AKNAUT (ffi 
 
 (j/' f/'t Co-nfoH t>/' (rudrd <*f tftf 
 
 jotM rotsi <> t/ f < f*r 
 
NEW RUSSIA. 
 
 JOURNEY 
 
 FROM 
 
 RIGA TO THE CRIMEA, 
 
 BY WAY OF KIEVj 
 WITH 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE COLONIZATION, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COLONISTS OF NEW RUSSIA. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 
 NOTES RELATING TO THE GRIM TATARS. 
 
 BY MARY HOLDERNESS. 
 
 Germans, and Scythians, and Sarmatians, north 
 Beyond Danubius, to the Tauric Pool. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, JONES AND CO. 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1823. 
 
PRESERVATION 
 COPY ADDED 
 OFNQtNALTOB* 
 RETAINED 
 
 SEP 2 5 1995 
 
 H. M'Millau, Printer, 
 Bow Street, Covnt Garden. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Volume which I now present to the Public, 
 owes, in some measure, its existence to the favour- 
 able reception accorded to my former attempt. By 
 the plan of that work, I scrupulously confined myself 
 to such notices as my experience enabled me to 
 furnish respecting the Tatars of the Crimea alone, 
 suppressing the information which I had likewise 
 collected on the Manners and Customs of the other 
 Inhabitants of New Russia. 
 
 These details, though perhaps not inferior in 
 interest to those which I published, I was induced 
 altogether to withhold, lest I should interfere with 
 the intentions of a friend, who, I had reason to be- 
 lieve, had directed his thoughts to the same subject. 
 That difficulty however has now not only been 
 completely removed, but the kindness of the friend 
 alluded to, has supplied me with much very im- 
 portant additional information, thus stamping a 
 value on the present production, which it would 
 otherwise have been far from possessing. 
 
 
IT PREFACE. 
 
 I may now, therefore, venture to hope, without 
 meriting the charge of presumption, that the follow- 
 ing pages, which I have spared no pains to render 
 accurate and impartial, will prove an acceptable 
 present to the Public, particularly as whatever 
 relates to Russia, and more especially to the 
 Southern Provinces of that Empire, bears at this 
 moment, from the circumstances of the time, a 
 more than ordinary interest. 
 
 I have had an opportunity of obtaining a cor- 
 rected statement of the population of particular 
 towns, from the last census, which 1 have subjoined : 
 but of the correctness of the former in the aggregate, 
 I am induced to feel increased certainty, from the 
 opinion of a more competent judge than myself on 
 that subject. 
 
 I have also revised and enlarged my "Notes on 
 the Manners and Customs of the Crim Tatars," in 
 order, by adding them to the present volume, to 
 form a more complete whole. 
 
 It is highly gratifying to my feelings to state, 
 that the indulgence which has been extended to 
 that little work, has not been confined to my own 
 country, since it has recently been honoured by 
 the condescending approbation of His Imperial 
 Majesty the Emperor Alexander. 
 
PREFACE. T 
 
 In committing myself once more to that liberality 
 which I have experienced on a former occasion, I 
 feel that I have derived from it additional confi- 
 dence in the execution of my task, and an increased 
 desire to be found worthy of it. 
 
 MARY HOLDERNESS. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 105, for Chap. I. read Chap. X. 
 
 117, for Chap, II. read Chap. XI. 
 > _ 130, for Chap. III. read Chap. XII. 
 
 140, for Chap, IV. read Chap, XIII. 
 
JOURNEY 
 
 FROM 
 
 RIGA TO THE CRIMEA, 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Arrival at Bolder da, the Port of Riga Account 
 of Riga : its Exports and Imports, Annual 
 Fair, and Floating Bridge. 
 
 AFTER a three weeks' passage from England, 
 we landed at Bolderaa, the Port of Riga, from 
 which it is nine miles distant ; the bar across 
 the river at this place, rendering it impracticable 
 for large vessels to proceed beyond. Getting 
 our luggage ashore, and settling with the cus- 
 tom-house officers, detained us two days here. 
 The inn is kept by a German family of the 
 name of Kleiburg, who speak English well ; the 
 
^ A RUSSIAN KITCHEN. 
 
 accommodation of the house is good, and it is 
 respectably conducted. We dined at the ordi- 
 nary, at which the master and mistress of the 
 house preside. Contrary to our English custom, 
 the dishes are sent up singly, or in pairs, one at 
 top, and one at bottom, and the table is filled 
 up in the length with ornamented flower- baskets, 
 baskets of fruit, and pickles, &c. 
 
 The neatness of an English kitchen was very 
 strongly contrasted here, and gave me no pre- 
 possessing expectation of the cleanliness of the 
 people of this country. It resembled much more 
 a blacksmith's shop than a kitchen in England, 
 and I could almost have imagined myself sud- 
 denly transported to the dominions of Pluto, so 
 black and disagreeable looked all around me. 
 The kitchen range was a raised hearth of brick 
 or stone about the height of a common table, 
 and extending the whole width of the lower part 
 of the building, with a fire of wood blazing from 
 one end to the other upon it : over this are 
 placed different sized iron pots, which, with a 
 large knife and spoon, were the only utensils 
 that seemed to be necessary here. I am not sure 
 
TOWN OF RIGA. 3 
 
 that there was a table, the stove itself serving 
 that purpose, as I have since very often seen. 
 
 From hence to Riga we went by water, and 
 arrived there late in the evening. This town 
 is well known, from its importance in the 
 commercial world : it is said to have had at 
 one time 40,000 inhabitants, though now its 
 population does not exceed 30,000 : from hence 
 its size may be in some measure estimated. 
 It presented to me much of novelty, though 
 little that is not too well known to need descrip- 
 tion here. We walked around its ramparts, 
 which I am told is a permission never granted 
 to strangers ; however, we passed unmolested, 
 and enjoyed the first clear frost of a Russian 
 winter. The shops of Riga are very poor and 
 insignificant in their appearance, few of them 
 being so good as the best shops in our country 
 towns. The trade, however, is considerable. 
 Among the articles of exportation, the princi- 
 pal are, 
 
 1st, Hemp, w 7 hich is chiefly brought down 
 from Russia and Poland by means of the navi- 
 gation of the Dvjna. As soon as it arrives, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 EXPORTS FROM RIGA. 
 
 which is commonly about the middle of May, 
 it is sorted according to its quality, by persons 
 sworn to that office, and is then exported at dif- 
 ferent prices, and under various denominations. 
 Polish hemp is of a softer and more tender na- 
 ture than Russian hemp, and in general, that 
 which is distinguished by a bright green colour 
 is preferred. There is likewise some hemp grown 
 in Livonia, which, though inferior to the best of 
 the other kinds, is valuable to the merchants, 
 because, being brought by land carriage during 
 the winter, it is ready for exportation before the 
 arrival of the chief supplies, which are detained 
 by the freezing of the Dvina. 
 
 2nd, Flax which is grown in the government 
 of Riga, and is brought to the town in sledges 
 during the winter. 
 
 3rd, Corn from Russia and Poland, Lithua- 
 nia, Courland, and Livonia. The exportation 
 is chiefly confined to wheat and rye, as the bar- 
 ley and oats are of an indifferent quality, and 
 are only used for home consumption. The 
 wheat is sent to Holland, France, and Spain ; 
 the rye to Sweden and Holland. 
 
EXPORTS FROM RIGA. 5 
 
 4 th } Hemp-seed from Russia and Poland, is 
 exported to Holland for the supply of the oil- 
 mills. 
 
 5th, Linseed for sowing, from Lithuania, 
 Courland, and Livonia. This is sent in the 
 autumn to the Hanse Towns, Holland, and 
 Flanders. A small quantity is sometimes ex- 
 ported to England, and more to Ireland. As it 
 is unfit for its purpose if stale, the sellers are 
 called upon to make oath, that what they pro- 
 duce is the fresh seed of the year. All that is 
 not exported before the winter, is sent to Hol- 
 land to be crushed for oil. 
 
 6th, Fir timber, including masts and spars, 
 deals and planks. The masts are brought from 
 forests in Polish and Russian Ukraine, on the 
 banks of the rivers Briganskie, Desna, and 
 Soeltz, which are branches of the Dnieper. By 
 means of this river, and the canal which unites 
 it with the Dvina, they are conveyed the whole 
 distance by water-carriage, and generally arrive 
 at Riga in the month of May, after having been 
 no less than eighteen months on their route. 
 The Riga timber is considered superior to that 
 
O MART OF RIGA. 
 
 exported from Memel, and bears a much higher 
 price. 
 
 Besides these articles, there is a small ex- 
 portation of iron, soap, and tallow, which how- 
 ever being cheaper at St. Petersburgh, are sent 
 in far greater quantities from thence. The trade 
 in pot-ash, which was formerly considerable, is 
 now in a declining state. 
 
 The bringing together the produce of such an 
 extent of country at the mart of Riga is well 
 worthy of attention, and though I did not wit- 
 ness it, I had the opportunity of learning many 
 particulars about it. The produce of Poland, 
 from Kiev northward, around the shores of the 
 Dvina, are sent to this place. After the opera- 
 tion of threshing the different grain is performed, 
 and the frost set in, so that the ice on the rivers 
 will bear, the peasantry are then engaged in 
 constructing the raft which is to float these 
 cargoes to their destined port. These vessels 
 are formed with much ingenuity and little ex- 
 pence, being put together without the use of a 
 nail, and merely pegged with wooden pegs, and 
 stuffed with tow to make them impervious to the 
 
INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 water. They carry from 200 to 500 tons bur- 
 then, and are from 200 to 400 feet in length, 
 formed of large trees split into rough boards. The 
 rudder is a single fir tree, at which twelve or 
 twenty men preside, according to the strength 
 required. The most valuable part of the cargo, 
 which is wheat, hemp-seed, &c. is stowed in 
 the centre of the vessel, a space being left around 
 the sides for the package of those goods which a 
 little wet will not materially injure, such as 
 hemp, cordage, &c. This being completed, 
 the vessel is ready to take advantage of the 
 earliest part of the navigable season. As soon 
 as the ice is broken up and clear, the vessel 
 floats with the strong current which succeeds to 
 the removal of the ice, and thirty or forty of the 
 peasants, sometimes with their wives and fami- 
 lies, take their passage upon it. The owner or 
 his steward meet the cargo at Riga, where it is 
 either sold to the merchants, or warehoused, 
 according to circumstances. The vessel then is 
 knocked to pieces, and sold for firing, or frequently 
 for paling for the merchant's yard, and often 
 fetches no more than from 100 to 200 rubles. 
 
8 FLOATING OF TIMBER. 
 
 The manner in which timber is floated down, 
 equally deserves notice. A number of squared 
 trees, perhaps 60, 60, or upwards, are lashed 
 together alongside each other by strong cordage, 
 upon the ice : on this foundation other timber is 
 laid, and then immense quantities of fire-wood, 
 which is cut by the peasantry during the winter 
 months, when other business is suspended ; 
 this wood is piled up to the height of 12 or 14 
 feet, and upon this the peasants who are des- 
 tined to conduct it, often with their families are 
 seen passing up the river. These arriving at Riga 
 nearly about the same time, the middle of May, 
 form a scene highly curious and interesting to 
 the observer, who, if he be a stranger, has his 
 attention doubly excited by the novel mode of 
 transporting these goods, and by seeing at one 
 view, so large a share of the produce of Poland, 
 as the navigation of the Dvina brings to this 
 market. 
 
 Of the imports into Riga, or any of the ports 
 of the Russian empire, it is difficult to give any 
 satisfactory account, as they are constantly va- 
 rying with the varying policy of the government. 
 
FLOATING BRCDGE AT RIGA. 9 
 
 Colonial produce, and manufactured goods, are 
 the articles most in request, and are imported 
 in greater or less quantities, as the trade is per- 
 mitted or forbidden. In this year (1815) the 
 importation of the latter was strictly prohibited ; 
 but as they were generally, not to say univer- 
 sally, in use, the contraband trade must have 
 been enormous, and was said to be carried on 
 with the collusion of the custom-house. Salt 
 and herrings are imported in great quantities, 
 and sold to the Polish peasantry. 
 
 The floating bridge at Riga is one of the ob- 
 jects that most attracts the notice of the stranger; 
 it is 2600 feet in length, and 40 feet in breadth : 
 it is laid down as soon as the river is clear from 
 ice, and taken up when the frost sets in. 
 
 The procuring carriages, and making other 
 necessary preparations, detained us at Riga ten 
 days, and we then left it, in the most disadvan- 
 tageous state of the roads, to prosecute a journey 
 of more than 1300 English miles. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 Departure from Riga Mode of Travelling., and 
 Travelling Equipages Account of the Re- 
 gulation of Post-Horses Kreitzburg Rus- 
 sian Stoves Russian Costume Distillation 
 of Brandy Beer Kvass. 
 
 WE set out from Riga in the evening of 
 Saturday, November 18, N.S. 1815, our equi- 
 pages consisting of a Polish britchka, and three 
 kibitkas; our party in number were eleven, in- 
 cluding two English, and a Russian servant. 
 If our thoughts had not been occupied by a 
 crowd of more serious ideas at the outset of this 
 our long and adventurous journey, the sight of 
 these novel carriages, and our own appearance, 
 huddled up in different sorts of fur shubes, so 
 heavy and so cumbrous that we could scarcely 
 walk beneath their weight, would all have 
 afforded subject for laughter and burlesque ; 
 though it was only the preparation for the out- 
 set, and the packing into the carriages, that ex- 
 
TRAVELLING CARRIAGES. 11 
 
 cited risibility; for the moment they began to 
 move over the rough -paved streets of Riga, the 
 jolting was so intolerable, that it threatened to 
 dislocate our joints ; and the first half hour of 
 our drive made me look forward with dread, 
 and almost despair, to its termination. 
 
