre is thrown away as useless;⁠[275] but many good authorities consider, as the demand for flax is so great in Europe, that the stalk of the plant might be turned to account at least for the coarser kinds of linen.

Rye is grown over the whole country principally for home consumption in the shape either of flour or brandy. Russian brandy, “Vodka,” is extremely strong, measuring about 30°, which is nearly equal to common spirits of wine.⁠[276] A small quantity of rye has been lately exported to Holland, for the manufacture of Schiedam. The Government are the chief purchasers for the rye brought to Rostof for exportation. They contract for it in the shape of flour, which comes down the river packed in mat bags, of which 500,000 or 600,000 Tchetwerts⁠[277] are yearly received, and shipped from Rostof to the Crimea, and the coasts of Circassia. It is ground by windmills, and watermills high up in Great Russia.

Besides the rye flour, munitions of war, such as anchors, chains, cables, shells, shot, cannon, and ironware of every description, are shipped hence for Sevastopol and other places. The ammunition stores of metallic composition come firstly from Lugan, at the confluence of that tributary of the Don called the Donetse,⁠[278] and the river Lugan about 100 miles from Rostof. Here are iron-works, and a cannon foundry belonging to the crown, which in the time of Dr. Clarke were all under the direction of an Englishman named Gascoigne, formerly superintendent of the Carron works in Scotland, whose improvements he betrayed to the Russian Government. “From thence,” says Dr. Clarke, “the Emperor’s artillery passes by water to the Black Sea. Mr. Gascoigne found excellent coal at Lugan, in consequence of which discovery, as well as its convenient situation for water carriage, the foundry was there established.” Probably some of the finer articles required for military use come from Toola, which is the Birmingham of Russia, and famous for its guns and pistols, and many articles are now supplied from some parts of Siberia.

The exports of wool from the Sea of Azof have not kept pace with the large increase which has taken place in other articles of export. The amount exported in 1853 was 5,196,708 lbs., being a decrease of nearly 2 millions of lbs. on the quantity exported in 1852, and an increase on that of the preceding years, the average exports of which seem to have been about 4 millions of lbs. The decrease may be ascribed to the great competition offered in the western markets by the shipments made from Australia, and by the increasing home consumption in Russia. In the trade carried on by caravans through Siberia, between Russia and China,⁠[279] cloth is the chief article of barter, and the prices of the wool in the grease are less influenced by those which the exporter, guided by the state of the London market, is able to pay, than by the greater or lesser demand for Russian cloths at home and in China. There is little or none of the wool shipped in its original greasy state. It is either brook-washed previous to the sheep being clipped, which is accomplished by driving them through a stream, or hand-washed in warm and then rinsed in cold water. This latter operation, which cleanses the wool much more effectually than the former, is generally managed by the foreign merchants themselves, who for that object have large wash-houses established at Rostof and Kherson. The Merino fleeces require particular care, for previous to their being washed they have to be assorted according to the fineness of the hair. This process requires some skill and considerable experience, as a parcel of wool seldom consists of less than five or six assortments.

The common Russian sheep, which is raised as well by the rich landed proprietor as by the poorest serf, requires little care. Its wool is of a long staple, coarse and wiry, and at all times finds a ready demand in the English market, where it is particularly well suited for purposes where a long stapled wool is the chief requisite. The best wool of this kind is produced in the Cossack territories, and goes in the trade under the denomination of Donskoy. The Tatar broad-tailed sheep is generally of a brown greyish colour, and is found in all the steppes inhabited by the Nogais Tatars, Kalmuks, Khirgiz, and other eastern tribes. It produces a wool of considerably less value than Donskoy, which is used by the natives in the manufacture of coarse cloths and carpets. The Merino sheep was introduced into the south of Russia about forty years ago. The climate is not altogether favourable for the growth of fine wool, and the losses incurred during and after long and severe winters are great. The quality of the wool is generally good, and there are flocks which produce an article equal in texture and fineness to the best Silesian wool. The Merino sheep are spread all over the country, but are principally to be found in New Russia, and in the government of Saratof and others adjoining it. They require considerable care, and as the rearing of them is attended with great expenses they are only to be found on the lands of the German colonists and of wealthy Russian proprietors. The Merino sheep of South Russia is a descendant of the Saxon breed originally introduced into this country, which it still closely resembles. The Valachian sheep, otherwise called Zigay, has been successfully crossed with the Merinos, and the breed thus produced, which has retained much of the character of the Spanish sheep, generally goes under the name of Metis or Schlonsky.

The quantity of fine wool produced in Russia has not, I believe, increased of late years. Some five or six years ago, in the governments of Ekaterinoslaf and Kharkof, it was estimated that upwards of one-third of the Merino sheep reared in those governments had perished through disease and want of fodder. On the whole the proprietor of Merino sheep is exposed to greater risks and losses than those incurred in any other branch of husbandry. Cases often occur, when, in the course of a few days, the toil of many years is irrecoverably lost. A late spring, with frosty nights in April, is sometimes the cause of the greatest mischief; the fodder collected during the autumn proving insufficient for the maintenance of the sheep, and the frost killing the lambs the moment they are dropped by their mother. Most of the flocks are under the care of a German shepherd, and on many estates no expense has been spared in introducing in the management of the sheep every possible amelioration. Amongst the finest flocks in the south of Russia is that belonging to Don Baguer, the Spanish Consul-General at Odessa, and his brother, an establishment which dates from about the year 1839, and numbering lately 15,000 head of Merino sheep. In 1844 he shipped a cargo of rams to the Sultan, some of which were of the value of 40l., which presents a great contrast to the common price of sheep in Southern Russia, which is from 4s. to 6s. a-head. In well-managed flocks a regular register is kept of the rams and ewes and of the quality of their offsprings. Every sheep is branded with a number in the ear, and it is the art of the shepherd to take care that the breed is so mixed as to keep one uniform average in the wool and raise the standard. The lambing time is in April, shortly after the sheep quit the sheepfolds, in which they are sheltered during the winter.

The exports of tallow from the Sea of Azof in the year 1853 amounted to 35,926 cwt. In the south-east part of Russia the principal melting establishments are at Bachmut, Slavansk, and the neighbouring towns. In the early part of the spring the melters proceed to the various cattle fairs held in the governments of Ekaterinoslaf, Kharkof, the Tauride, and the lands of the Cossacks, to effect their purchases. After they have collected the quantity of cattle which their means allow them, their next care is to select and rent tracts of land on either side of the Sea of Azof for them to feed upon. Considerable experience is required in the selection of the pasturage grounds, for the profit which the melter derives, after his cattle have been converted into tallow, depends less on the price paid for them and the price he receives for the tallow, than on the fat state of the cattle and the amount of tallow which they consequently yield. Thus, in years of drought, when the cattle can but barely subsist on a scanty vegetation, and hundreds perish through want of water, the tallow-dealer incurs losses against which it is impossible to guard. In the beginning of September the herds of cattle quit their summer pasturages, and are slowly driven towards the melting stations, where the process of slaughtering and melting generally commences about the 10th of October.

The animal, after being killed and stripped of its hide, and after the head and the legs (at the knees) have been cut off and the inside taken out, is then divided into four parts, which are thrown into the cauldron. With the exception of two strips of flesh taken from off each side of the spine, the whole of the meat is converted into tallow. The bones are crushed, and a small quantity of fine tallow is collected from the marrow contained within them. Old sheep, especially of the Merino breed, whose wool deteriorates after they have reached their fourth or fifth year, are likewise converted into tallow, which may be valued at about 1l. less per ton than that produced from cattle. The average price of tallow on the spot is 25l. to 28l. per ton. There is a large home consumption for hides, and of late years very few have been shipped abroad, although the export duty has been considerably reduced. Oxen being found more valuable when used for draught, cows are principally used in the manufacture of tallow. Some twenty years ago there was hardly any tallow shipped from the Azof; all that was produced in the districts surrounding it being sent to the fairs which are held at Belgorod, where it was bought up by the Petersburg dealers, who sent it over land to the North.

The cattle in the South of Russia are of the same breed which is found in Bulgaria and the Danubian Principalities, of a uniform white-greyish colour, long horned and with large bones. The German colonists have imported cattle from their own country, and their cows are found, especially for dairy purposes, much superior to those of Russia. A Russian cow costs about 9 or 10 R. = about 1l. 10s.; a German cow from 20 to 25 R. = from 3l. to 4l. In the South of Russia no cheese or butter is made beyond what is required for the wants of the inhabitants, but a considerable quantity of salt-butter is brought down the Volga and the Don from Siberia, and is shipped to Turkey and the Greek Archipelago.

Formerly wheat was the only article of importance shipped at Rostof for a foreign market. Linseed, wool, and tallow were first introduced as articles of export by the house of Messrs. William Yeames and Co., the only English merchants on the shores of the Sea of Azof.

The exports of Russia consist almost wholly of articles of raw produce, which are raised by the assistance of foreign capital. Of the whole exports of the empire, which of late years have reached a total of nearly 18 millions sterling, about 7 millions are yearly sent from this country as an advance upon goods that are to be delivered afterwards. Thus upwards of one-third of the price of the whole exports is paid from three to nine months before the merchant receives his goods.⁠[280] This system is necessary because there is a great dearth of capital in Russia; and if money were not advanced to her beforehand by foreigners, she would not be able to pay the expense of raising and forwarding so large a quantity of agricultural produce as she at present exports. From the difficulty of communication in Russia, and the great distances that have to be traversed, the expense of carriage frequently forms a more considerable item in the price of the article at the port of shipment than the original cost paid to the producer. Thus a quarter of wheat which costs at Rostof in store 22s., its average price in ordinary years, has been bought of the grower of the wheat for about 10s. The expense of carriage has amounted to about 8s., so that about 4s. per quarter remains to the exporter as interest on his money, remuneration for his labour, and other incidental charges.

Russia is a poor country; she has not had time and opportunity to lay up, as we have done, a vast amount of money, always seeking for employment in all parts of the world. With a rich soil and an industrious population, she has numberless opportunities of laying out money so as to bring in large profits, as is proved by the current rate of interest, which is about 12 per cent.⁠[281]

Most of the purchases of Russian produce are made on contract during the autumn and winter months, when two-thirds, three-fourths, and sometimes even more, of the total amount is paid for in advance in hard cash. The foreign merchant established on the shores of the Sea of Azof reimburses himself for the produce he has shipped abroad by emitting bills at three months’ date; and as the import trade, as has been shown, is comparatively insignificant, and hitherto no banks have been established, he is obliged to send his bills for negotiation either to St. Petersburg or to Odessa. From thence the proceeds are remitted to him by post either in gold or silver. The commission and brokerage on the negotiation of the bills, and the insurance and postage on the transmission of the money, amount to about 1 per cent. Most of the bills drawn at Taganrok are negotiated at St. Petersburg, because the exchange there is generally more favourable than at Odessa. It frequently occurs that a whole month elapses from the time the bill is advised until the money which it has realised is received. The heavy stamp-duties now charged on bills are a serious if not an insurmountable obstacle to any improvement in the transaction of money operations.

Merchants now deal directly with the producers, through the agency of confidential clerks settled in various parts in the interior of the country. Pavlosk, on the Don, about 400 miles from Rostof, is the principal station for these agents. The great house of Ralli⁠[282] has, besides their establishment at Pavlosk, a complete network of agencies over all the country situated to the east of Moscow, where such of the linseed and wheat as is shipped at St. Petersburg is chiefly produced.

I have now given a list of the principal articles of export from the Sea of Azof, and endeavoured to explain the manner in which so large an amount of agricultural produce is raised in so poor a country. The imports, as I have said, are kept out not because the population are unwilling to receive them, but solely by the high duties of the Russian tariff. These were reduced in 1850, but not low enough to create any sensible benefit. M. Tegoborski, in his answer to M. Léon Faucher, at once admits this fact, and says that the finances of the state would undoubtedly profit by a different policy. The reason for not relaxing the tariff is probably political. The manufacturers, whose trade has been created by protection, would undoubtedly cry out at any change, but the more powerful body of the consumers would be favourable to it, so that the Government would have little to fear from the hostility of the public feeling. It would have, however, a decidedly liberal political tendency. It would be impossible to admit foreign goods in large quantities and at the same time prevent a greater intercourse with foreigners, who would be chiefly the inhabitants of Western Europe. These would bring with them their own ideas, the results of unfettered reason, for which the natives of Russia, of all people in the world the most unprejudiced, feel a natural yearning. The Russian Government is too wise not to see that it would be impossible for it to keep up its present system under such altered circumstances; and therefore, although it admits the beneficial effects of larger foreign importations so far as an increase of wealth is concerned, yet, considering as indispensable the maintenance of its present military system, it is obliged consistently to refuse free trade.

The Don and the Volga are both frozen every year from about the beginning of December to the middle of March. When the navigation is no longer possible, very little produce arrives at Rostof, and the average quantity brought down by the sledges is insignificant, owing to the general unsteadiness of the weather. As the shallowness of the water makes the navigation of the Sea of Azof very difficult (by the Greeks and Romans it was called a marsh, and not a sea),⁠[283] it has naturally been felt that the emporium of goods for exportation should be at some place to which large ships can have access, after the difficulties of its navigation in coming from the interior of Russia have been passed. This led to the establishment of the quarantine at Kertch, as has been explained in a former chapter. It was thought that goods would be brought at leisure down the Azof by lighters, and that stores would be erected there, as they have been at Odessa, for the raw staple articles of exportation. For reasons that have been detailed, this expectation was not realized; and while in the year 1852 no less than 1606⁠[284] vessels with an average tonnage of about 250 tons passed the Straits of Kertch, and entered the Azof to take in their cargoes at some of its ports, a very small number stopped to be loaded at Kertch. As ships are obliged to stand out so far from the shore at the ports of the Azof, receiving their cargoes by degrees, and cannot be fully laden till they have passed the Straits of Kertch below Yenicáleh, there is a great employment of lighters in the Azof, which are manned chiefly by Cossacks of the Don and Little Russians. They are an inferior description of craft, and the rates they charge vary extremely according to the season.⁠[285]

In years when an unusually large amount of trade has been carried on, great inconvenience has been felt from the inadequate means of conveyance by water. The delays also in the arrival of the lighters, which sometimes take six weeks to come down the Azof, cause a great waste of time and capital. A plan has often been set on foot for having steam-tugs on the Azof, which would cause a great saving in time and expense, and might easily be effected, because the anthracite mines are very near Rostof. The failure of this and other beneficial projects must be attributed to the extreme scarcity of capital, and the languor attending all efforts at improvement under the restrictive regulations necessary in a despotic monarchy.