 A britchkais in form just like a small English 
 waggon, and upon wheels about the height and 
 size of the little cole-seed waggons: it is made 
 with a calash (or head) like our barouches, which 
 can be thrown back occasionally, and an apron 
 of leather fastening up to within a foot of the 
 top of the hood ; within side two curtains of 
 leather draw, and shut one up completely from 
 the cold; to make which more secure, a mat is 
 then put over the head of the carriage, and tied 
 on, so as to admit of its being fastened down 
 over the apron at night, and thrown back in the 
 day. I always objected to this, which seemed 
 to threaten suffocation, and never submitted to 
 it, but when the extreme cold made it indispen- 
 sible. At the bottom of the carriage is packed 
 as much luggage as it will conveniently hold, 
 and over that is laid a bed, or mattrass, with 
 
12 PASSPORTS. 
 
 pillows, blankets, &c. The ascending and 
 settling into this machine, is really of itself a 
 great undertaking ; but I must acknowledge, 
 that a better acquaintance with its merits than 
 the first hour afforded me, has mademe certain, 
 that in none of our English carriages could I 
 have passed so long a journey with so little 
 fatigue. A kibitka is very similar in form, but 
 not so large within, or so good looking without, 
 as the carriage I have just described : they are 
 both without springs. 
 
 Before we left Riga, our passports given by 
 the Russain ambassador in England, were ex- 
 changed for what is in Russian called a podo- 
 roshna, in which billet is expressed the name 
 of the person to whom it is given ; the place 
 from whence he starts ; that to which he is 
 going ; and the number of horses for which he 
 has paid a share of the progone, or post-money : 
 on giving this passport, we paid for 1898 versts, 
 (a verst being three-quarters of an English mile) 
 at two kopeeks per verst, for each horse, in all 
 456 rubles ; the ruble was then in value about 
 d. but unlike our English money, it varies 
 
REGULATIONS FOR POST-HORSES. 1 3 
 
 according to the credit of paper money, which 
 is now extremely low. 
 
 The letting of post-horses, is a place of con- 
 siderable emolument under government. The 
 passport being sent to the post station, they are 
 then obliged to furnish horses, as soon as they 
 have the number required at home, and ready : 
 should there not be at home so many as are 
 needed, (which a Russian can easily ascertain 
 from the books, or a stranger from a visit to the 
 stables), the travellers must then unavoidably 
 wait till one hour after the return of the horses, 
 that time being given to rest and feed them : in 
 the books kept at all these stations, are registered 
 the passport of the traveller, and the date of his 
 arrival there ; they are always open for inspec- 
 tion, and a complaint of any kind entered in 
 those books, must unavoidably be sent with them 
 to Petersburgh, where they are sent at stated 
 times to be inspected. The occupiers of these 
 stations (in Russian, stantsie) are generally 
 officers of about the rank of lieutenant, and 
 sometimes higher, in the Russian service : they 
 are stationed at from twelve, to twenty, or some- 
 
14 INCONVENIENCES IN TRAVELLING. 
 
 times thirty versts asunder ; and under their in- 
 spection and care, a certain number of horses are 
 kept by government, proportioned to the com- 
 mon demand for them on that part of the road. 
 
 The large number of horses we required to- 
 gether, was one of the principal causes of deten- 
 tion to us on the road : we were always obliged 
 to have more than twelve, as the roads were 
 extremely bad when we left Riga, and our car- 
 riages all very heavily laden. For the first two 
 days the novelty of the journey had nothing to 
 recompense us for its inconveniences, and the 
 jolting, which though less violent than at first, 
 could not be inconsiderable over bad roads in a 
 carriage without springs. There are few English 
 ladies who would chuse to undertake a journey 
 around England in a covered waggon ; and yet 
 that would be far preferable, since the distance 
 is much less, and the accommodation every 
 where such as to make amends for the fatigues 
 of the road. 
 
 From Riga we travelled three stages without 
 delay, except to change horses : we then stopped 
 to breakfast ; this (though we made as quick a 
 
WANT OF ACCOMMODATION. 16 
 
 meal as possible), unavoidably took up much time, 
 because so much was necessarily spent in packing 
 and unpacking. Our canteens, tea-kettle, and 
 provisions which we had purchased at Riga, 
 were regularly unpacked twice a-day. No 
 accommodation of this kind can be had at the 
 houses on the road ; at the post stations they 
 find you quarters, that is to say, allow you to 
 be in their room (which during the latter part 
 of our journey, we shared, in the style of an Irish 
 cabin, with pigs, calves, and poultry), but no 
 other accommodation is to be expected from 
 them ; we have I believe always found a table 
 of some kind, but not always seats, and chairs 
 scarcely ever. 
 
 After breakfasting, and repacking our stores, 
 we started, and continued travelling until even- 
 ing, when we again stopped, to dine and drink 
 tea, of which we made one meal. Here we 
 wished much to have staid all night, but the 
 want of accommodation (for we could not at 
 first put up with that which afterwards became 
 familiar to us), obliged us to proceed. At the 
 next stage we were not more fortunate ; and my 
 
16 ARRIVAL AT KREITZBURG. 
 
 feelings of fatigue were much increased, by the 
 apparent impossibility of finding a place to rest at. 
 
 We journeyed on till we reached Kreitzburg, 
 a Polish town, where I was most thankful to get 
 into a house that afforded me a neat and com- 
 fortable room to myself. To this enjoyment, 
 however, there was one drawback ; the op- 
 pressive heat from the stove, to which I had 
 not been used ; for at Riga, though our rooms 
 were heated in the same manner, they were so 
 large that they were never extremely hot. The 
 temperature of this latter room had been raised to 
 West Indian heat, and such effectual pains taken 
 to exclude every particle of fresh air, that it was 
 very long before I could be sufficiently freed 
 from the fear of suffocation, to attempt to sleep ; 
 and as my room opened into the one where the 
 gentlemen slept, I was not willing to disturb 
 them by any complaint, and my egress from that 
 room ( had I passed through ) , must have been 
 into an out-house or stable, where yemtcheks, 
 (drivers), horses, and other live stock were lodged 
 for the night. 
 
 In the essential comfort of a warm house these 
 
WARMING A HOUSE. It 
 
 people very far exceed us, and are able to bid 
 defiance to a degree of cold, from which in Eng* 
 land many poor creatures would perish. The 
 best constructed stoves are built with bricks cast 
 in a mould in the form of an ear; these fit 
 together, and are held by wires which pass in 
 counter directions through them. Thus the 
 chimney is formed, which passing to a certain 
 height, has a top or cover of iron, made to fit 
 close, and shut up its funnel. A small door in 
 the exterior of the stove is left for the removing 
 arid replacing this. Every room that is in- 
 habited is regularly heated once, and in very 
 cold weather, twice a-day ; one stove will heat 
 two, and sometimes three rooms ; and it is in- 
 conceivable with how small a quantity of firing 
 the houses in this country are kept warm through- 
 out. A man with his arms full of wood, comes 
 and lights the fire; this is permitted to burn 
 until it is all become perfectly clear embers ; the 
 chimney is then closed, and the heat by that 
 means thrown into the room. This being repeated 
 in an evening, they have the comfort of a re- 
 gular heat, which an English house never knows. 
 
18 HARE-HUNTING. 
 
 The shutting down of the chimney too soon, 
 while any flame remains, is attended with the 
 most dangerous consequence, producing lethargy 
 and death. In order to exclude perfectly the 
 open air, they have double windows, and the 
 internal one has every crevice in its frame filled 
 up with tow, over which is pasted a strong 
 paper ; the space at the bottom between the two 
 windows is filled up with fine sand, so that it is 
 not possible any air should enter. 
 
 At Kreitzburg there is a country-house be- 
 longing to General Korfe, Baron Stendal. The 
 gentlemen understanding there was much game, 
 sent to ask permission to take a few hours' 
 diversion, which was granted, and the General 
 sent a servant with dogs, to attend them. They 
 hunt the hares here with greyhounds, taking out 
 from ten or twelve to twenty dogs, which are 
 all let loose at once, so that poor puss has of 
 course small chance of escape. Indeed there 
 was cause to suppose they had by this means 
 extirpated the breed, or else the game-keeper 
 did not think it requisite to show where the 
 game was ; for the gentlemen soon returned, 
 
BAD ROADS. 19 
 
 seeing no chance of finding what they sought. 
 At a few stations farther on, they told us there 
 had been no hares seen for two years ; but pre- 
 vious to that time they were in great profusion. 
 
 We staid at Kreitzburg until Wednesday 
 morning, not having been able to procure horses 
 the preceding day: there was nothing to be seen 
 in this place worthy a remark, except the house 
 which I have already mentioned : our delay 
 however served to refresh us, and we started 
 better prepared to continue our journey. From 
 Kreitzburg, we proceeded with little interruption 
 (though very slowly, on account of bad roads), 
 to the next station ; the following stage was still 
 more tedious ; having very bad horses, one of the 
 carriages was continually stuck fast, and all 
 obliged to assist in getting it out of the mud 
 again. The horses here are extremely small, 
 about the size of our ponies, and the largest 
 not bigger than those we call galloways, ex- 
 cepting some few of a superior description kept 
 by private gentlemen, in the large towns. They 
 have universally long manes and tails, which 
 are kept on to protect them from the flies, 
 c 2 
 
20 COSTUME OF A RUSSIAN PEASANT. 
 
 which in the hot summer of these climates, 
 are more particularly troublesome. The har- 
 ness, as it belongs to the owners of the horses, 
 and not to the carriage, is never very splendid. 
 The traces are usually of rope; and a single rein 
 of the same material serves the driver to guide 
 the horses ; which are driven four a-breast, and 
 by a short rein fastened to each other. To 
 heavy carriages five or six horses are required, 
 and the two additional ones, having a postilion 
 upon one of them, are affixed by extremely long 
 traces, and go before : the drivers are called 
 yemtcheks. 
 
 The costume of the Russian peasant is very 
 different to the English, and consequently very 
 striking to English eyes. Whatever it may 
 want in appearance it is substantially good, and 
 well adapted to the severity of the climate. 
 The man's dress consists of a shirt of very coarse 
 linen, made with only a binding, or very narrow 
 collar, round the top ; large full breeches of the 
 same material ; a large pair of boots, or some- 
 times very coarse stockings, with shoes of the 
 bark of the linden-tree ; a sheep skin with the 
 
EXCESSIVE USE OF SPIRITS. 81 
 
 wool inside, in the form of a loose coat, and over 
 this, when the weather is very cold, another 
 coat of extremely coarse woollen cloth, often 
 made with a hood : a cap of coarse cloth with a 
 broad fur of some common kind, or more fre- 
 quently sheep, or lamb skin, of about a hand's 
 breadth in depth, around it. Thus equipped, 
 they travel at all hours and in all kindts of 
 weather, and might, but for their own impru- 
 dence, travel with impunity, and without fear of 
 the cold; but they are extremely addicted to 
 drunkenness, and in this state, it is said, many 
 hundreds of them perish in a year. When the 
 frosts are severe, and they are travelling in the 
 night, the incautious use of the common spirit they 
 call vatki, or brandy, overpowers their faculties, 
 and they fall asleep while driving, and are 
 frozen to death. The brandy in common use 
 here is distilled from corn, and is something like 
 English gin, but a more fiery spirit, and less 
 agreeable to the taste; it is drunk in immense 
 quantities, and a large share of the revenue 
 derived from the duties upon it. This revenue 
 continues to increase ; it has produced 68,000 
 
22 MALT LIQUOR. 
 
 rubles, and now probably brings a much larger 
 sum. It is let to different contractors for a term 
 of three years only; these contractors have a 
 comptoir in each town for the sale of the brandy, 
 and the retailer must have his license and his 
 brandy from thence*. 
 
 They have but little knowledge in brewing, 
 except at Petersburgh and Moscow, and few 
 breweries elsewhere ; at these places they brew 
 both ale and porter, but neither are at all equal 
 to what is brewed in England. The common 
 drink of the Russian is kvass^, which is not so 
 good as our small beer ; it is sometimes made 
 with flour and water, flavoured by herbs ; some- 
 times with different sorts of fruit, and this latter 
 
 * Of brandy distilled from corn there is a consumption of 
 five millions of vcdros, for which about one and a half million 
 of tchetverts of corn, or ten millions of poods, are necessary. 
 The sale is a monopoly of the crown, and the right to distill 
 it is confined (with the exception of a few privileged pro- 
 vinces), to the nobility who possess landed estates. See 
 Tooke's Survey of Russia. 
 
 i Small ware, and water-like, but somewhat tart in taste. 
 Turbfrville. 
 
MANUFACTURE OF KVASS. 23 
 
 kind is a much pleasanter drink, though it is all 
 sour; the method of making it is very simple; 
 a large barrel is filled with fruit, sometimes 
 plums, sometimes apples, crabs, wine sours, or 
 in fact any fruit of which you have a sufficient 
 abundance to make it from ; there is then put 
 into the cask as much water as it will hold, and 
 in fifteen days it is fit to drink. After a few 
 gallons are drawn off, it, is filled up again with 
 water, to make it last until the time of year 
 when it can be made again. This sort of kvass 
 is however only made in South Russia, and 
 where fruit is abundant and cheap. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 Night at Trepenhoff Country between Trepen- 
 hoffand Dunabourg Wild Bees Account 
 of the Linden-Tree Dunabourg Arrival 
 and Stay at Kriesloff Polotsk Fatal Ac- 
 cident after leaving Polotsk. 
 