Such are a few remarks on the passage of goods down the Sea of Azof from the great producing countries of the north. The way in which they reach Rostof from the interior is by the noble river of the Don, which rolls its full tide of waters through the governments of Toola, Tambof, Orel, Woroneje, and the vast and fertile territory of the Don Cossacks. Toola is only about 150 miles to the south of Moscow, and there is therefore water communication with all the seas of the world within a short distance of the capital of Great Russia.⁠[286] But this is not the only river that feeds the commerce of Rostof. At about 125 miles from the mouth of the Don, by two happy bends in their course, the Volga and the Don approach within 45 miles of each other, and thus goods can be transported from the former to the latter river, and another vast circle of fertile regions can be drained of their produce for the southern market. As the Don runs through some of the most productive governments of Great Russia, so the Volga⁠[287] sweeps in a larger circle to the north and east, and rising in the ancient government of Tver, becomes navigable at about an equal distance from Moscow as the Don, describes a quarter of a circle round the town, and then, bending northwards into the government of Jaroslav, passes through Kostroma and Nijni Novgorod. At this celebrated place of Oriental traffic it effects its junction with the Oka, another artery of Great Russia, and then rolling its increased volume directly eastward to Kazan, the Tatar capital, it there changes its course to the south till it nearly meets the Don. The two rivers run for a short distance parallel to one another, till, suddenly diverging at right angles, the one falls into the Azof and the other into the Caspian Sea. At the point where the rivers nearly meet, Dubofka on the Volga is about 45 miles from Katchálin on the Don, and vast quantities of merchandise are yearly carried across by bullock-carts from one river to the other. The importance of their junction of course fixed the attention of Peter the Great, and it was one of his projects which he did not live to execute. The canal he ordered has never been dug; and thus one link is wanting in this magnificent system of river communication. If it were made, a great saving to merchants in time and money would be effected, and commerce proportionately increased.⁠[289]

From this short review of the countries which naturally depend upon Rostof as their port, and from the great lines of water communications which meet under its walls, it would appear that its commerce, although it has greatly increased, is not a twentieth part of what it ought to be, and that it is capable of an indefinite extension. The 40,000,000 of Slavonians round Moscow, which form the real heart and strength of the Russian Empire, send through it now a continually increasing portion of the produce of their labour, and would, if they could, receive through it innumerable articles which can be more advantageously produced in more civilised countries than their own. If free trade were allowed, this natural interchange would go on rapidly increasing to the benefit of both parties. At present the exports are great, but the Russian does not get nearly his full share of profit, owing to the necessity he is under of receiving to a considerable extent money instead of goods in payment. With this hard cash which he receives, for which Europe would gladly substitute manufactured goods, he is obliged to buy these latter articles made by his own countrymen of bad quality and high price. Thus a considerable amount of Russian labour and capital, which are so scarce in proportion to the opportunities for employing them, are consumed less profitably than they might be, in manufacturing these commodities, instead of developing the dormant resources of a most fertile soil.⁠[290] Still in the face of all these checks to a natural system of exchange, agricultural production has greatly increased of late years, and the beneficial effects of the change in our navigation laws, and the abolition of the duties on corn, have been very distinctly felt. English capital flows willingly to Russia, and, while there is the greatest difficulty in getting a few hundred thousand pounds for India, millions find their way to Russia, so that I was informed by the late General Duplat, who was for many years our Consul-General at Warsaw, that two years ago he had officially conveyed the offer of capitalists in London to the Russian Government to lay out 12,000,000l. for the construction of railways in Russia upon very moderate terms. The whole of the exports of Russia are raw produce, consisting of articles of first necessity in Europe, of which she can never send us too much. Her people are essentially agricultural and commercial, and not a martial race, as is generally supposed. It is a mistaken notion to suppose that the Russians are a military or warlike nation. To the eyes of Europe their military despotic government, with its grasping tendency to increase its territories by conquest, has given them a character which they do not deserve. The serfs and the lower classes are forced by the conscription into the ranks of the army, which experience has taught them to consider as the hardest fate they can meet with. Of the higher classes of society few devote themselves from taste to the military profession, but in order to maintain their station in the nobility, and to preserve its privileges to themselves and their heirs, they are obliged to serve the state for a certain number of years, until they obtain at least a subordinate rank, such as that of lieutenant. Thus among the officers possessed of landed property or independent fortunes, it is not surprising that there are many who view with disgust any event, such as war, which obliges them to remain in the army longer than they otherwise would have done. Kept in the ranks against their inclination, it is natural that on the field of battle when facing the enemy they are not moved by the same martial and stirring spirit which animates the officers of other armies.

It is not intended by these remarks to impeach the bravery of the Russian officers and soldiers, which would be absurd in the face of their former conduct in the French wars, and recently of their gallant defence of Sevastopol, but to account for their want of success when made to face in the open field the soldiers of two free nations.

The Russian merchant conducts his commercial operations with intelligence, and amongst them are some, who, without being able either to read or write, transact with singular ability and success an amount of business which, in more civilised countries, would require an experienced manager, assisted by a staff of experienced clerks.⁠[291] There is, likewise, no lack of enterprise in him; but the restrictive laws of the country, the obstacles placed in the way of intercourse with foreign lands, and the prohibitory duties charged on imports, prevent this spirit of enterprise from developing itself to its full extent. In no country do I believe would the effects of free trade be so rapidly felt, and tend more to ameliorate the physical and moral condition of the people.

All customs, all prohibitions, are drawbacks on the free or natural system of trade between nations; and it might even be contended that manufactures would be far more likely to spring up in Russia under such a system, than under the protective system now in force. If free trade were established, at first, undoubtedly, the Russians would buy foreign manufactures, but the price of all articles of consumption except the common necessaries of life would be immensely reduced, and an improved style of living would be possible among all classes. The agriculturists would get more for their produce, and be able to let us have it on cheaper terms; manufactures in our countries and agriculture in theirs would be much stimulated; roads would be made, the desert tracts cultivated; the population would be raised both morally and physically, and wealth gradually accumulated; until at first the coarser and then the finer manufactures were attempted in the natural progress of events, and with undoubted success. The Russian people, patient, laborious, admirable workmen, have nothing to fear from foreign competition. I have said elsewhere, that English masters find them inaccurate; but this I believe to proceed from no natural incapacity for accuracy, but from their not understanding the use of their work, from their want of general education, and the little inducement and encouragement that exist for improving their condition in their degraded social position.

It appears, then, from what I have said in this chapter, that the commerce of the Sea of Azof is rapidly increasing in importance; that the countries surrounding it are rich and, as yet, undeveloped; and that, from the fine system of river communication which reaches the sea at Rostof, it is constantly drawing towards it for shipment a larger portion of the productions of Great Russia. There cannot be a doubt that, when peace is restored, a great impetus will be given to its trade; that it will benefit by the increased movement that will probably take place on all the shores of the Black Sea; and, should the Russian Government wisely change its military policy, and allow its stout-hearted and enterprising subjects to pursue their natural industrious bent, capital and population will flock to the south, and Rostof and Kertch will rival the Tana and Panticapæum of ancient days. No restrictions will then be placed on those who wish to come and learn in Europe; no passports will be refused to enterprising young Russians who wish, in France or England, to gain that knowledge of the arts and sciences which is impossible in their own country; and no vulgar and ignorant censors will be placed at the gates of the empire to keep out books as the most dangerous enemies of the existing system, because the most valuable of them treat of truth and liberty. Russia will allow the fraternisation of her people with us, and admit the imports of more civilised countries as the surest way to increase her own commerce, and by these means she, as well as Turkey, will be really admitted into the European federation. Can it be said that she has been one of us as yet, when she has isolated her people, and kept gigantic armies hovering in what we may call with Ritter her territory of European Asia, to menace poor down-stricken, corrupted Germany on one, and the Asiatic nations on the other side? If she will really, once for all, fix the limits of her empire, and give up her menacing attitude and aggressive tendencies, she will not require a million of bayonets in time of peace; and we ought not to believe that she has changed her policy unless she consents to reduce her armies. This we know that on former occasions she has positively refused to do; let her be obliged to diminish them when peace shall be made, as the best guarantee for its future maintenance. If the peace party in England really wish for peace, they ought to urge this point, which will be far more useful than motions for the reduction of our own forces. For how can we safely reduce, with the enormous standing armies on the Continent, and how can the continental Powers reduce their forces, with a million of men always hovering over them, and ready to fall upon them without notice? Russia has said by her ambassadors that her position is exceptional, and for that reason she cannot reduce like other powers. Why is her position exceptional? This she has not condescended to tell us. Her people is the most peaceable in the world, and the troops cannot be wanted to coerce them. Indeed, it is notorious that there are hardly any troops in Great Russia, the most thickly peopled and important part of the empire. There is only one infantry corps stationed at Moscow out of ten corps which compose the whole army. Where are the rest of her forces stationed? There where she expects to make conquests. They are distributed fan-shape round the European edge of the Russian empire, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, that they may overawe Germany, and advance to support one another in any move upon Turkey; while 170,000 men are kept in the Caucasus to root out the principles of liberty and extend Asiatic conquests.⁠[292] Can any man believe that 400,000 men are kept in Poland merely to coerce the shattered, prostrate form of that unfortunate kingdom? Is there not a sufficient guarantee for Russian possession of it in the share which Austria and Prussia accepted of the spoil? When Austria and Prussia offered to reduce their armies, and Russia refused to reduce hers, was it because she wanted so large a force for self-defence? This was evidently impossible; and the army in Poland was required, not to prevent a rising of the Poles, but to support a Russian influence in Germany which has been most detrimental to the best interests of that country. If we wish, then, for permanent peace, the Russian army ought surely to be reduced, and who would benefit more by this measure than the inhabitants of Russia themselves? See how they hate the army; look at the miseries which the conscription entails upon them; observe how large a portion of the resources of the empire is wasted to support it, and think if those millions of capital created yearly by human labour were laid out in permanent improvements instead of being unproductively consumed, how great would be the increase to Russia in wealth and intelligence! There is, I believe, no good result from war which may not better be brought about by peace; but, as we are engaged in this tremendous contest, let us hope, when peace shall at length be made, and perhaps the last great knot in human affairs resolved which prevents the even progress of the world to its destined termination, that as many nations will be freed as are able to enjoy a rational liberty, and that peace may be secured on such a basis, with such guarantees for its continuance, that future difficulties may be resolved by some form of national arbitration.

APPENDIX. — (A.) LIST OF THE RUSSIAN NAVAL FORCE IN THE BLACK SEA IN JANUARY, 1853. — (B.) FIELD MARSHAL COUNT ALEXANDER VASSILIAVITCH SUVÓROF’S DISCOURSE UNDER THE TRIGGER.⁠ [294] — (C.) ON THE TIMBER TRADE OF NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN RUSSIA.⁠ [313] — (D.) COMMERCE OF PORTS OF CRIMEA, 1852.⁠ [314] — I. Port of Eupatoria. — II. Akméshed. —III. Sevastopol. —IV. Balaclava. —V. Yalta. — VI. Theodosia. — VII. Kertch. — Résumé. — I. Foreign Commerce. — II. Coasting Trade. — (E.) ADVANTAGES LIKELY TO ACCRUE TO THE TRADE OF THE DANUBE FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FREE PORT AT THE ST. GEORGE’S MOUTH OF THE RIVER. — MEMORANDUM.

Steamers.

Gun-Boats.

Twenty-eight gun-boats built between 1841 and 1852 for service in the Danube.

Transports.

Thirty vessels, measuring 10,627 tons, built from 1837 to 1852.

The Empress Maria, 84 guns, was launched on the 21st of May, but will not be rigged for some months.

The Bosphorus, 120 guns, has not been advanced since the day her keel was laid down, nor are the slips made for the two other three-deckers that are to be commenced this year.

There is no timber grown near Nicolaief; it comes down the Dniepr, and is employed in its green state.

BEING

A SERIES OF INSTRUCTIONS DRAWN BY HIMSELF, FOR THE USE OF THE ARMY UNDER HIS COMMAND, AFTER THE TURKISH WAR; AND SINCE TRANSMITTED BY ORDER OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO EVERY REGIMENT IN THE SERVICE. IT IS COMMONLY CALLED SUVÓROF’S CATECHISM.

(The General is supposed to be inspecting the Line and addressing the Troops.)

Heels close! Knees straight! A soldier must stand like a dart! I see the fourth—the fifth I don’t see. A soldier’s step is an archine⁠[295]—in wheeling, an archine and a half. Keep your distance well!

Soldiers, join elbows in front! First rank three steps from the second—in marching, two!

Give the drum room!

Keep your ball three days: it may happen for a whole campaign when lead⁠[296] cannot be had!

Fire seldom—but fire sure!

Push hard with the bayonet! The ball will lose its way—the bayonet never! The ball is a fool—the bayonet a hero! Stab once: and off with the Turk from the bayonet! Even when he’s dead you may get a scratch from his sabre.

If the sabre is near your neck, dodge back one step, and push on again. Stab the second! Stab the third! A hero will stab half-a-dozen.

Be sure your ball’s in your gun! If three attack you, stab the first, fire on the second, and bayonet the third! This seldom happens.

In the attack there is no time to load again. When you fire, take aim at their guts; and fire about twenty balls. Buy lead from your economy⁠[297]—it costs little! We fire sure—we lose not one ball in thirty; in the light artillery and heavy artillery not one in ten.

If you see the match upon a gun, run up to it instantly—the ball will fly over your head—the guns are yours—the people are yours! Down with ’em upon the spot! pursue ’em, stab ’em! To the remainder give quarter—it’s a sin to kill without reason; they are men like you. Die for the honour of the Virgin Mary—for your mother⁠[298]—for all the royal family! The Church prays for those that die; and those who survive have honour and reward. Offend not the peaceable inhabitant! he gives us meat and drink—the soldier is not a robber. Booty is a holy thing! If you take a camp, it is all yours! If you take a fortress, it is all yours! At Ismael, besides other things, the soldiers shared gold and silver by handsful, and so in other places; but, without order, never go to booty!

A battle on the field has three modes of attack.

1st. On the Wing

Which is weakest. If a wing is covered by wood, it is nothing; a soldier will get through. Through a morass, it is more difficult. Through a river you cannot run. All kind of intrenchment you may jump over.

2nd. The Attack in the Centre

Is not profitable—except for cavalry, to cut them in pieces—or else they’ll crush you.

3rd. The Attack behind

Is very good, only for a small corps to get round. Heavy battle in the field, against regular troops. In squares, against Turks, and not in columns. It may happen against Turks, that a square of 500 men will be compelled to force its way through a troop of 6000 or 7000, with the help of small squares on the flank. In such a case, it will extend in a column. But till now we had no need of it. There are the God-forgetting, windy, light-headed Frenchmen—if it should ever happen to us to march against them, we must beat them in columns.

The Battle, upon Intrenchments in the Field.

The ditch is not deep—the rampart is not high—Down in the ditch! Jump over the wall! Work with your bayonet! Stab! Drive! Take them prisoners! Be sure to cut off the cavalry, if any are at hand! At Prague the infantry cut off the cavalry; and there were three-fold, and more, intrenchments, and a whole fortress; therefore, we attacked in columns.