 AT Trepenhoff we were obliged to wait all 
 night, for want of horses, and here passed a 
 most unusual scene. One room alone was to be 
 had for our party, and the bedding was laid 
 upon some hay on the floor, excepting one bed- 
 stead, which I and my baby occupied : the rest 
 of the party were laid down to sleep, when 
 they brought in a broad long form, upon which 
 a soldier's cloak and a pillow were placed : I had 
 put on my night-cap (the only change of course 
 made in my dress), and was going to lie down, 
 when, to my surprise, a young officer walked in, 
 and very quietly took his station on the wooden 
 
EXTREME FILTH. 25 
 
 bench, which his cloak and pillow had converted 
 into a couch for that night's repose. For some 
 time I sat musing with astonishment, and doubt- 
 ful whether, with this addition to our party, I 
 could prevail upon myself to rest ; but fatigue 
 pleaded with a rhetoric I could not withstand, 
 and I soon followed the example which had been 
 given me. Since then I have been so accustomed 
 to the same scene, that I could now lie down 
 and sleep very quietly, with the addition of half 
 a dozen or more to our party. 
 
 It would be in vain to attempt giving a de- 
 scription of the misery and dirt in which the 
 people live; they all lie down to sleep in their 
 clothes, taking off only the upper garment, and 
 throwing over them either a sheep skin shube, or 
 pelisse, or a cotton quilted coverlid : they swarm 
 with every sort of vermin, the natural consequence 
 of want of cleanliness in themselves, their clothes, 
 and their houses. Unhappily for those of the Eng- 
 lish who travel on the Continent, they are so used 
 to all the comforts of cleanliness and decency, that 
 it is impossible not to feel extreme disgust and 
 abhorrence at this barbarous race of beings, who 
 
26 DREAD OF ROBBERS. 
 
 in all respects live more like herds of swine, than 
 like rational creatures : in the houses of the 
 Jews in particular, they live together in swarms 
 like bees, though not like them for the purposes 
 of industry; their little dirty children run about 
 the house almost naked, or with only one garment 
 on, a large long shirt; the children and the 
 servants seldom wear stockings, and with the 
 little idea they have of cleanliness in their 
 houses, it is not likely that they can walk about 
 their filthy clay floors with feet unsoiled. 
 
 The want of horses detained us here through- 
 out the following day also ; and we were advised 
 to remain there another night, as many robbe- 
 ries had been committed by deserters from the 
 army, who had secreted themselves in the woods, 
 and had intercepted several passengers. Our 
 party, however, being so numerous, the gentlemen 
 took the precaution of going well armed, and 
 prepared for defence, and we set out from Tre- 
 penhoff about nine in the evening. We reached 
 the following station without being molested, 
 and taking coffee, proceeded to Diinabourg, 
 where we arrived about nine in the morning. 
 
ARRIVAL AT DUNABOURG. 27 
 
 The country through which we have travelled 
 from Riga hither, is most of it extremely wild, 
 and many parts beautiful and romantic. Im- 
 mense forests bounded our road on either side, 
 and we have journeyed fifty or a hundred versts 
 together through avenues of trees, principally 
 the fir, the birch, and the lime : the route lay 
 nearly along the course of the Dvina, which we 
 had twice to cross, and which frequently pre- 
 sented itself to view in some very delightful 
 landscape : the soil, however, is barren, and 
 its inhabitants but thinly scattered, so that 
 scarce any signs of cultivation are seen. 
 
 The peasants hang their bee-hives in the 
 woods, that the bees may have the first flowers 
 of the lime, whence they make very fine honey*. 
 
 * For a curious account of the wild bees of the forests of 
 Russia, and the method of managing them, see Tooke's Survey, 
 vol. iii. page 388. 
 
 " Next to the birch, the linden is in the greatest abundance, 
 from which likewise Russia derives more benefit than is done 
 any where else. The thick bark is usually made iato baskets 
 for carriages and sledges ; into boxes and trunks; into coverings 
 
28 USES OF THE LINDEN-TREE. 
 
 The bark of the lime, or linden-tree, is manufac- 
 tured into several different things : I have already 
 mentioned the peasants' shoes ; ropes are made 
 of it, and it is used in making their sledges : 
 there are eight or ten more purposes to which it 
 is applied, insomuch that the owners of forest 
 wood complain exceedingly, of the depredations 
 committed by the peasants in stealing the bark 
 and injuring the trees. 
 
 The houses here are all made of wood, not 
 sawn into planks as in England, but whole trees 
 cut into equal lengths; they also make their 
 fences of wood, and in a most curious way : two 
 stakes are driven into the ground just far enough 
 asunder to admit the thick end of a pole; at the 
 
 for cottages. The inner bark is the material of a very exten- 
 sive manufacture of mats both for home and for foreign con- 
 sumption. Of the rind of the young shoots, many millions of 
 mat shoes are platted for the boors ; the wood is sawn into 
 boards, wrought up into canoes, burnt into pot-ashes, and 
 from the blossom of the linden the bees suck an excellent 
 nourishment. Tooke's Survey, vol. iii. p. 368. 
 
REMAINS OF DUNABOURG. 29 
 
 distance of the length of the pole two more are 
 driven, and again two in the middle : between 
 these a certain number of poles are laid, so as to 
 raise a fence the desired height. 
 
 Dunabourg is now only the remains of a once 
 populous town : in the year 1810, the govern- 
 ment pulled down 700 houses, with churches, 
 monasteries, &c. to make a fortification here, 
 which has since been destroyed by the French, 
 who in their route to Moscow passed along this 
 road, which is of course rendered interesting by 
 a remembrance of the events of that memorable 
 campaign. A pretty church and a few misera- 
 ble houses are now only left in this once flourish- 
 ing place : generally speaking, the houses here 
 are built with wood, but some few in the Ger- 
 man style, with white brick ; these latter have a 
 kind of barn attached to the house at each end, 
 one end used as a stable and carriage-house, the 
 other as the sleeping room of those yemtcheks 
 who belong to, or frequent the house ; and this 
 room, I am told, in no respect differs from the 
 stable end, except that it is not fitted up with 
 mangers. 
 
30 ARRIVAL AT KRIESLOFF. 
 
 From Diinabourg, when the repair of our car- 
 riage was completed, we proceeded to Platshy. 
 Here a battle was fought between the French 
 and Russians, and the place and its inhabitants 
 wore the aspect of most miserable poverty. 
 
 Late in the evening we arrived at Kriesloff, 
 a very flourishing town, which we were desirous 
 of seeing, and determined to rest there. Many 
 soldiers being quartered in the town, it was so 
 full we could get no accommodation at the 
 tracteer; and having tried several places in 
 vain, one of our party turning to the Russian 
 servant, in a tone of impatience inquired where 
 they should go next ; when two gentlemen, who 
 were passing at the moment, seeing he was a 
 stranger, begged to know what he sought ? on 
 being told, " Lodging for his party," one of 
 them immediately offered, and insisted upon our 
 accepting such accommodation as his quarters 
 could afford. This gentleman was Colonel of 
 the regiment there, his name Turscy: it was 
 impossible for any thing to exceed the hospitality 
 with which we were treated, during four days 
 that we remained there ; the Colonel giving up 
 
CROSSED AN ARM OF THE DVINA. 31 
 
 one room entirely to me, and shewing every 
 attention that politeness could dictate. 
 
 The town of Kriesloff, and several miles in 
 extent on each side of it, is the property of a 
 Count Plato w, a Polish nobleman. The senior 
 Count was absent, but we saw three of his sons ; 
 the eldest, in appearance and manners is one of 
 the most elegant young men I ever saw ; and 
 certainly does honour to the rank he holds in 
 society. Our friend the Colonel, besides other 
 orders, was decorated with the very handsome 
 one of St. Anne, which is worn around the neck. 
 The town of Kriesloff is very beautifully situated, 
 and would afford some most picturesque land*- 
 scapes. 
 
 From Kriesloff we went to Druya, another 
 very pretty small town ; the churches here are 
 handsomely built, and there are often three, or 
 four, or five in a large village : at Druya we 
 counted five. 
 
 At Drissa we crossed an arm of the Dvina, 
 called by the name of this town, through which 
 it runs. As there are no bridges here, we went 
 over in a ferry, or a floating-bridge, which is a 
 
32 ARRIVAL AT POLOTSK. 
 
 flat platform, made large enough to hold two 
 carriages, and the horses also ; a rope extended 
 directly across the river, and running through 
 grooves in two upright poles at each end of this 
 platform, guides the ferry over ; by this also 
 they pull, as the rivers are too deep in many 
 parts to admit of pushing with a sprit. 
 
 Nothing else worthy of observation occurred 
 until we reached Polotsk. Here we were de- 
 tained ten days, getting our carriages put upon 
 sledges, without which it was impossible to 
 proceed. The Jews into whose hands we fell, 
 made us pay dear for work that was very ill 
 done, besides the unwelcome delay they caused 
 us. There was little in the town to beguile the 
 time, or attract our attention ; some churches, a 
 monastery (of which its immense kitchen was 
 the most remarkable part, and spoke the easy 
 condition of its owners), and the strong marks 
 which the devastation of war had left in this 
 gloomy and half depopulated town, were the 
 only objects of observation; and these, especially 
 the latter, excited a train of melancholy re- 
 flections. Whole streets had been destroyed, 
 
FATAL ACCIDENT. 33 
 
 houses gutted, and the bare walls still standing, 
 as so many monuments of its present misery. 
 
 The weather was exceedingly cold during our 
 stay here, having 27 degrees of Reaumur, and 
 the great rooms of the house where we found 
 quarters, looked like the tenantless chambers of 
 some old castle falling to decay, where Russian 
 warmth would indeed have been welcome, but 
 where it could never come. We were visited by 
 the Gorodnechie, or Mayor of the town, who 
 furnished us with soldiers to guard our car- 
 riages, which was here a requisite precaution, 
 though they were within the gates of the yard 
 belonging to the house where we lodged. The 
 inhabitants of this place are chiefly Jews, who 
 form a large proportion of every town and vil- 
 lage throughout Poland. 
 
 A serious and melancholy accident took place 
 soon after we left Polotsk, and was in great 
 measure owing to the ill construction of our 
 sledges, the inconvenience of which, though we 
 afterwards partly remedied, we felt in some de- 
 gree throughout the whole time we used them. 
 The driver of the britchka, making the horses (as 
 
34 PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 
 
 they too generally did) gallop down a very steep 
 hill, was thrown from his seat, and dragged 
 under the sledge for several yards : one of our 
 men servants sitting behind, was also thrown 
 off to some distance, and the horses continued 
 to descend at full speed, the carriage swinging 
 from one side to the other, with such extreme 
 violence, that it seemed as if it would be dashed 
 to pieces. We however reached the bottom of 
 the hill in safety, where the horses were stopped. 
 Some of the party then went in search of the poor 
 fellow, who was found, and carried to a house 
 by the road-side, where every care was taken of 
 him that the place would admit ; but he died in 
 a few hours after, having received some inter- 
 nal injury, and being so much bruised, that it 
 was not probable that medical aid (had it been 
 near) could have saved him : the servant escaped 
 unhurt ; and we had great reason to be thankful 
 for our deliverance from a danger that threatened 
 the lives of all in the carriage. 
 
 The remainder of this stage was a long and 
 most unpleasant part of the journey ; the painful 
 feelings which the accident had produced, were 
 
DANGER FROM CARELESS DRIVERS. 35 
 
 much heightened by our peculiarity of situation. 
 We had, for the first time, been obliged to divide 
 our party, and now, myself and the children 
 were entirely without an attendant, and appa- 
 rently left to the mercy of a careless driver, 
 who was twice thrown off his seat, and se- 
 veral times had nearly overturned the carriage. 
 But the same over-ruling Providence which 
 had before guarded us, continued his protect- 
 ing care! Mr. Y.'s kibitka, which had. pre- 
 viously kept pace with ours, now travelled 
 much slower, from the want of skill in our Eng- 
 lish servant to manage the horses, he being 
 obliged to drive, after the fatal disaster that de- 
 prived us of one of the yemtcheks. 
 
 It may well be imagined that I felt no incon- 
 siderable degree of gratitude on arriving safely 
 at the next station, and that I saw the arrival 
 of our fellow-travellers with more than common 
 interest. There are many parts of the journey 
 which have produced an anxiety I could not 
 describe ; but this may easily be imagined to 
 have been throughout a fearful and distressing 
 one; the more especially, as at this time we 
 knew nothing of the language. 
 
 D2 
 
36 DEVASTATION OF WAR. 
 
 The road we were travelling presented to us 
 the most beautiful snow scenes imaginable. The 
 country was extremely wild and woody, and 
 whole days were passed in traversing forests 
 and journeying through avenues of trees ; which, 
 covered with snow, looked bright and dazzling, 
 their glittering being often heightened by the rays 
 of the sun. But the want of population, as well 
 as cultivation, gave an air of wild melancholy 
 to it, occasionally increased by the appearance 
 of a ruined village, of which sometimes a single 
 house only remained, marking the place where 
 the dreadful ravages of war had brought desola- 
 tion in its train. 
 
 Between Polotsk and Besankovitch there are 
 several extremely steep hills ; and to descend 
 some of them, it was necessary to take out a 
 part of the horses, and affix ropes to the hinder 
 part of the sledge, which several men held, to 
 prevent the carriage going down too rapidly. 
 The valleys are extremely wild, and many parts 
 of their scenery partaking more of the sublime 
 than the beautiful. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 Besankovitch, the Residence of Count Crep- 
 tovitch, remarkable for the Characters of 
 its present Owners, and for having been the 
 Head- Quarters of Buonaparte, in his Route 
 to Mbscotu Accidental Detention on the 
 Road Description of a Russian Kabac 
 Meeting icith the Count Romanzojf- Mog- 
 Moff. 
 
 BESANKOVITCH is the residence of Count 
 Creptovitch, a Polish nobleman. Mr. Y. having 
 heard from Count Platoff, that this gentleman 
 had been long in England, and was much 
 attached to the English, and that he was anxi- 
 ously pursuing an improved system of agriculture 
 on his estate, he (Mr. Y.) resolved to visit him 
 in passing ; and at the station before he reached 
 Besankovitch, he sent over a servant with a letter 
 to the Count, who returned a very handsome an- 
 swer written in English, inviting the party to go 
 
38 ARRIVAL AT BESANKOVITCH. 
 
 there, for which purpose he sent us horses the 
 following morning. 
 
 From Dubovinka to Besankovitch is twenty- 
 one versts. We set off late in the morning, and 
 the road being very bad, it was getting dusk 
 when we came within sight of the Count's resi- 
 dence. Here we again crossed the Dvina ; the 
 descent to it is extremely bad, the road lying 
 below a rock on one side, the other having a 
 perpendicular precipice overhanging the river, 
 and being so very narrow, that our carriage, 
 which was somewhat wider than the rest, was in 
 great danger of being precipitated down its rocky 
 side ; but having eight or ten men to assist in 
 getting it safe down, they recovered its balance, 
 and we reached the opposite shore in safety. 
 
 Here another delay was occasioned by one of 
 the carriages getting set fast, and the ice not 
 being strong enough to bear well, the horses 
 could not draw it out. After much difficulty 
 it was extricated, and at length we reached 
 the chateau of the Count, where we were most 
 kindly and hospitably received by the Count 
 and Countess Creptovitch. The Count appears 
 
COUNT CREPTOVITCH'S FAMILY. 39 
 
 about thirty, the Countess twenty-four : they 
 have three very fine children. The Countess is 
 one of the most prepossessing* women I have ever 
 seen ; her first appearance bespeaks her a well- 
 educated and polished woman ; and the elegance 
 and softness of her manners, and the kindness of 
 her disposition, powerfully attach to her all who 
 know her. As a wife and mother, she is very 
 exemplary, devoting herself to domestic pursuits; 
 to the instruction of her children, and to the com- 
 fort of all around her. This was the character 
 given of her by those who knew her. In her per- 
 son she is above the middle size, and elegantly 
 formed, with a fine expressive face, light hair 
 and eyes. The Count is well deserving his 
 excellent wife, and they seem to live most hap- 
 pily together, blending the polished acquirements 
 of life with the calm pleasures of retirement. 
 He is very much attached to English habits and 
 manners, and as much as possible introduces 
 them in his house and at his table. They both 
 speak English with the greatest correctness, and 
 having accustomed themselves to use that lan- 
 guage to their children, the latter speak it also, 
 
40 HEAD-QUARTERS OF BUONAPARTE. 
 
 and understand it, as if it were their native tongue. 
 They are well supplied with English books from 
 Petersburgh ; the Countess herself gives their 
 English lessons, and has a servant brought up in 
 an English family at Petersburgh to attend them. 
 The children are also taught Russian, French, 
 and German. 
 
 The Count devotes himself much to the im- 
 provement and cultivation of his estate, which, 
 under his discriminating care, will doubtless 
 amply repay him. He has a very large distillery, 
 and the gentlemen saw there the process of kiln r 
 drying the corn, previous to threshing it. The 
 house is a very excellent one of two stories, and 
 most admirably heated ; so that with the same 
 degree of cold we had at Polotsk, (and for one day 
 indeed more severe), we felt no inconvenience 
 from it, but sat with the doors open, which com- 
 municated with two or three of the adjoining 
 rooms. Several of the apartments had 'English 
 grates in them. 
 
 Besankovitch was the head-quarters of Buona- 
 parte for some days, in his route through this 
 country, and from hence one of his bulletins was 
 
FLIGHT PROM BUONAPARTE. 41 
 
 dated. The Countess and her family fled from 
 the scene, taking away as many of the valuable 
 paintings, &c. as there was time to remove. 
 The Count was absent on business at the time of 
 their flight, and as he was returning, he observed 
 a fire, which appeared in the direction of his 
 house. With no small agitation he rode towards 
 it as fast as his horse could carry him ; and when 
 he got near, he learnt that the French were in 
 possession of the place, that a part of the village 
 was burnt down, and his wife and children were 
 in safety a few versts off, waiting in hopes of his 
 arrival before they should be compelled to go 
 farther. His first care was to remove them to a 
 greater distance from this scene of horror and 
 alarm ; ajid as, for a length of time, it was im- 
 possible to return to the house after the havoc 
 committed there, they went to the Countess's 
 relatives in Livonia, where they remained several 
 months. 
 
 The magnificent riding-house built by the 
 Count in the English style, had been converted 
 into an hospital, their excellent dining-room into 
 a picquet post, and in the drawing-room the 
 
42 DEPARTURE FROM BESANKOVITCH. 
 
 bulletin was written and dated. TheFrenchhad 
 made the dunghill their burying- ground, though 
 dead bodies were also found in the stables and 
 other places. Of the large and valuable collection 
 of paintings here, a few of which there was only 
 time to remove, some were found scattered in all 
 parts of the surrounding woods, torn from their 
 frames, and otherwise spoiled or injured. A pack 
 of fox-hounds, which the Count had from England, 
 were at this period lost, and dispersed over the 
 country. 
 
 We spent four days here very delightfully, and 
 left Besankovitch, regretting much that it was 
 not near enough to the end of our journey, to 
 calculate upon the probability of soon, if ever, 
 meeting our kind and hospitable entertainers 
 there again. 
 
 Between Besankovitch and Moghiloff, we were 
 obliged to separate for want of horses, and the 
 road being heavy, and not snow enough to sledge 
 well, we travelled very slowly. , i ^ 
 
 The breaking of the britchka between Kekan- 
 noff and Staria Selo, occasioned us an unplea- 
 sant detention, and a visit to the interior of a 
 
RUSSIAN KABAC. 43 
 
 Russian kabac, or ale-house, which, however, 
 all things considered, we were fortunate to be 
 in the vicinity of, since we found a Vulcan and 
 his forge in these dominions of Pluto. 
 
 The driver of the second carriage finding that 
 the work necessary to be done would occasion 
 considerable delay, insisted upon going on to 
 the station immediately, or else he must take his 
 horses off, and return home. It was therefore 
 found necessary to send this carriage forward, 
 and after the difficult arrangement of separating 
 our now small party had been agreed on, Mr. H. 
 with two of the children, proceeded in it to the 
 station ; the Russian servant being left to expe- 
 dite and superintend the repairs of the britchka. 
 
 I was then ushered into the kabac, to await 
 with as much patience as I could, a work that 
 threatened a delay of at least an hour or two. 
 The outer door of this dwelling opened into a 
 covered passage, into which three other doors 
 opened and communicated, one with the house, 
 the opposite one with a store or lumber-room, and 
 one with the yard and out-offices. A cow was 
 tied up in one corner of this place, who seemed 
 
44 UNPLEASANT COMPANY. 
 
 well accustomed to her station. The door of 
 the house opened into a low, smoky, and dark- 
 looking room, where seated on benches around a 
 large table, a party of men sat drinking, smoak- 
 ing, and singing. The song ceased at my en- 
 trance, and they regarded me with much asto- 
 nishment. I looked round in vain for a female, 
 and took my seat on a bench as distant as I 
 could from this carousing party. I talked to the 
 children, and endeavoured to appear unconcern- 
 ed, though the rude gaze of these savages an- 
 noyed me extremely. Presently a man having 
 fetters on his legs, came in ; he saluted and 
 joined the party at the table, whose cordial re- 
 ception of this felon did not heighten my esti- 
 mation of the group : with much wonder in his 
 countenance, he sent a scrutinizing look at the 
 strangers, and soon got up and walked out, to 
 learn from the servants what he could not ascer- 
 tain from his companions. 
 
 Ivan had been attentively occupied in watch- 
 ing the carriage, that nothing might be stolen 
 from it during the time these peasants were 
 at work : a precaution invariably necessary, 
 
RELIEF FROM PURGATORY. 45 
 
 even if there was nothing but rope or iron that 
 could be taken away ; but at length seeing my 
 eldest boy a looker-on by his side, he left him as 
 a guard, while he hastened to relieve me from 
 this purgatory, and see if he could procure me 
 any thing that was eatable. He soon found an 
 interior room, where the woman of the house 
 was cooking sour soup, &c. on a low hearth. 
 The blaze of the fire was acceptable, and the room, 
 though little bigger than a closet, and smell- 
 ing of garlic so as scarcely to be endured, was 
 still to be preferred to the one I had left, because 
 it did not look so much like a den of savages. 
 The woman was a Russian, and with Russian 
 good-humour offered a part of her fare, which 
 I had no appetite or inclination to accept. 
 
 After some time, I laid the child down to 
 sleep on the bed, and walked out to see if the 
 repairs would soon be finished. It was a clear, 
 cold morning, and the sun shone with dazzling 
 brightness on the spangled wood we had just 
 quitted : a few scattered huts at no great dis- 
 tance from the kabac, neither added to the 
 beauty, nor decreased the wildness of the scene. 
 
46 CHRISTMAS DAY. 
 
 As I was alone, I could not venture to walk far, 
 nor was the snow beaten enough for walking, 
 and I was compelled to return to the kabac. The 
 lines of our Poet Laureate were forcibly recalled 
 to my recollection, when I remembered that this 
 was indeed the joyous festival of Christmas : 
 I felt the powerful contrast with all the force of 
 the poet, betwixt the " blazing hearth/' and 
 " heaped board/' which I had so often shared in 
 England, and that now before me ; and lonely 
 and uncomfortable feelings heightened the fa- 
 tigues of the journey. 
 
 " Hence of the friends I think 
 Who now perchance remember me." 
 
 It was two hours before we were ready to pro- 
 ceed ; and I felt no wish to repeat my visit to a 
 Russian kabac. 
 
 At the station before we reached the latter 
 place, Mr. Y. met the Count Romanzoff, whom 
 he had known intimately at Petersburg!*, and 
 who now met him again with much pleasure, 
 and gave him a particular invitation to stop as 
 he passed his estate at Homil, to see the im- 
 
MOGHILOFF. 47 
 
 provements there, and the manufactures he had 
 established, which Mr. Y. promised to do. 
 
 At Moghiloff we stayed but one night, and 
 I saw nothing of the town, except the part 
 through which we drove: it is a district town, 
 and of course a large one. The fine-looking 
 churches and houses, all stuccoed and white, 
 have a very imposing appearance ; but, like many 
 other beauties decorated with paint, they look 
 best at a distance, and will not bear scrutiny. 
 The roof of the churches, which are of iron or 
 slate, are painted green, or red, or various other 
 colours : they also paint the houses in a similar 
 manner, which then look very gay. 
 
 Between Moghiloff and Homil are eleven 
 stages ; throughout which nothing particular oc- 
 curred, except the customary hindrances from 
 want of horses, and the necessity for separating 
 our party. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 Homily a Country Residence of the Count 
 Romanzoff- New Mansion of the Count, 
 under the superintendance of an English 
 Architect Disadvantages to the exterior 
 appearance of this and other Noblemen's 
 Houses in this Country English Residents 
 at Homil Russian Warm-Bath for Children 
 Russian Customs Slaves Tchernigoff 
 Passage of the Dnieper over the Ice, to Kiev. 
 
 AT Homil we were received by Colonel 
 Hince, the Count's steward, with every mark 
 of politeness, and every possible accommodation 
 afforded us ; a suite of rooms prepared for our use, 
 and every thing shewn that was deserving our 
 attention. The Count has just erected a very 
 noble mansion at Homil, under the superinten- 
 dance of an Englishman of the name of Clarke, 
 which is not yet complete in its internal decora- 
 tions : it is two stories high, having a handsome 
 though still unfinished hall; around the upper 
 
WANT OF PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 49 
 
 part of which runs a gallery connecting the upper 
 apartments : every room is stuccoed and painted 
 in colours, with borders of some emblematical 
 design, and ceilings of figurative representations : 
 great variety of taste has been displayed, no two 
 rooms being alike in colouring and design : the 
 whole executed by his own slaves, some of whom 
 were sent to St. Petersburgh, to be instructed in 
 the arts required for completing this work in the 
 superior style projected by its owner. 
 
 There is, however, one material drawback to 
 the appearance of almost any of these houses in 
 Russia, which offers an insuperable objection to 
 them I mean the want of a park, or, in many 
 cases, even of a garden. Though all within the 
 house bespoke luxury and ease, all without de- 
 clared that civilization and cultivation extended 
 not beyond the lordly mansion and its possessor : 
 from its windows were seen the cottages of the 
 peasants, and their not very clean appendages, 
 the cattle-yards adjoining each; and these all 
 crowded together, formed the fore-ground of the 
 view, while the back presented to us only plains 
 of snow, rising in unequal surfaces. 
 
50 MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 The principal manufactories, of glass, and I 
 think of linen, were several versts distant, so 
 that we did not see them. There is a candle 
 manufactory here, which is an extremely pro- 
 ductive concern ; yet the poor people burn a 
 little piece of cotton, stuck in some grease or 
 oil, which gives a very excellent light, and cer- 
 tainly answers their purpose better than buying 
 candles. A Scotchman of the name of Stephens 
 had the conduct of this manufactory, and one or 
 two more English or Scotchmen were employed 
 in the service of the Count : they were glad to 
 see their countrymen at so great a distance from 
 home, and the more so, as few English passed 
 in the same route, Homil being out of the direct 
 road. 
 
 The infant not being very well, I had him 
 and the other children put into a warm bath, 
 which they prepare most delightfully, with every 
 kind of aromatic herb. It is a constant prac- 
 tice here, to put children into a warm bath once 
 or twice a week, until they are about two years 
 old ; and the effect during their teething, is very 
 excellent. The water is put into a shallow 
 
AROMATIC WARHf-SATH. 51 
 
 . 
 
 wooden vessel, like a butcher's tray, but rather 
 deeper; and with a quantity of water just deep 
 enough for the child to lie in it without the 
 water coming over its face. A handful of herbs 
 ( of which they take care to dry plenty for this 
 and other purposes), is put in, and the boiling 
 water poured over them ; a sufficient quantity of 
 cold water is then added, to make it the proper 
 heat. A linen cloth is put in for the child to 
 lie upon, which is then wrapped around his 
 body, to keep those parts warm which are not 
 covered by the water. In this the child is laid 
 for a quarter, or half an hour, and they told me, 
 sometimes for two hours. The tin baths we 
 have in England, must be preferable for this 
 purpose. 
 