The Storm.⁠[299]

Break down the fence! Throw wattles over the holes! Run as fast as you can! Jump over the palisades! Cast your faggots (into the ditch)! Leap into the ditch! Lay on your ladders! Scour the columns! Fire at their heads! Fly over the walls! Stab them on the ramparts! Draw out your line! Put a guard on the powder-cellars! Open one of the gates! The cavalry will enter on the enemy! Turn his guns against him! Fire down the streets! Fire briskly! There’s no time to run after them! When the order is given, enter the town! Kill every enemy in the streets! Let the cavalry hack them! Enter no houses! Storm them in the open places where they are gathering! Take possession of the open places! Put a capital guard! Instantly put picquets to the gates, to the powder-cellars, and to the magazines! When the enemy has surrendered, give him quarter! When the inner wall is occupied, go to plunder!

There are three military talents.

1st. The Coup d’Œil.

How to place a camp. How to march. Where to attack, to chase, and to beat the enemy.

2nd. Swiftness.

The field-artillery must march half or a whole verst in front, on the rising ground, that it may not impede the march of the columns. When the column arrives, it will find its place again. Down hill, and on even ground, let it go in a trot. Soldiers march in files, or four abreast, on account of narrow roads, streets, narrow bridges, and narrow passes, through marshy and swampy places; and only when ready for attack draw up in platoons, to shorten the rear. When you march four abreast, leave a space between the companies. Never slacken your pace! Walk on! Play! Sing your songs! Beat the drum! When you have broken off ten versts⁠[300] the first company cast off their load, and lie down. After them the second company; and so forth, one after the other. But the first never wait for the rest! A line in columns will, on the march, always draw out. At four abreast, it will draw out one and a half more than its length. At two abreast, it will draw out double. A line one verst in length will draw out two. Two versts will draw out four; so the first companies would have to wait for the others half-an-hour, to no purpose. After the first ten versts, an hour’s rest. The first division that arrived (upon the coming of the second) takes up its baggage, and moves forward ten or fifteen paces; and if it passes through defiles on the march, fifteen or twenty paces. And in this manner division after division, that the hindmost may get rest. The second ten versts, another hour’s rest, or more. If the third distance is less than ten versts, halve it, and rest three-quarters, half, or a quarter of an hour, that the children⁠[301] may soon get to their kettles. So much for infantry.

The cavalry marches before. They alight from their horses and rest a short time, and march more than ten versts in one stage, that the horses may rest in the camp. The kettle-waggons and the tent-waggons go on before. When the brothers⁠[301] arrive the kettle is ready. The master of the mess instantly serves out the kettle. For breakfast four hours’ rest, and six or eight hours at night, according as the road proves. When you draw near the enemy, the kettle-waggons remain with the tent-waggons, and wood must be prepared beforehand.

By this manner of marching soldiers suffer no fatigue. The enemy does not expect us; he reckons us at least a hundred versts distance, and when we come from far, two hundred, or three hundred, or more. We fall all at once upon him, like snow on the head. His head turns. Attack instantly with whatever arrives,⁠[302]—with what God sends. The cavalry instantly fall to work, hack and slash! Stab and drive! Cut them off! Don’t give them a moment’s rest!

3rd. Energy.

One leg strengthens the other! One hand fortifies the other! By firing many men are killed! The enemy has also hands, but he knows not the Russian bayonet (alluding to the Turks)! Draw out the line immediately; and instantly attack with cold arms (the bayonet). If there is not time to draw out in line, attack, from the defile, the infantry with the bayonet; and the cavalry will be at hand. If there be a defile for a verst, and cartridges over your head, the guns will be yours! Commonly the cavalry makes the first attack, and the infantry follows. In general, cavalry must attack like infantry, except in swampy ground; and there they must lead their horses by the bridle. Cossacks will go through anything. When the battle is gained, the cavalry pursue and hack the enemy, and the infantry are not to remain behind. In two files there is strength: in three files, strength and a half.⁠[303] The first tears, the second throws down, and the third perfects the work.

Rules for Diet.

Have a dread of the hospital! German physic stinks from afar, is good for nothing, and rather hurtful. A Russian soldier is not used to it. Messmates know where to find roots, herbs, and pismires. A soldier is inestimable. Take care of your health! Scour the stomach when it is foul! Hunger is the best medicine! He who neglects his men—if an officer, arrest; if a sub-officer, lashes;⁠[304] and to the private, lashes, if he neglects himself. If loose bowels want food, at sunset a little gruel and bread. For costive bowels, some purging plant in warm water, or the liquorice-root. Remember, gentlemen, the field physic of Doctor Bellypotski.⁠[305] In hot fevers eat nothing, even for twelve days,⁠[306] and drink your soldier’s quas⁠[307]—that’s a soldier’s physic. In intermitting fevers neither eat nor drink. It’s only a punishment for neglect if death ensues. In hospitals, the first day the bed seems soft; the second comes French soup; and the third the brother is laid in his coffin, and they draw him away! One dies, and ten companions around him inhale his expiring breath. In camp, the sick and feeble are kept in huts, and not in villages: there the air is purer. Even without an hospital you must not stint your money for medicine, if it can be bought; nor even for other necessaries. But all this is frivolous: we know how to preserve ourselves. Where one dies in a hundred with others, we lose not one in five hundred in the course of a month. For the healthy, drink, air, and food; for the sick, air, drink, and food. Brothers, the enemy trembles for you! But there is another enemy, greater than the hospital,—the damned “I don’t know.”⁠[308] From the half-confessing, the guessing, lying, deceitful, the palavering, equivocation, squeamishness, and nonsense of “Don’t know,” many disasters originate. Stammering, hackering,⁠[309] and so forth; it’s shameful to relate! A soldier should be sound, brave, firm, decisive, true, honourable! Pray to God! from Him come victory and miracles! God conducts us! God is our general! For the “I don’t know” an officer is put in the guard; a staff-officer is served with an arrest at home. Instruction is light! Not instruction is darkness! The work fears its master.⁠[310] If a peasant knows not how to plough, the corn will not grow! One wise man is worth three fools! and even three are little, give six! and even six are little, give ten!⁠[311] One clever fellow will beat them all, overthrow them, and take them prisoners!

In the last campaign the enemy lost 75,000 well counted men—perhaps not much less than 100,000. He fought desperately and artfully, and we lost not a full thousand.⁠[312] There, brethren, you behold the effect of military instruction.

Gentlemen, officers, what a triumph!

N.B. This translation has been rendered perfectly literal, so that effect is often sacrificed to a strict attention to the real signification of the words, instead of introducing parallel phrases.

Most people will acknowledge it to be a matter of some difficulty to turn the habitual course of trade into any new channel. For a century the forests of Lithuania exported by the Duna from Riga timber, and more especially masts; supplying thereby all the dockyards of Europe. The value of this branch of commerce amounted to about 2,000,000 roubles per annum. Each piece of timber passed through the hands of two sorters, who are an incorporated body, and are responsible, by their oath, for the quality of the article. These qualities varying in different countries, the merchants are in the habit of sending their orders to the principal sorters, naming the quantity and the quality which they require. These men then despatch a cutter to the spot, to select and appropriate the timber according to the orders which they receive; and the timber so selected is inspected afresh at Riga previous to shipment. This sorting or surveying is a joint-stock affair, the profits upon which go to a general fund, and are divided at the end of the year. There are two modes of bargaining with the wood-growers: either by purchasing of them a certain number of trees, chosen by a competent judge, or by taking an entire wood on lease, with the right of felling such trees as may from time to time suit the lessee; in which latter case the price is regulated according to the quantity of timber removed, charging so much for masts and so much for planks. The time for felling the trees is in the months of October and November; and although it would be better to postpone it until the sap shall have left the trees, yet, at a further period of the season, the snow would render the woods almost inaccessible: and it is necessary to avail one’s self of the drawing or sledging, just in time to bring away the timber already cut. Nevertheless, the felling sometimes continues until the month of January, or even February. Despite the care of the surveyor, 10 per cent. may reasonably be deducted from the original cost of timber on account of the occasional felling of trees that are objectionable; which are left on the land. It is commonly understood that masts of this description shall be left to the land-owner, and that no more shall be paid for than are taken away. The timber intended for Riga is all lopped and trimmed on the spot; and upon the breaking up of the ice in the Dniepr or in the Beresina (near to which rivers the greater part of the woods are situated) the timber is launched, in order afterwards that it may be sent down the Duna to Riga. It is only from the nearest forests that timber can be delivered at Riga in the same year in which it is felled; for with reference to the more distant, a second land-carriage betwixt the Dniepr and the Duna becomes indispensable. It often happens that, the time to complete the squaring of the timber during the first winter being insufficient, advantage is taken of the delay caused by the frost, in the breaking up of the ice of the Duna, to complete it. By this means the timber arrives at Riga in the fine season, and is fit for immediate shipment.