 At dinner in Russia, soup is universally the 
 first dish, and without it they never dine ; but it 
 is often made sour, and in that case not much re- 
 lished at first by an English palate. Fish, if to 
 be had, comes next, and then from six to eight, 
 or ten dishes follow. It is impossible to tell of what 
 many of these are composed. A joint of meat is 
 never sent to table whole, but cut into slices, 
 
 E2 
 
RUSSIAN DINNERS. 
 
 and handed round to each person, beginning 
 with the ladies who are visitors. Poultry and 
 game are also served in the same way : pastry 
 is scarcely seen except in patties, which are 
 sent up to eat with the soup, or a tartlet at the 
 conclusion of the dinner. 
 
 Previous to the dinner, olives, caviarre, or 
 some sort of pickled fish, with common and 
 bitter brandy, are sent in on a tray, to whet the 
 appetite for that which is to follow. The Rus- 
 sians sit long at dinner, and wine of different 
 sorts is placed on the table, each person helping 
 himself: the dessert, which finishes the dinner, 
 is eaten without the cloth being removed ; and 
 the whole party then adjourn to the drawing- 
 room, where coffee is immediately served. 
 
 The Russian ladies have always a certain 
 number of their female slaves, who are brought 
 up with more than usual care, and in fact edu- 
 cated for the department they are to fill. These, 
 " the menial fair that round her wait," are, like 
 those so often spoken of by Homer, the constant 
 attendants upon her person, and as humble 
 companions contribute to her pleasure and her 
 
FEMALE OCCUPATION. 53 
 
 . 
 
 profit in various ways ; they are skilled in orna- 
 mental work of different kinds. Mrs. Hince 
 shewed me the tambour-frames and some very 
 handsome embroidery which her young women 
 were employed in. My thoughts continually 
 reverted to the poet, while she directed and en- 
 couraged their labour 
 
 " Go with the Queen, the spindle guide ; or cull 
 " (The partners of her cares) the silver wool." 
 
 Although slaves of every description are at- 
 tached to the soil, and the buying and selling 
 them separately is strictly forbidden, yet it ne- 
 vertheless frequently takes place ; and a young 
 woman brought up in the way I have described, 
 and excelling in anyone art, whether it be danc- 
 ing, singing, or needle-work of any kind, is 
 worth a considerable sum, and that sum varies 
 according to the accomplishment she possesses, or 
 the degree of proficiency to which she has attained, 
 and she is sure to have a ready purchaser*. 
 
 . 
 * It may be affirmed without exaggeration, that in the 
 
 house of a Russian nobleman, there are five or six times as 
 many domestics, as are kept in families of equal rank, in any 
 
54 PURCHASING SLAVES. 
 
 In addition to the similitudes which exist in the 
 offices assigned to these attendants, we must 
 not forget that their conditions were, in other 
 respects, frequently the same ; such, for instance, 
 was the servile state of the sage Euryclea : 
 
 " Daughter of Ops, the first Pisenor's son, 
 " For twenty beeves by fani'd Laertes won." 
 
 This custom of purchasing slaves, or menials, 
 by live stock, is also very frequently practised in 
 Russia*. 
 
 other country of Europe ; and the retainers of both sexes in 
 some of the great houses of Petersburgh, amount to a hun- 
 dred and fifty, or two hundred persons. Tooke's Survey, 
 vol. iii. p. 307. 
 
 * Of this disregard of the law, with respect to slaves, 
 Tooke says : " There is indeed no law extant, by virtue 
 whereof the boors are granted to the noblemen heritably, 
 and as property in fee simple ; but it grew into a custom 
 (contrary to express injunctions) to make them retinue of the 
 manor, and under this denomination to sell them singly. This 
 unlawful procedure was at first connived at, then pervertedly 
 expounded, and at length by long practice, took the place of 
 law." Tone's Hist, of Russia, vol. i. p. 350. 
 
KUSSIAN SALUTATION. 55 
 
 The Russian salutation is very contrary to 
 our etiquette. The ladies in meeting, kiss each 
 other on the lips and cheeks ; and a lady and 
 gentleman meeting, the latter kisses the hand 
 of the lady, and inclines his cheek towards her, 
 which she kisses ; and omitting to do this, is a 
 proof of great distance of manner, arising from 
 either superiority of rank, slight acquaintance, 
 or offence. 
 
 At the six stations we passed between Homil 
 and Tchernigoff, nothing particular occurred. 
 We staid at the latter place a day and night. 
 It is a district town, and altogether a good 
 one; having some handsome churches, and 
 much better shops than any we had seen on the 
 Continent. 
 
 Of the cheapness of all kinds of provisions I 
 might frequently have spoken ; we bought here 
 38 Ibs. of rump beef at ten kopeeks, or one penny 
 English money per Ib. ; beef and mutton in the 
 Crimea the same price. At Polotsk we bought two 
 good turkeys for three rubles ; and at Karasuba- 
 zar a very fat large turkey for two rubles, or twenty- 
 pence. Bread is not equally cheap ; it is bought 
 
66 PRICE OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 much at the same price as in London : but all 
 proprietors have their own wheat, and bread 
 made at home is much cheaper. At Tchernigoff 
 dried fruits begin to be abundant and cheap; 
 good raisins fifty kopeeks, or fivepence per pound; 
 prunes thirty kopeeks ; we have since bought 
 them for twenty, or for fifteen kopeeks per pound; 
 and raisins at forty : currants at Odessa, a box 
 of thirty-six pounds, or a Russian pood, for ten 
 rubles, or eight shillings and fourpence, bought 
 in the wholesale, and in retail about fivepence 
 per pound. 
 
 From Tchernigoff to Kiev is five or six sta- 
 tions ; at the last we were detained half a day 
 for horses, and then obliged to bribe the post- 
 master to get them. It was eight o'clock when 
 we got to the Dnieper, which we crossed here 
 for the first time ; it was a most dangerous 
 undertaking, from the state of the ice, on ac- 
 count of the unusual mildness of the weather ; 
 and many attempts were made to dissuade us 
 from attempting the passage over. The cross- 
 ing directly over the river was indeed impracti- 
 cable, and we had to go at least three or four 
 
CROSSING THE DNIEPER. 57 
 
 versts upon the ice before we could get across, 
 being preceded the whole way by guides, who 
 with iron pikes ascertained the possibility of the 
 carriages proceeding safely. Notwithstanding 
 this precaution, the horses' feet continually 
 broke the ice ; the river in many places appeared 
 open, and water covered much of the ice over 
 which we passed, sometimes to the horses' fet- 
 locks. We were not less than two hours effect- 
 ing the passage, and had almost as much diffi- 
 culty in ascending the steep and slippery banks 
 of the river when we had crossed it, as there 
 was in getting over. 
 
 We entered Kiev very late in the evening, but 
 had the comfort of getting into very good quar- 
 ters. Its situation is remarkably fine ; one part 
 of the town is on a bold and rocky eminence ; 
 in going to it, we passed up a hill of more than 
 a mile in length, with rocks towering above, and 
 precipices below us. The hill between the 
 upper and lower town, commands a most exten- 
 sive and beautiful prospect, taking in the old 
 town, or city of Kiev, that in the valley, which 
 is called the Podole, the Castle of Pestcher- 
 
58 TOWN OF KIEV. 
 
 skey, a stately monastery, churches, barracks, 
 &c. and the river, which is broad, and must 
 in summer be a magnificent addition to this 
 scene. 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 Kiev The Contract, or Annual Fair Mo- 
 nastery of Pestcherskey Arsenal Barrier 
 Gates Manufactures Population. 
 
 KIEV is the chief town of the district of 
 the same name*. It is much the best town 
 
 * In remote periods the Sarmates resided here, and long 
 before their subjugation by the slaves, they built the town of 
 Kief, and named it from the situation of the place ; for Kivi, 
 in the Sarmatian language, signifies a mountain. Even the 
 people who inhabited the mountainous shore of the Dnieper 
 were called Kivi. After the subjection of the Sarmates the 
 slaves settled among them, and gave to those who inhabited 
 the mountainous shore of the Dnieper the name of Goraues, 
 which is of equal import with the Sarmatian Kivi ; those who 
 inhabited the plain, they called Polanes. Tooke's History of 
 Russia, vol. i. p. 5. 
 
 Ancient writers say, that Kiev, in the pth century, in the 
 reign of Oleg, son of Rurik, contained 400 churches, eight 
 market-places, and an immense number of inhabitants. Of 
 this splendour and magnificence no vestige remains. 
 
60 ANNUAL FAIR AT KIEV. 
 
 which we have seen, and of far greater extent 
 than any except Riga. The shops are very su- 
 perior, and many things are to be bought cheaper 
 here than in any other part of the country which 
 we had previously passed. 
 
 A fortnight after we left Kiev, was to be the 
 annual fair called the Contract ; and people 
 assemble from all quarters, insomuch, that 
 not a lodging can be found after the Contract 
 has begun : it lasts three weeks, and during 
 that time even private families let their houses, 
 or a part of them, to the annual visitors. All 
 kinds of merchandize are brought here for sale, 
 and all the noblesse of the country come to pur- 
 chase. In almost all the towns, the shops are 
 in large squares, and are not adjoining the 
 houses, as in England. 
 
 The gentlemen formed an acquaintance here 
 rather singularly, which afterwards proved an 
 acceptable one. Passing in the streets a young 
 man, who from his dress and appearance they 
 took to be an Englishman, they could not resist 
 inquiring if he was one ; he replied that he was 
 not, but if they were, they could possibly give 
 
OCCURRENCE AT KIEV. 61 
 
 him some information of Mr. Y., to whom he 
 had a letter of introduction. Mr. Y., of course, 
 announced himself. This young man, whose 
 name was Tiel, was a partner in a mercantile 
 house at Moscow, and had just commenced 
 business at Kiev. By this gentleman we were 
 introduced to Col. and Mrs. Beshkakoff. Mrs. B. 
 is a woman of fashionable manners and address : 
 both herself and the Colonel were from Peters- 
 burgh, and could speak English well ; they gave 
 us a general invitation to their house, and 
 treated us with much hospitality and attention. 
 
 The ladies here wear very handsome Turkish 
 shawls, without which no woman in company 
 thinks herself well dressed ; they give from 
 five hundred to two thousand rubles for them. 
 Mrs. Beshkakoff shewed me three, one of which 
 cost eight hundred, another a thousand, and one 
 twelve hundred rubles. The Russian ladies 
 dress extravagantly and expensively, and parti- 
 cularly so at Moscow and Petersburgh; I am 
 told, usually in the French style, and with 
 much elegance and taste. 
 
 Colonel Beshkakoff very obligingly took us 
 
62 ANCIENT MONASTERY. 
 
 in his carriage to visit the Monastery. It was 
 founded in the eleventh century, and called Pest- 
 cherskey, because the Monks formerly lived in 
 pestchera, or caverns. On arriving there, the 
 first object that excites attention is the assem- 
 blage of devils, which in large paintings adorn 
 the exterior of the building. I shrunk, afraid 
 to enter a habitation apparently so guarded, 
 until assured it was only meant to shew how 
 pure and holy must be the sanctuary where the 
 evil genius of man was thus kept without, and 
 not allowed an entrance. "Where," said they, 
 " can these powers of darkness be so effectually 
 excluded, as in a place like this, the residence 
 and the repository of saints!" The interior of 
 this building presented a very different aspect ; 
 the Monks were engaged in prayer ; their appear- 
 ance, and the solemn grandeur of all around, 
 inspired other feelings than those with which 
 we had viewed its exterior , the ground we trod 
 was consecrated by Religion, and respect awaited 
 her votaries. 
 
 This Monastery is richly endowed, and its 
 church very splendidly decorated : the body of 
 
RICHES OF THE MONASTERY. 63 
 
 it is almost covered with paintings, and bur- 
 nished gold ornaments; the candlesticks and 
 chandeliers are all of massy silver, and ex- 
 tremely valuable. The robes, and caps or 
 mitres worn by their priests, are most superb, 
 and have been given in presents by different 
 parts of the Imperial Family, or some of the 
 wealthy nobles, at different times to the church. 
 The robes are of gold or silver brocade, very 
 rich in itself, and ornamented, some by borders 
 of gold work, others with deep bordering of pearls 
 and precious stones of every description. I 
 should in vain attempt to give any idea of their 
 magnificence : one was valued at 250,000 rubles, 
 when the ruble was at two shillings and sixpence ; 
 others at 150,000 rubles, at 100,000 rubles, &c. 
 valuable crosses are also exhibited ; and testa- 
 ments in covers of solid gold, silver, brass, or 
 some other curious or valuable materials. The 
 whole riches of the convent treasury was esti- 
 mated at twenty-five millions of rubles, when 
 the ruble was half a crown. 
 
 At this monastery are also the famous cata- 
 combs, which so many thousands of infatuated 
 
64 CATACOMBS. 
 
 people in the Russian empire, go on foot to visit 
 every year. The preparation for descending into 
 this repository of the dead was more solemn than 
 the scene itself; for the monk accompanying us, 
 related such incredible and ridiculous stories of 
 the saints whose relics lay there, that we must 
 have had a more than common share of credulity 
 to have believed them. Every person going 
 down into these vaults purchases a wax taper, 
 and having lighted it, in solemn silence follows 
 the monk, who, as he conducts the visitors 
 through these vaulted sepulchres of the dead, 
 opens the coffin lid, unfolds the shroud, and 
 tells the name of the saint enshrined in that re- 
 pository : no part of the body is to be seen, of 
 course the flesh is all wasted, and the bones 
 only remain perfect, from having been com- 
 pletely kept from the air ; the face and hands 
 are commonly covered with gold or silver tissue, 
 or brocade, or some kind of silk : a cap is placed 
 on the head, of the same material. The coffins 
 are generally of Cypress wood, but some of 
 massy silver, very richly engraved. There are 
 two or three handsome little chapels in these 
 
MIRACULOUS RELATIONS. 65 
 
 subterraneous passages, built by some of their 
 saints, and consecrated for their hours of private 
 devotion. Several cells are shewn, where they 
 say monks, in a vow of penance, have had them- 
 selves walled up, and only a little window left, 
 at which they received daily their bread and 
 water, and there remained until their deaths : 
 in one of the cells are the twelve masons who 
 built the church, and then entered as monks 
 into the Monastery. 
 
 In another place you are shewn the body, or 
 rather the head and shoulders of a man stuck in 
 the ground : in a vow of penance he dug a hole, in 
 which he placed himself, standing with his hands 
 by his sides, and then had the hole filled, so that 
 only his head, and a little below the shoulders, 
 could be seen : here he lived (they say) fifteen 
 years, having food and drink brought to him, 
 and a lamp constantly burning by his side : 
 they still allow him a lamp, which, burns day and 
 night continually, though he has been dead six or 
 seven hundred years ; this, however, they can 
 well afford to do, as he brings a considerable 
 share of the riches of the Convent. The cap he 
 
ST. ANTONIO. 
 
 wears is supposed to work miracles, and restore 
 the sick ; accordingly, hundreds come to visit 
 St. Antonio, and wear his cap, which is fre- 
 quently the undoubted means of restoring health, 
 though not in the way that enthusiasm and cre- 
 dulity imagine, but by the simple process of 
 being the cause of their taking unusual exercise 
 in the open air, and exercising also a temper- 
 ance not habitual to them. I should not omit 
 to mention that St. Antonio is said to sink a little 
 lower in the ground every year, and that the 
 world is to be at an end by the time he entirely 
 disappears. Amongst the wonders which they 
 relate, this can scarcely be classed as the 
 greatest ; and if time in its mighty changes does 
 not annihilate the Monastery of Pestcherskey, 
 St. Antonio will probably not disappear, while 
 he continues so instrumental to the well-doing of 
 his brethren. 
 
 Having so particularly mentioned the merits 
 of this saint, let me do justice to the others also, 
 and state, that all have their votaiies, and that 
 money lay scattered in every coffin, as if the 
 golden age had returned, and man no longer 
 
ARSENAL AT KIEV. 
 
 continued to heap sordid gold, or required its 
 aid to help him to the comforts of life. It is 
 reckoned that from sixty to a hundred thousand 
 pilgrims, from all parts of the Russian empire, 
 visit the Monastery at Kiev, in one year ; and 
 the revenue the monks derive from the sale of 
 wax candles, is alone sufficient to furnish food 
 for the establishment. 
 
 The splendour and ceremony of the Greek 
 Church is very imposing ; and it is not much to 
 be wondered at, that over minds so barren and 
 uninformed, the craft of priesthood has attained 
 such sway ; but it is lamentable to see the ill 
 effects of a religion built on so good a founda- 
 tion, so shamefully perverted, in the moral prac- 
 tice and doctrines of its professors. 
 
 After leaving the Monastery we went with 
 the Colonel to see the ArsD&}, Wnieh is an 
 exceedingly fine square of buildings, and has 
 in it seven hundred pieces of differerit sorts' of 
 cannon, all kept in the fittest order : the length 
 of one room, where the large guns are de- 
 posited, is aboil* two hundred yards, form- 
 ing one side of the square, which within the 
 
 F2 
 
68 PASSING THE BARRIER GATES. 
 
 building is 200 by 150 yards. It is built of 
 brick, stuccoed without, and has a very good 
 appearance. In passing through the barrier 
 gates, and over the drawbridge, the postilions 
 gave a sort of scream or halloo, which asto- 
 nished me very much, and of which I could 
 not imagine the cause, until it was explained 
 to me : it is principally used in the larger 
 towns, as Petersburgh, Moscow, &c. where 
 the constant passing to and fro of carriages, 
 makes it indispensibly requisite to announce 
 to the drivers of other carriages near, the 
 passing of one through the gates; and the 
 scream is prolonged, according to the rank 
 of the person to whom the equipage be- 
 longs. 
 
 Before I quit the recollection of the Monas- 
 tery and Church we had been so much grati- 
 fied by seeing, I am induced to mention, that 
 our quarters were at the house of a Jew and 
 Jewess who had lately seceded to the Greek 
 Church : they were not then baptized, but 
 were soon to have that ceremony performed in 
 public. 
 
MANUFACTURES. 69 
 
 The manufactures of Russia are all far behind 
 ours in the attainment of excellence. The Em- 
 peror gives every possible encouragement to 
 them, but the owners and establishers of them, 
 consider only their own profit, and not the good 
 quality of the material, or the possibility of mak- 
 ing it more generally useful. How they can 
 make it the cheapest, and sell it the dearest, 
 are the two points aimed at ; thus, scarcely any 
 thing bought of Russian manufacture, is worth 
 having : I ought I believe to except plate glass, 
 as well as that of long-established reputation, 
 the manufacture of linen. 
 
 Near to Kiev, is a fabric of earthenware, 
 which the gentlemen went to visit, and bought 
 several articles there. This is considered one 
 of the best manufactures, but they do not last 
 like English plates, as the glaize wears off in a 
 short time. All kinds of cutlery are very bad. 
 The glass is tolerably good, and very well cut, 
 but not equal in beauty to ours ; it is, however, 
 much more moderate in price : two tumblers 
 bought at Tchernigoff, of cut glass, and ex- 
 tremely thick, cost three rubles ; and the glasses 
 
70 SITE OF CONTINENTAL TOWNS. 
 
 bought at Kiev, are very handsome and good at 
 twelve rubles per dozen. The printed cottons, 
 of which almost the only manufactures are at 
 Moscow, are very pretty, but will not bear 
 washing ; they cannot attain the art of fixing 
 the colours, as in our prints ; and they sell 
 them, and all muslin goods, much dearer than 
 we do. The population of Kiev may be stated 
 at about twenty-five thousand. 
 
 I have before spoken of the beauty of the 
 situation of Kiev ; and the road going out, has 
 equally fine and majestic scenery, with the 
 entrance from the opposite side. The situa- 
 tion of all the large Continental towns, is 
 evidently chosen for defence : of course the 
 loftiest spots, are those selected for their sites, 
 and you scarcely enter any of these towns, 
 without having an immensely steep bill to 
 ascend. 
 
 On taking leave of the Dnieper, I should re- 
 mark, that the bear-hunt, which forms so ex- 
 cellent a diversion in North and Great Russia, 
 is not known south of this river. 
 
 We passed one week at Kiev, and then con- 
 
HUMAN. 71 
 
 tinued our journey, making Human, a seat of 
 the Countess Potosky, our next destination, as 
 Mr. Y. wished to see two Englishmen resident 
 there. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 Road from Kiev to Human Human, a Seat of 
 the Countess Potosky Visit to Mr. Henley, 
 an Englishman, Steward to the Countess 
 Tulchin, another Estate of the Countess 
 House and Garden Balta Stepp Rus- 
 sian Cottages Odessa. 
 
 FROM Kiev to Human, the road is very 
 picturesque, but great part of it very dangerous, 
 lying along the side of hills, which on one hand 
 rise in majestic height above the traveller, while 
 the other side presents a fearful and perpendi- 
 cular descent. The road at this time was excel- 
 lent for sledging, and where the hills would admit, 
 we travelled with very great rapidity, making 
 355 versts, or 236 miles, in twenty-four hours, 
 with all the impediments of frequently changing 
 horses, and travelling over a hilly country. In 
 this part of our journey, our carriage had again 
 a very narrow escape from being precipitated 
 down one of the precipices, owing to the care-- 
 
RESIDENT ENGLISHMEN. 73 
 
 lessness of the driver ; but a superintending Pro- 
 vidence has protected us amidst dangers, and 
 supported us amidst trials, giving strength to 
 those who needed, and succouring the faint- 
 hearted. With trembling thankfulness I look back 
 upon the dangers we have escaped, and acknow- 
 ledge the Omnipotent Power who has defended 
 us throughout them. 
 
 Mr. Henley is steward to the Countess Po- 
 tosky : the other Englishman here, is Mr. Wig- 
 ful, a machine-maker, who is also in the employ 
 of the Countess. Mr. Henley is a married man, 
 and has been many years in his present situation, 
 and by his care, and conscientious discharge of 
 his duty to his employer, he has been able to 
 bring up his family most respectably, and also 
 to bring into high repute, the worth of English 
 stewards. He has the civil rank of Major, and 
 is a naturalized Russian. The present Mrs. Hen- 
 ley is his second wife, and sister to the wife of 
 the English Consul at Odessa. I was received 
 very pleasantly by her and Miss Henley, and 
 experienced much kind attention from them, 
 during the three days we remained at Human. 
 
74 DETENTION FOR HORSES. 
 
 From this place we went to Tulchin, another 
 village the property of the Countess Potosky, 
 which is also under the management of an 
 English steward, a Mr. Davison. Here we did 
 not purpose staying, but unfortunately for us 
 the Countess being here, and having a great 
 deal of company with her, (amongst them the 
 General-in-Chief Benningsen), we could not 
 get horses to proceed immediately, and at last 
 paid most extravagantly dear for them, being 
 obliged to hire them of Jews, to take us from 
 thence to Balta. The house of the Countess at 
 Tulchin is a fine extensive building, forming 
 three sides of a square, two stories high. Behind 
 the house is a pretty garden, laid out in the 
 English style, with grottoes, caves, &c. and a 
 considerable sum of money has been expended 
 upon it. 
 
 To Balta was our next point, and here we 
 were again detained for want of horses ; and in 
 a visit we made to a proprietor here, who sent his 
 sledge for me, and received us with all the good 
 humour of Russian hospitality, it was proposed 
 to send us forward with oxen. This, however, 
 
POPULATION ENCOURAGED. 75 
 
 with all our acquired patience under the difficul- 
 ties and impediments of our journey, none of us 
 thought we should like; and at length we bar- 
 gained with some Russians to take us from thence 
 to Odessa. Balta is the dirtiest town I ever 
 saw; it is a centrical point where three roads 
 meet, and travellers being then journeying to 
 Kiev for the Contract, the number of horses 
 kept at the post station was not sufficient to 
 meet the accidental increase of demand. Here 
 we were obliged to take our carriages off the 
 sledges, and put them again on wheels. 
 
 On leaving Balta we entered upon a country 
 the very reverse of what we had passed ; a rich 
 black soil, said to be most luxuriantly fertile. 
 This, which is called Stepp, was a few years 
 ago nearly the whole of it uninhabited ; for the 
 sake of increasing population, and its consequent 
 advantageous results, the Emperor has to some 
 persons made grants of land on this Stepp ; to 
 others he has sold land at a low rate, and it is 
 now, in many parts, getting rather thickly 
 peopled. 
 
 Some equipages belonging to the Count 
 
76 ARRIVAL AT ODESSA. 
 
 Langeron, which were also going to Odessa, 
 and were before us on the road, had pre-occupied 
 the tracteers, and we were obliged to find quar- 
 ters in the cottages of the Russian peasantry of 
 the villages through which we passed. This cir- 
 cumstance we had no occasion to regret, as it 
 gave us in all cases more comfortable lodging ; 
 and such provision or accommodation as they 
 had, was also afforded with the good humour so 
 peculiarly the leading trait in the Russian cha- 
 racter. I had several opportunities of remarking 
 the plenty and comfort of the Russian boor. 
 
 From Balta to Odessa is 240 versts by post- 
 road, but across the Stepp 180 only. From Balta 
 to the Crimea is all Stepp. We travelled now in 
 very different style to that of sledging ; the roads 
 were heavy, and when we reached the town of 
 Odessa, scarcely passable. We spent ten days at 
 this place, in consequence of learning that a river 
 we had to cross was impassable, on account of the 
 state of the ice. Mr. Y. was well known, in parti- 
 cular to General Cobley, the Commandant, and to 
 one or two merchants of the place. He had also 
 a letter to Mr. Yeames, the British Consul, who 
 
SITUATION OF ODESSA. 77 
 
 received us with the greatest attention, and 
 whose family shewed much kindness to me and 
 my children. We visited General Cobley also, 
 who is an Englishman, but has long been in the 
 Russian service. Admiral Mordvinoff married 
 the sister of this gentleman, and to this circum- 
 stance was owing his first entering, and subse- 
 quent promotion to the rank he now holds. 
 
 The town of Odessa is a very flourishing sea- 
 port, and a most astonishing place, if it be re- 
 membered that about twenty years ago a few 
 fishing huts comprised the whole of its inhabi- 
 tants, and that in 1812 a third of its population 
 was destroyed by the plague. It was founded in 
 1796, and to the Duke de Richelieu, Odessa owes 
 whatever of prosperity it now enjoys, or what- 
 ever pre-eminence as a city it may hereafter 
 attain. It is situated on a rock, and is very 
 extensive, the style in which it is built making 
 it cover a large quantity of ground : the streets 
 run in parallel lines. 
 
 The bazars, or markets, occupy two large 
 squares at the eastern and western extremity of 
 the town. The merchants have their warehouses 
 
78 THEATRE AND LYCEUM AT ODESSA. 
 
 attached to their houses, which are many of them 
 only one story high, others one floor above the 
 ground. As no part of the town is paved, it is 
 in wet weather the dirtiest place I ever saw, ex- 
 cept Balta ; and in summer the dust is as intole- 
 rable as the dirt in winter. Here is a pretty 
 theatre, but the different manner of lighting it 
 makes it much less gay and pleasing than ours ; the 
 stage only is well illuminated, and the rest of the 
 theatre almost dark. Italian operas, and Russian 
 and French plays, are got up in pretty good style. 
 