The thinning of the forests of Lithuania has compelled the fellers to move gradually farther and farther southward. Even now but few maiden forests are to be found near the river in the government of Minsk; and the supplies of timber are now chiefly furnished by the government of Tchérnigof and of Kief. The timber trade must, therefore, necessarily be driven into the hands of the Southern Russians. In lieu of transporting the timber, as before, against the current of the Dniepr, and of a long journey over land, it is now abandoned to the stream, and thus floats rapidly down to Kherson, where it arrives between May 15 and July 1.

The masts and bulks are commonly fastened together in rafts of 100 pieces each, and are managed by four or five men. Planks and staves are conveyed by means of large barks, manned with fifteen or sixteen men. The expense of water-carriage is about 25 roubles each for large masts. The vessels that are without decks cost as much as 1200 roubles; those that are decked are worth double this sum; but owing to their inability to reascend the river, are usually sold at Kherson for a few hundred roubles each. The merchants of Odessa have not as yet directed much of their attention to the timber trade; either because grain chiefly occupies their attention, or because of the want of proper experience on the part of the speculators; the first purchases of masts at Kherson, for the arsenals at Toulon and at Carthagena, proved disastrous in their results. Nevertheless, as Odessa possesses some very rich houses, with whom it is become almost a point of duty to open fresh outlets to the commerce of the country, and since bad harvests have obliged other houses to direct their capital to articles till then almost unknown, the timber trade at Kherson has progressed very rapidly. In 1833 the value of the timber and wood exported from that place amounted to 1,000,000 roubles, or nearly 180,000l. In 1834 many ships loaded with masts and staves for France and Spain. The great saving effected in the charges of transportation to ports of shipment, as well as on freights, will render it impossible for the trade of Riga, henceforward, to compete with that of the Black Sea, in supplying the south of Europe, where the consumption (of staves more particularly) is very great. Kherson is able to obtain timber from the very same forests which supply Riga, at from 20 to 30 per cent. cheaper, owing to the loss of interest on the capital employed, six months being the intermediate time of its arrival at Kherson, whilst the passage to Riga occupies at least twenty months. Besides, on landing the timber from the Dniepr, it remains a long time exposed to the air before being again launched in the Duna, which cannot fail to injure it. A sorter, or surveyor, from Riga, is already established at Kherson, for the purpose of placing the timber trade on the same footing as in the former city. He is accompanied by twelve Lithuanian labourers, practised in the trimming of masts, which are prepared on the spot where they are felled. A skilful workman will not be able to trim a large mast in less than a week. Excepting pine planks, which are sawn in the town, all other sorts of timber are sent to Kherson ready trimmed. The largest masts shipped hence are not more than about 20 palms in diameter, and about 85 feet in length. Those of larger dimensions, being purchased chiefly for Holland, are sent of course to Riga, but there is no doubt of the possibility of conveying them to Kherson with as much facility as to the former place. Even the smaller masts, which are all very cheap, are very superior in quality to, and much more durable than, those of Moldavia, Tuscany, and the Adriatic. The Oak, on the contrary, like that of Moldavia, is too soft for ship-building; nevertheless for staves it is certainly superior to that of the Romagna. These staves are cut from six to eight feet in length, and six inches broad, by two and a half to three inches thick. They are sold in lots of sixty, called shocks, the cost of one of which shocks, at Kherson, of six feet, was, in 1834, about 37 roubles. They can, however, be had of all dimensions, by apprising the seller beforehand in the months of August and September.

In addition to the timber destined for ship-building, wood of almost every shape is brought from the greatest part of Southern Russia for building, and for other purposes. This trade is in the hands of speculators from Kherson, and is carried on at places where the timber is felled; it is only the timber intended for foreign shipment, and certain sorts, that would find but a very limited sale at home, that are ordered beforehand. Igren and Kakhóvka, the one above, the other below, the cataracts of the Dniepr, are important places for the trade in wood. At these places, the carmen of the environs, who fetch fish and salt from the ports of the Sea of Azof, load the wood that has come down the Dniepr; in this manner it comes to the same price as that which is brought down the Volga and the Don in small quantities. But it is probable that, in time, the oak of Kasan, which now supplies the shipyards of the North, will be obtainable by this last-mentioned route. The forests, with which the mountains of the Crimea are covered, furnish to the shipyard of Sevastopol excellent building timber and much firewood; Odessa, in particular, which procures it from the north of Bessarabia, likewise consumes a great deal of it; still, as a great part of this latter province is entirely stripped of wood, it is under the necessity of supplying itself from Moldavia, especially from the district of Kiatra, which is very woody, and which exports wood also to Constantinople. Bessarabia derives from thence only firewood; but building-timber, masts, planks, and staves, are sent down the Seret (a river which separates Moldavia from Wallachia), and find a vent at Galatz, whence they are sent off in great rafts to Constantinople; and, before the Sultan prohibited it, these articles were sent from thence into Egypt. In 1832 the value of these exports amounted to more than 500,000 francs. The masts of Moldavia are of a very inferior quality compared with those of Russia; but many vessels buy them at Constantinople, because they are so very cheap. Neither is the oak for ship-building so hard as that of Bulgaria, which, on this account, is generally preferred. In general, a great quantity of timber is imported from Bulgaria into Ismail and into Reni, as, for the last five years, that article has not been burthened with any duty, and it forms one of the most important branches of commerce at both places. Roumelia likewise exports a considerable quantity of timber, especially staves, from the port of Bourgas.

There was imported into this port in 1852—

Exports—

and no coin.

31 foreign vessels entered the port of Eupatoria.

The coasting trade presented the following numbers:—Arrivals, 189—of which, 1 from Petersburg. Departures, 188—of which, 5 for Petersburg.

These four ports have only a coasting trade.

Besides, steamers anchored 49 times in the port of Yalta.

The coasters brought and discharged in these four ports, besides provisions for the state, goods of the following value:—

The imports into the port of Theodosia in 1852 were—

Exports—

The coasters brought goods, 150,823 S. R.; and loaded to a value of 96,862 S. R.

and no coin.

113 foreign vessels arrived, and 73 left: of these 113 arrivals, 52, after passing quarantine at Kertch, entered the Sea of Azof. The coasting trade had 1111 arrivals, and 1094 departures.