 But that which is most worthy of remark at 
 Odessa, is a very fine institution for the educa- 
 tion of the young nobility, called the Lyceum. 
 All the languages are taught here by different 
 professors, and the various accomplishments re- 
 quired. It is considered a military establish- 
 ment, and the students intended for the service, 
 either in the navy or the army, have the rank of 
 cadet given them on their entrance. A part of 
 the institution is adapted for girls, and General 
 Cobley's daughter was here. 
 
 The gardens at Odessa, though requiring much 
 care in their infancy, yet are afterwards very 
 
ABUNDANCE OF FRUIT. 79 
 
 productive: the dryness of the soil and climate 
 makes a long preparation requisite for the plant- 
 ing of trees ; but having once taken root, they 
 soon begin to bear, and yield abundantly. As a 
 proof of this abundance, the prices of fruit the 
 preceding year was mentioned at Mr. Yeames's 
 table, as follow : Cherries gathered, six rubles 
 per pood ; the common sort three rubles per pood. 
 Apricots twelve rubles per pood ; of these there 
 are from nine to twelve to the pound. Peaches 
 ten for sixty kopeeks. Grapes twenty to thirty 
 kopeeks per pound, but were then very dear. 
 Pears fifty kopeeks per pound, two or three large 
 Beurre pears to a pound. Apples are sometimes 
 twenty-two inches round; those of the Crimea 
 are the finest in flavour I have ever tasted, very 
 similar to that we call the Ripston pippin, but 
 with the flavour of the pine-apple. Some of the 
 most opulent inhabitants have houses or gardens 
 in the country, a few versts from the town. There 
 are some of these places very pretty, and they 
 are resorted to as places of pleasure and amuse- 
 ment. The luxuriance of the soil and climate 
 may be ascertained by stating, that a tree grafted 
 
80 DEPARTURE FROM ODESSA. 
 
 in November, will frequently bear the succeeding 
 summer ; the second year they are sure of fruit ; 
 and the third it is in full bearing. 
 
 As we now appeared to be drawing nigh to 
 the close of our long and tedious journey, I was 
 glad to take leave of Odessa, and be once more 
 on the road, feeling confident that we should 
 now meet with no material cause of detention. 
 
CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Coblevka, the Estate of General Cobley, an 
 Englishman, then Commandant of Odessa 
 Number of Horses, and Flocks of Spanish, 
 and Tsegaiskie Sheep on the large Estates in 
 the Neighbourhood of Odessa Passage of 
 the Bog, over the Ice NicolayeffCherson 
 Detention at the River Ingul Post Station 
 Bereslaff Passage of the Dnieper Town 
 of Perekop Salt, and Salt Lakes Tchu- 
 mak Caravans Akmetchet, or Symphero- 
 pol Tatar Town of Karasubazar Arrival 
 at Karagoss. 
 
 OUR first day's journey took us to Cob- 
 levka, the village of General Cobley, where his 
 steward had orders to receive and entertain us. 
 We staid one day and two nights, for the gen- 
 tlemen to see some flocks of Spanish sheep, and 
 taboons of horses, in the neighbourhood. The 
 proprietors of esates here, keep large flocks of 
 
82 MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP STOCK. 
 
 sheep and herds of cattle on their land, as the 
 easiest and most profitable way of consuming its 
 produce. Two, three, or five hundred horses 
 are kept by one individual, and flocks and herds 
 in proportion. There is one proprietor in this 
 country, who possesses an estate of 50,000 de- 
 saiteens, and a flock of 50,000 sheep. He is a 
 Frenchman, by name Reuvere, and is the origi- 
 nal introducer of the Spanish sheep into South 
 Russia. The Government promised to give him 
 a desaiteen of land for every Spanish sheep he 
 imported, and he agreed to bring 100,000, but 
 completed only the half of what he engaged to 
 do. This flock was out of our present route, but 
 they saw that of a Mr. Pictet, a Swiss gentle- 
 man, living near Coblevka, who had 6000 or 
 7000 Spanish sheep. Mr. Renard's flock, at 
 Karaneeka, was said to be 5000. The common 
 flocks, or, as they are called, the Tsegaiskie 
 sheep, are from Moldavia, and generally from 
 1000 to 2000 in a flock. The management of 
 these sheep is very different from the system 
 pursued in England. They require being housed 
 through the severe cold of the winter ; and are 
 
DEPARTURE FROM ODESSA. 83 
 
 kept within high walled yards, to prevent the 
 depredations of the wolf, which is here a fre- 
 quent ravager. 
 
 The Bog, at the place we crossed, was three 
 versts over. Our stay at Odessa had been pro- 
 longed, in consequence of its being considered 
 unsafe to pass, and it was only the return of frost 
 two nights before we left that place, that encou- 
 raged us to hope it might now be practicable ; 
 but when we reached the usual passage, we were 
 told it was impossible; that the ice was so 
 broken up, no men would venture to take us. 
 Mr. Renard's village, where we slept, was five 
 versts from this place ; and not having had an 
 equal number of passengers, the, pass there ap- 
 peared more likely to be safe. Having ascer- 
 tained this the preceding night, after an early 
 breakfast we set out for that part of our expedi- 
 tion, which, from the variable state of the wea- 
 ther, and the account of accidents that had 
 reached us at Odessa, I had looked forward to 
 with much dread. The carriages were got to 
 the river-side, and drawn over by a number of 
 men ; myself and the children, and servant, went 
 
 G2 
 
84 CROSSING THE BOG. 
 
 over in sledges, with eight or ten men to each, 
 to draw us, and the gentlemen walked. The 
 ice was thawing fast, and in many places cracked, 
 and very thin ; but in other parts, where they 
 had cut holes for the purpose of fishing, the 
 pieces of ice taken out were nine inches thick. I 
 satin silent terror the whole way; yet feeling 
 fully confident that the power of God was all- 
 sufficient to protect us, if in his mercy he saw 
 fit to do so. 
 
 Divested of the danger, it was a beautiful 
 scene; but the greatest pleasure I experienced 
 from it, was reaching the opposite side in 
 safety ; and much reason had we to rejoice, as 
 was immediately after proved. We were com- 
 pelled to leave part of our carriages behind, un- 
 til we could send post-horses from Nicolayeff for 
 them, and we learnt from the servants, that in 
 one hour after we passed, two carriages going 
 over with horses, broke the ice ; the carriages 
 fell in, and the horses narrowly escaped ; this 
 happened a second time, and again they had the 
 good fortune to get out. After these, no carriages 
 ventured to attempt passing there ; and the 
 
NICOLAYEFF. 85 
 
 breaking up of the rivers unavoidably caused 
 some days' stoppage of the communication. 
 Sometimes a passage is cut through the ice for 
 the ferry-boat, if the thaw be not rapid enough 
 to prevent the necessity of doing it. 
 
 Nicolayeff is five versts beyond this passage of 
 the Bog ; the road thither, a heavy sand. There 
 is a good trade carried on in fish, of which a 
 great profusion is brought fresh to market, which 
 is bought extremely cheap ; salt fish is likewise 
 sold in large quantities. We purchased a sudac, 
 weighing twelve pounds, for one ruble and twenty 
 kopeeks, which in English money is one shilling; 
 or, one penny per pound. 
 
 Here are a large naval academy, and an hospi- 
 tal, both occupying a great space of ground, and 
 having a very good appearance. There is also 
 a small dock-yard, in which an eighty-four gun 
 ship was then building. We staid for horses one 
 night at Nicolayeff, and then proceeded. There 
 are three stations between that place and Cher- 
 son, where we arrived late in the evening ; but 
 finding horses, we determined to go forward, and 
 the next stage brought us to the side of the river 
 
86 MISERABLE POST-STATION. 
 
 Ingul, a branch of the Dnieper. The wind blew 
 hard, and the rain ( the first we had seen since 
 we left Riga), fell heavily. As there was a con- 
 siderable quantity of ice in the river, and the 
 night was so stormy, (the wind driving against 
 the passage), the men refused to take us over ; 
 which compelled us to remain until the following 
 day. 
 
 I should in vain attempt to describe this mi- 
 serable place, dignified by the name of a post- 
 station. It looked like some rude hovel, the 
 shelter of banditti, and the yemtcheks and peo- 
 ple about appeared as ferocious and uncivilized as 
 the place itself. It was literally a large hovel, 
 the thatched roof unceiled, and the only division 
 or break in the length of it, was the oven or 
 stove, which projected about one-third of the 
 length of the room, making the space left on the 
 side, dark and gloomy, while the top of the 
 stove, or benches, in this darkened recess, served 
 as a sleeping apartment for its inmates. That 
 part of the hovel in front of the stove, was lighted 
 by the glare of a large fire, burning in the oven, 
 and shewed a long table, with benches on either 
 
COMFORTS OF A RUSSIAN COTTAGE. 87 
 
 side for seats, its only furniture. Here it was 
 impossible to lie down, or to venture in such 
 company to close the eyes : I recollected the 
 comfort of the Russian cottages, which we had 
 before experienced, and dispatched our Russian 
 servant to find us quarters in the village. He 
 soon returned successful, and we exchanged the 
 most horrible place I entered throughout our 
 journey, for a neat warm cottage, and the smiles 
 of good humour and welcome. Here, upon our 
 accustomed beds of hay, or straw, or on the 
 benches around the room, we rested, and slept 
 quietly till morning. 
 
 The passing the Ingul was tedious, but not 
 dangerous. We went over in one of the ferries 
 which I have before described, and the floating 
 ice alone caused any impediment to us. Two 
 stations more brought us to the town of Beres- 
 laff. 
 
 Throughout the last stage the road was ex* 
 ceedingly bad, having to ascend and descend 
 two or three such hills as, in the outset of the 
 journey, I should have conceived impassable for 
 any carriage ; and these were worse than any 
 
88 ARRIVAL AT BERESLAFF. 
 
 we had passed, on account of their being a stony 
 rock, and the road exceedingly rough over them. 
 On all such occasions, our English servant, who 
 rode on the dickey of the britchka, was our 
 guard, walking behind, or by the side of the 
 carriage, up or down hill, wherever there was 
 any danger. It was late when we reached Be- 
 reslaff, and still later when the rest of our party 
 arrived, the drivers, who had set out most un- 
 willingly, overturning one of the kibitkas, and 
 declaring that the wolves had frightened the 
 horses, and occasioned the accident. 
 
 At.Bereslaff we had to cross the Dnieper, 
 which we were told was still not safe to go over, 
 on account of the floating ice. We staid two 
 nights here, and then, by dint of obtaining the 
 interference of the Gorodnetchie, and shewing 
 a billet given by Count Langeron to expe- 
 dite us, we contrived to convince them that 
 the passing the Dnieper must by this time be 
 perfectly safe. We went over in a boat, which 
 took two carriages at a time. The Dnieper is a 
 remarkably fine river in the spring and summer, 
 but at this period of the year it is shallow, and 
 
SALT LAKES AT PEREKOP. 89 
 
 much narrower : the melting of the snow in the 
 spring, occasions an immense increase of the 
 water, and it is then a majestic-looking river. 
 
 We were now seventy-eight versts from Pere- 
 kop, the frontier town of the Crimea, during 
 which nothing worthy notice occurred. 
 
 The town of Perekop is not large, and has no- 
 thing remarkable to recommend it to notice but 
 the salt lakes in its vicinity, from which last year 
 (1815) four or five million of poods of salt were 
 taken. One merchant at Perekop has a heap of 
 salt lying in the ground, and covered with 
 straw, &c. to defend it from heat, that contains 
 250,000 poods. The crown revenue last year 
 from this was 2,800,000 rubles, the duty upon it 
 being forty kopeeks per pood. Salt, in Perekop, 
 sells at fifty kopeeks, and any one sending a cart 
 and pair of oxen, may have salt from the lakes 
 at the time it is taken out, for paying the go- 
 vernment duty only. Perekop has a garrison, 
 and is governed by a mayor, or Gorodnetchie. 
 After leaving the town, we passed by the lakes, 
 which of course present nothing very striking 
 to the eye at this time of year. Perekop stands 
 
90 RUSSIAN CARAVANS. 
 
 about the centre of the isthmus, which at the 
 narrowest part is four versts from the Black Sea 
 to that of Azoff. 
 
 We passed on our road several caravans of 
 Tchumaks, or Little Russians, with their four- 
 wheeled carriages drawn by oxen. The par- 
 ticular construction of the Tchumak waggon 
 is worthy of notice. The wheels are young 
 trees, (elm, ash, oak, &c.), which being cut 
 down, are stripped of the bark, split, and 
 cut into proper lengths ; these are put over a 
 strong fire, till they are bent sufficiently for the 
 two ends to meet. This operation is effected 
 by fixing them around a solid post, shaped for 
 the purpose, which stands three or four feet 
 above the ground. This work is often done in 
 the woods, when the rim of the wheel is bent 
 around one of the trees, and there they are 
 shaped and burnt. Broad pieces of the bark of 
 the lime tree, fastened to the frame of the body 
 of the waggon, serve to hold the contents, such 
 as salt and corn. Each waggon holds from one 
 to two, and even two and a half tons weight of 
 salt or corn. The Tchumaks travel in caravans 
 
REMARKABLE JOURNIES BY WAGGONS. 91 
 
 of twenty or forty waggons, or even more, toge- 
 ther; and whenever they unyoke their oxen to 
 feed them, they previously draw up the caravan 
 to the side, ^r out of the main road, forming a 
 square, or rather an oblong, with the waggons, 
 placing them close together in rows, and leaving 
 only a sufficient interval between the rows to 
 permit the drivers to pass, The extraordinary 
 journies which these Tchumaks undertake with 
 their loaded waggons is very remarkable set- 
 ting out from Riga, or other post-towns of the 
 Baltic, in the spring, when the snow is dis- 
 solved, and travelling to Moscow, Kaluga, Tula, 
 &c. and then to the Black Sea, with corn, and 
 returning laden with salt in the autumn. 
 