The coasters brought, in 1852—goods, 834,671 S. R., besides stores to the account of the state. They loaded goods 359,418 S. R.; of salt from the Lakes of Kertch, 1,464,140 poods were sent from the Lakes of Kertch to the ports of the Sea of Azof; 91,435 poods to the Black Sea; and 74,775 poods to Petersburg:—total, 1,630,360 poods; which makes 911,445 poods more than in 1851, and 576,020 poods more than in 1850. This is the largest exportation of salt that has ever been made; for even in 1837 the exports only reached 1,431,975 poods.

The reduction of the excise, and the permission to pay for it in the ports of the Sea of Azof, are the causes of this increase in the export of salt to the interior of the empire.

It results, from the accounts given above, that the commerce of the Crimea was more important in 1852 than in 1851. The reason was the good harvest of 1852. The export of its production was on a larger scale, and consequently the import was larger; more cottons and mixed Turkish silks were imported into Theodosia; more fruits and tobacco to Eupatoria; more coal to Kertch. The export of wheat and other grains was also larger; also of walnut-wood from Theodosia, and more linseed and wool, and tallow and butter, from Eupatoria. The increase in commercial affairs, of course, occasioned activity in the shipping.

The coasting trade, always more important in the Crimean ports than foreign commerce, has continued slowly to improve, as may be seen from the following tables for 1851 and 1852.

Less coin was imported in 1852 than in 1851; it was 15,981 S. R. More was exported.

The subject of the opening of the Danube is so intimately connected with the countries about which I have written, that I think it will be interesting to the public to read the following memorandum which has just been sent home by Mr. Cunningham, the English Consul at Galatz, and a merchant at that port.

As the navigation of the Danube forms one of the Four Points to be settled between the Allies and Russia, there can be little doubt that the present war will not terminate without the navigation of that river being placed on a clear, secure, and lasting footing, and such as to encourage the investment of capital in mercantile enterprises in the vicinity of this river. Further, that those nations interested in the trade and navigation of the river will adopt proper means not only to remove all material impediments to the navigation in the first instance, but also that they will provide a permanent fund, by a tax on vessels frequenting the river or otherwise, to keep the channels in the best state for the security and despatch of shipping; and will further make such arrangements as shall appear most conducive to the extension of the trade of the countries situate along its banks.

No one measure would conduce more to the facility of the trade and navigation of the river, to the prosperity of the countries on the Lower Danube, and to the extension of their agriculture, than the formation of a free port at the mouth of the river Danube.

In order to understand the advantages which a free port at the mouth of the Danube would confer on the trade of the river, it is necessary to state how it is carried on at present, and the difficulties it has to contend with, particularly in the export trade in grain.

All the grain of Wallachia is exported from Ibraila.

All the grain of Moldavia is exported from Galatz.

All the grain of Bulgaria which goes out by the Danube is exported from Matchin.

Note.—In spring, when the water in the Danube is high, some small sea-going vessels go up to Silistria to load Bulgarian wheat, and to Giurgevo to load Wallachian wheat.

All the grain of Bessarabia which goes out by the Danube is shipped from Reni and Ismail.

The grain, the produce of one of these provinces, cannot be brought to any other province, not even for shipment, but the vessel must go to the port where the grain is in order to receive it.

This state of things causes much trouble, inconvenience, and expense to the merchant, as the merchant residing in one of the towns mentioned (generally in Galatz) may be shipping grain from all these ports at one time, without being able to ascertain the quality or condition of the grain he is shipping at any port excepting at the place where he resides. It is also inconvenient and expensive to shipmasters, who must first call at Galatz for orders, and may afterwards be sent to any of the ports mentioned.

Galatz and Ibraila are called free ports by their respective governments, but most improperly so: first, grain and tallow cannot be brought from Wallachia into Galatz, nor from Moldavia into Ibraila; the importation of these two articles into Moldavia or Wallachia from any quarter whatever, even for exportation, is prohibited. It follows therefore that the grain of Turkey cannot be warehoused in Galatz or Ibraila for exportation. As grain forms nine-tenths of the export trade of the Danube, it follows that the name of Free Port is altogether illusory.

Excepting the above two articles, and salt, all other articles may be brought into Galatz and Ibraila, and exported without payment of duty, provided the following forms be observed. On introducing the article it must be declared for exportation, and it must not be sold. If sold, the buyer must pay duty on exporting the article. But it must be observed that all articles the production of Moldavia and Wallachia are brought into Galatz and Ibraila respectively by land without payment of duty, and the duty is only paid on being exported by water from the so-called free port.

It is scarcely necessary to add that as in Turkey and Russia there is no pretension to a free port, the duty on all articles sent into either of these countries would have to be paid on entering, and again on being exported. The introduction of grain into Russia is prohibited.

It must be evident that it would be very advantageous to the export trade of the Danube, which is at present almost entirely confined to grain, to have some one point where the grain from all the different shipping ports could be brought forward in river craft, and there loaded on board of sea-going vessels. This can only be effected by having a free port established. But this free port would be equally advantageous for imports, which, being brought to one place, could be more conveniently sent forward to their various ports of destination along the Danube.

As steam power for river navigation has such an evident advantage over sailing vessels, it is quite behind the age to take sailing vessels 100 miles up a river for cargo, when the cargo can be brought down more easily and economically to the mouth of the river by steam; it is therefore apparent that, in seeking to establish a free port on the Danube for the first time, it ought to be placed as near as possible to the sea. For this reason the free port should be placed either at the Sulina mouth or at the St. George’s mouth. As, however, Sulina consists only of a narrow strip of land between the river and a marsh, and as that strip is subject to be overflowed, Sulina is not suited for the site of a town. At the St. George’s mouth, on the right bank of the river, the land is high and well suited for the erection of a town, therefore the free port should in preference be placed there. It is probable that, on application being made, the Turkish Government would grant the rights of a free port to the whole of the island Ruselm formed by the Danube, the branch called Donnawitza, the lake Ramsim, and the sea. Even on the left bank, on the island of St. George, the ground is much higher than at Sulina. At the outset the St. George’s mouth presents a difficulty in comparison to that of Sulina, namely, whereas the Sulina mouth has only a single bar of about 150 yards broad, the St. George’s mouth has banks extending out fully a mile; but, as the entrance into the St. George’s has never been carefully surveyed, it is not known whether a channel may not extend all the way out, which only requires to be marked out by buoys; but in every case there can be no doubt that a channel could be opened up and kept open, at an expense which would fall very light on the number of vessels likely to enter it, in comparison to the heavy lighterage which they have hitherto had to pay at Sulina. The St. George’s branch is much finer than the Sulina; it discharges at least ten times more water than the Sulina does, and this should render it easy to make a deeper channel than at Sulina; it is much broader, and therefore would afford more accommodation for shipping. It may be asked why, when the St. George presents so many advantages over the Sulina, no attempt has been made to render these advantages available? but when it is considered that Russia only held the left bank of this branch, while Turkey held the right bank, whereas Russia held both sides of the Sulina branch, it is evident that it was for the advantage of Russia to keep the St. George closed, and thus have the whole trade of the Danube under her control.

To show precisely the disadvantage of having to ascend the river with sailing vessels to receive cargo, it may be stated that sailing vessels seldom arrive from Sulina at Galatz in less than fourteen days, and not unfrequently they take a month to come up. Again, in going down, what between putting part of their cargo into lighters in order to go over the shoals in the river, and what by grounding and getting the vessel off again, three weeks or a month are frequently consumed between Galatz and Sulina. But the best proof is in the rates of freight, as a vessel, obtaining 12s. per quarter from Galatz to England, would take cargo from the mouth of the Danube to England for 8s. per quarter.

No doubt a vessel might save much time by being towed up the river by a steamer; but there would always be danger of the vessel grounding, and part of the cargo would always have to be put into lighters. The steamer could bring down four times more grain in proper barges than the vessel could carry, and in less time.

The uncertain political position of the Danube, and the difficulties and delays caused by quarantines, have hitherto prevented steam navigation from taking any considerable extension in that river; in fact, there have not yet been any steamers exclusively for the trade of the Principalities and Bulgaria. The steam navigation on the Lower Danube at the commencement of the present war with Russia was as follows:—The Imperial Royal Danube Steam Navigation Company of Vienna despatch a steamer weekly from Vienna to Galatz, and vice versâ. A steamer went weekly both up and down between Galatz and Turno Severin, on the Wallachian side of the river; and a steamer weekly between Galatz and Skella Cladova, on the Turkish side of the river. Besides these steamers, this Company had occasionally tugsteamers between this place and Calafat; and within the last four years it has had a number of iron barges, called shlepfs, on the Lower Danube, to be towed by steamers, for the conveyance of grain and other merchandise. The Austrian Lloyd’s Steam Company of Trieste had steamers performing six voyages monthly between Galatz and Constantinople: this Company also kept a steamer plying between Galatz and Ibraila. The Russians had a steamer performing two voyages monthly between Galatz and Odessa.

When, however, the trade and navigation of the Danube shall have been placed on a satisfactory and permanent footing, there can be little doubt that the companies having steamers on the Danube will increase their number, so as to meet the requirements of trade; or, should such not be the case, other companies will be established, as capital cannot be long wanting for an investment which offers at once security and good returns.

Until the war between Russia and Turkey in 1828, grain and tallow from the Principalities could only be sent to Constantinople. Certain Turkish commissioners came yearly to the provinces and purchased grain, fixing their own price for it, and that price was so low as not to be remunerative to the cultivator. Consequently, very little grain was then grown in the Principalities, and it was harvested and brought to market in a most careless manner, having a great deal of earth and dirt mixed with it, and the quality was very bad.

By the Treaty of Adrianople, the Russians gave free trade to the Principalities and the cultivation of grain was extended. So soon as the exportation of grain from the Principalities began to take a certain extension, the Russian Government perceived the double error it had committed, and endeavoured to correct it: this double error was, first, the trade of the Principalities was increased, and the attention of Europe was thereby called to them; secondly, the grain exported from the Principalities came into competition and lowered the price of the grain of the Russian ports on the Black Sea. For this end the Russians prevented the establishment of a general entrepôt on the Danube; they imposed vexatious quarantine regulations on shipping and merchandise; and they prevented the removing of banks and shoals and other impediments to the navigation of the river.

Notwithstanding all these discouragements and impediments, the exportation of Moldavia and Wallachia by Galatz and Ibraila down the Danube in the year 1852 had reached the following quantities:—

The exportation of grain from Turkey, and consequently from Bulgaria, was prohibited until the year 1839, when the exportation was allowed by the treaty of commerce made between Turkey and England in that year. The exportation of grain from Bulgaria by the Danube has made very little progress hitherto, and not more than 200,000 quarters of grain of all sorts have been exported by the Danube in any one year.

There are many reasons no doubt for this want of progress; among which are, the improper interference of the Turkish Government, which has already forbidden the exportation of grain four different times, under pretext that there was a scarcity of grain in Turkey; the interference of pashas and other Turks in authority, who are always endeavouring to have a monopoly of the grain trade of their districts; also the insufficient protection of the cultivators. But another reason, and which had great influence, was the want of a proper place for shipping on board of sea-going vessels, as there is no place on the Turkish side of the Danube with suitable warehouses, and Turkish grain was not allowed to be warehoused in Wallachia or Moldavia.

Little doubt can be entertained, that inquiry will be made into the causes which prevent the extension of agriculture in Turkey for the purpose of removing them, and that, in consequence, the exportation of grain from Bulgaria will increase rapidly.

Grain of Bessarabia is exported from Reni and Ismail on the Danube, but by far the larger portion of the produce of that province goes to Odessa for shipment, being attracted to that place by the lower rate of freights which prevails there than on the Danube. Were the freights from the Danube reduced to the same rates as those from Odessa, there can be little doubt that nearly the whole of the grain produced in Bessarabia would be brought to the Danube for shipment. The quantity of grain exported from Ismail is larger than what is exported from Reni; in the year 1852 the quantity exported from these two ports may have amounted, to 400,000 quarters. It is proper to observe, that although Ismail is situate on the Kilia branch of the Danube, yet the vessels at present frequenting that port enter and go out by the Sulina branch, and would consequently go by the St. George’s were it rendered more commodious.

From what has been stated it results that the quantity of grain exported from the Danube in 1852 was:—

But the production of Moldavia and Wallachia goes on increasing at the rate of about five per cent. yearly, and should this free port be obtained, a further impetus will be given to the exportation by the reduction of freights. For the same reason it may be expected that the exportation of Bessarabia by the Danube will be greatly increased, as produce, in place of being carried to Odessa, will be brought to the Danube for shipment. Then as regards Bulgaria, taking into account internal impediments to cultivation, which may be expected to be removed, and facilities to exportation and lower freights, it cannot be doubted that the production and exportation of grain from Bulgaria will increase very rapidly. For these reasons it may safely be reckoned, that ten years after the establishment of peace, and a convenient free port near the mouth of the Danube, the following quantities of grain will be exported from the Danube:—

Regarding the present manner of bringing forward grain for shipment on board of sea-going vessels, it is to be observed that all the grain shipped from Galatz comes forward to that place by land. Of that shipped from Ibraila, not over one-fifth comes forward by land; the rest is brought down the Danube by river craft, called kerlatze, from Calafat, Islas, Giurgevo, Calarrach, &c. Latterly, the Vienna Danube Steam Navigation Company has occasionally brought down grain from Upper Wallachia in shlepfs or iron barges. Of the grain shipped from Bulgaria, a portion is shipped from Silistria by small vessels, which go up to that place in spring when the water is high; the remainder is brought down, by kerlatze, from Widdin, Sistove, Rustchuk, &c., to Matchin, for shipment. At Matchin some warehouses have lately been built. The grain shipped from Bessarabia is all brought forward to Reni and Ismail by land.

The rate of freight, by kerlatze, from Calafat to Ibraila, in the course of the last four years, has ranged from P. 60-P. 120 of the G. S. per 1000 okes, equal per quarter to 2s. 2d. to 4s. 3d.; but P. 80 per 1000 okes may be taken as the usual freight, or per quarter 2s. 10d., for conveyance the distance of 300 miles English. The freight charged by the Austrian Danube Steam Company for conveying grain in iron barges, towed by steamers from Calafat to Ibraila, varies according to the season and demand, but may be taken on an average at 30 kreutzers per 100 funti, 4s. per imperial quarter. The kerlatze, or river craft, perform a voyage from Ibraila up to Calafat, empty and back with a cargo of grain, in about two months. A steamer towing shlepfs can perform the same voyage in ten days.

The freight from Galatz to England may be taken as 50 per cent. higher than the freight from Odessa to England; thus, when freight from Odessa is 7s. per quarter, the freight from Galatz is 10s. 6d.: these are low freights. But were there a port at the St. George’s mouth, the freight from thence to England could never be more than from Odessa, but would probably be 10 per cent. less. Thus allowing 1s. or 1s. 6d. per quarter for freight from Galatz to St. George, there would be a saving, when freights were low, of at least 2s., and when freights were high 5s. to 6s. per quarter, in favour of bringing grain to the ships, in place of sending the ships to the grain.

There would also be a great saving on the Insurance, and in the time of sending the merchandise to market.

Charles Cunningham.

Galatz, April 4, 1855.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.

FOOTNOTES