 For the conveyance of lighter goods, the 
 telega, a cart drawn by one horse, is used; 
 and the transport of goods in Russia by either 
 of these means, is very cheap. 
 
 ToAkmetchet, or Sympheropol, is ISOversts. 
 We staid here only a few hours, and it was a 
 cold snowy day, which prevented my going into 
 the town. The gentlemen went to call on the 
 Governor, Mr. Beresdina, who has established 
 
92 ARRIVAL AT KARASUBAZAR. 
 
 some manufactures on his property, and with 
 whom Mr. Y. was previously acquainted. One 
 of them, a fabric for blue broad-cloth, of a 
 very fine and good quality, at fifteen rubles the 
 archeen, which is two-thirds of an English 
 yard. 
 
 From Sympheropol we soon journeyed on to 
 Karasubazar. This is the first Tatar town, 
 and is much more singular than pleasing: 
 narrow and irregular streets, presenting a most 
 extraordinary number of shops, occupied by 
 Tatars, Jews, Armenians, Russians, and 
 Greeks. For the sale of fruit alone, there are 
 said to be two hundred shops : here are dried 
 fruits of all kinds ; apples in profusion ; nuts in 
 great abundance, and so well preserved, that 
 they are quite unlike, and much superior to the 
 walnuts in England at this time of year. There 
 seems about the same number of shops for 
 the sale of Tatar shoes. Every article of sale 
 brought into the Crimea, is to be had cheaper 
 here than elsewhere. We staid a day and two 
 nights, and made purchases of provisions, &c. 
 to carry with us to Karagoss, and reached that 
 
ARRIVAL AT KARAGOSS. 93 
 
 place in the afternoon of the third of February, 
 most thankful to have completed our undertak- 
 ing, and arrived at our long-wished-for desti- 
 nation. 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 Additional Notes made in returning from the 
 Crimea and Odessa, in the Route to Eng- 
 land, on the Towns of Nicolayeff and 
 Odessa. 
 
 IN my return from the Crimea to England, I 
 re passed in the same track from Karagoss to 
 Odessa, the places that in my route I have be- 
 fore noticed ; but as I was resident two months 
 at Nicolayeff, I subjoin a few particulars of 
 that place. I could not fail to remark the many 
 improvements of this town under the administra- 
 tion of the present Commander-in-Chief, Vice- 
 Admiral Greig, a man so high in estimation, 
 as to be admired even by those who envy him. 
 
 The office of Admiralty is held here, though 
 the rendezvous of the Russian fleet is at Sevas- 
 topol. In the dock -yard we saw completed 
 and launched a 74 gun ship, and several others 
 of different descriptions were on the stocks. 
 The fleet generally goes out about the month of 
 
ADMIRAL GREIG'S IMPROVEMENTS. 95 
 
 May, for a cruize of three months, the Admiral 
 taking the command for a part, if not the whole 
 of the time. 
 
 An observatory is just established here ; and 
 there is a public school for the children of 
 sailors and soldiers ; and many public edifices 
 for the different offices of government. Besides 
 a large garden attached to the Admiral's house, 
 of his own planting, there is a public prome- 
 nade or gardens in the town ; and the pleasure 
 grounds at his country-house, three or four versts 
 distant, are materially enlarged and improved. 
 These are the resort of all the principal inhabi- 
 tants, and always open. An extensive vine- 
 yard too has been lately planted, which looks 
 very healthy and flourishing, and from its 
 grapes the first wine has been made at Nico- 
 layeff, which I tasted at the Admiral's table. 
 It may be imagined what an improvement the 
 quantity of trees now planted is to the appear- 
 ance of the town, where before scarcely one was 
 to be seen. 
 
 The population is reckoned at from seven to 
 eight thousand stationary residents ; of sailors, 
 
96 BUILDING COTTAGES. 
 
 soldiers, shipwrights, &c. about five thousand. 
 According to the census of 1819, there were 
 1400 houses, but their number is daily increas- 
 ing. Their method of building cottages is. both 
 cheap and expeditious, and very warm and 
 comfortable when well finished. The corner 
 posts are of wood, proportioned to the size of 
 the house to be built, with light rafters and 
 beams, and spars at regular distances for the 
 walls, over which is laid, both within and with- 
 out, a covering of reeds, and this is drawn and 
 plastered ; the roof is of reeds also. When the 
 plastering is dry they are white- washed, and 
 the window-frames and doors painted, which 
 renders them the neatest cottages I have seen. 
 In this manner the sheep-sheds, barns, and out- 
 houses of the pretty estates that skirt the banks 
 of the Ingul, are erected ; and it has been esti- 
 mated, that a very good farm-house of five rooms, 
 with kitchen and out-buildings as above-men- 
 tioned, may be built for 100/. or 2000 rubles. 
 The wood for such purposes is bought in the 
 timber-yards, ready cut to any dimensions re- 
 quired : it is reasonable and plentiful, being 
 
THE BOG AND INGUL. 97 
 
 brought here for Government in great quanti- 
 ties : its quality is soft, and not very durable. 
 Both at Odessa and in the Crimea, it is consi- 
 derably dearer than at Nicolayeff. The reeds 
 are also bought very cheap : they grow up the 
 Bog and Ingul in great quantities, and are of an 
 amazing size. 
 
 The situation of Nicolayeff is at the conflu- 
 ence of the Bog and Ingul : the former is a very 
 fine river, about three versts wide opposite to the 
 town, and widening gradually to about seven 
 or eight versts at its discharge into the mouth 
 of the Dnieper, which communicates with the 
 Black Sea. The price of transporting corn from 
 hence to Odessa, (in which market it always 
 bears a better price ) , is about seventy or eighty 
 kopeeks per tchetvert. Odessa is 117 versts 
 from this place. 
 
 The Ingul is a smaller river, but its banks 
 are considered fertile and rich. The Stepp soil 
 around Nicolayeff, is a good sand upon a yellow 
 loam ; in some parts on the banks of the Bog, it 
 is a dead heavy sand; but this extends a short 
 distance only. 
 
 H 
 
98 ICE-HOUSES AND FUEL. 
 
 The banks of rivers are, in this neighbour- 
 hood, most eligible situations, on account of 
 the scarcity of spring water, for which it is often 
 necessary to send a considerable distance, and 
 each family, both in the town, and its vicinity, 
 must keep a water-cart to fetch its daily supply. 
 The water of the Ingul is never salt; that of 
 the Bog is brackish when the wind sets up 
 the mouth of the river. From these two rivers, 
 the ice-cellars of the neighbourhood are abun- 
 dantly supplied ; and that which in England is 
 considered a luxury, and brought only to the 
 tables of the rich and great, here cools the 
 drink of the peasant, as well as his master; and 
 an ice-house is as essential here, as any of 
 the domestic offices are in England. I have 
 seen the ice on the Bog, double the thickness 
 spoken of in my journey. 
 
 The firing used here is either straw, or kis- 
 seek, which is the manure of the cow-yard, cut 
 in the spring, and properly dried for the pur- 
 pose : it is sold at twenty rubles per fathom, arid 
 is used for the kitchen. Straw is from two ru- 
 bles, to two rubles and fifty kopeeks per load, 
 
SUPPLY OF MARKETS. 99 
 
 and is the only firing used here for heating the 
 stoves. In many of the villages, near to those 
 parts of the rivers which most abound with 
 reeds, they constitute the chief, or only firing; 
 yet the perfection of their stoves is such, that 
 they are always adapted to the material by 
 which they are to be heated, and they always 
 produce a heat which makes the rigour of their 
 winters not felt in the house. 
 
 The market of Nicolayeff is held on Mon- 
 days and Fridays : it begins soon after day-, 
 break. Not only provisions, but all sorts of 
 things are brought into market for sale ; more 
 especially such articles as are either made by 
 the sailors, or are worn by, or required for their 
 use, or for the peasantry. The beef brought to 
 market here, is the very best I have seen in 
 Russia ; the mutton not so good. In the im- 
 mediate vicinity of this place, there are few 
 flocks kept, and those few are small ones. Of 
 oxen they have large herds, these being more 
 profitable. The butchers generally buy them 
 poor in the spring, and send them, at a very 
 trifling expence, to feed on the choicest Stepps 
 
 H2 
 
1 f\/\ 
 
 100 FISH MARKET. 
 
 till autumn, when they are killed for their 
 tallow ; the fore quarters are boiled down for 
 the fat, and the hind quarters of the bullock 
 may then be bought to salt for winter use, 
 as low as two rubles, to two rubles and fifty 
 kopeeks per pood, which latter is about seven 
 kopeeks per pound. 
 
 The fish market is most abundantly supplied ; 
 in summer, in too great profusion for the con- 
 sumption of the town ; in the spring and au- 
 tumn they salt great quantities for winter pro- 
 vision, and on account of their fasts. The fish 
 caught here, are the sturgeon, the beluga, the 
 sudac, pike, carp, tench, thornback a bitchkie, 
 perch, roach, dace, bream, whiting, plaice, and 
 sometimes turbot. Almost all fish here, are infi- 
 nitely larger, as well as finer flavoured, than 
 those of the same kinds in England*. 
 
 Vegetables are all very dear, especially those 
 
 * The largest belugas caught in the Ural, weigh often 
 five and twenty pood, and yield five pood of kaviarre. The 
 sturgeon are about a fathom in length; the largest weigh 
 five pood, and frequently contain a pood of kaviarre. Toofa's 
 Survey, vol. iii. p. 166. 
 
PRICES OF VEGETABLES AND WINES. 101 
 
 which require attention in raising, and much 
 water; and yet all may be cultivated on theStepp, 
 except cabbages, which are brought from Cher- 
 son to the Nicolayeff market, and are worth about 
 12 rubles the hundred. Onions are brought 
 from the Crimea; so also are grapes and apples, 
 and no fruit is abundant. Colonial produce is 
 here, and in all other towns, somewhat dear. 
 Crimean and Greek wines are to be had cheap. 
 French wines much cheaper than in England. 
 Bourdeaux 25 rubles per vedro, ( 10 quarts) ; 
 Marcellas 30 rubles per vedro ; sherry and Ma- 
 deira 35 rubles each ; brandy of two sorts, dis- 
 tilled from corn, the best of which is 14 rubles 
 per vedro : there is also brandy distilled from 
 fruit, which they call French brandy ; this is 
 somewhat dearer ; and Cognac is 5 rubles the 
 bottle. Malt cannot be bought except in very 
 small quantities, and that by favour ; but a fa- 
 mily who can manage to make their own malt, 
 will have no interference from the excise officer, 
 to prevent their brewing it, if it be for home 
 consumption, and not for sale. This is equally 
 applicable to all other parts of Russia. 
 
102 FAILURE OF GOOD INTENTIONS. 
 
 At the time I was at NicolayefF, there were 
 several English residents, though not all likely 
 to be stationary there ; as some were employed 
 in superintending particular departments in the 
 dock -yard, and were to go from thence to 
 Cherson. 
 
 I met at Nicolayeff, one of those gentlemen 
 who were sent over to England some years ago, 
 by the Russian government, to learn the system 
 of English agriculture. He appeared to re- 
 member with pleasure, the time he passed in 
 England. The policy of a plan, which seeks 
 the attainment of knowledge by means unfitted 
 for its end, is not very apparent ; and it is to be 
 regretted, that men of at least common capacity, 
 were not selected for the acquiring a system, 
 which was thought deserving of so much trouble 
 and expence. I remark this, because it is not 
 the only instance in Russia, in which the want 
 of skill in the professors, has endangered the 
 reputation of that science or art they were 
 expected to teach. 
 
 I was here during the celebration of the great 
 festival of Easter, which has been so well, and 
 
POPULATION OF ODESSA. 103 
 
 correctly described by Dr. Clarke, in his ac- 
 count of Moscow. 
 
 I found, on revisiting Odessa, that in the in- 
 terval of four years, the alterations in that place 
 were very great, and its improvements most 
 striking. Its size, its population, its import- 
 ance, are daily increasing. The number of its 
 inhabitants is now estimated at 40,000. In the 
 year 1819 seven hundred houses were built in 
 this town, and plans were laid out for eight 
 hundred more the following year. In one year 
 2000 ships visited this port, each of which took, 
 on an average, 2000 tchetverts, or Russian quar- 
 ters of corn. The price of transporting it, rose 
 in proportion to the demand, and five to six rubles 
 per tchetvert was paid by the merchant to trans- 
 port the grain from the warehouses, (or, as they 
 are there termed, magazines), to the quay. 
 
 The price of corn in the Odessa markets 
 changes from 12 to 30, and even up to 40 rubles 
 per tchetvert, according to the demand for it in 
 the Mediterranean ports. It is seldom so IOW T 
 as 12 rubles; and from 15 to 20 rubles per tchet- 
 vert, may be considered a fair average price. 
 
104 ENGLISH RESIDENTS AT ODESSA. 
 
 The Lyceum continues to rise in estimation, 
 and as the terms of admittance are considerably 
 increased, it being now 2000 rubles, or up- 
 wards, per annum, it becomes more select ; and 
 in fact none but the first nobility can afford 
 to place their children at this establishment. 
 
 There are several English families now resi- 
 dent at Odessa, and in its neighbourhood, almost 
 all of whom are engaged in commerce. 
 

 COLONIES OF NEW RUSSIA. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Introductory Remarks Of the Colonisation of 
 the Taurida Division of the Colonists 
 Boundary Line of Colonisation Of the 
 Odessa Colony System adopted by the Rus- 
 sian Oovernment Time of the earliest esta- 
 blishment of the Colonies Poll- Tax Power 
 of the Officers of the Crown over the Boors or 
 Peasants Villages of the Crimea. 
 
 THE History of the Crimea has been de- 
 tailed by many writers, from the time of its 
 earliest inhabitants, the Taurians, almost to the 
 present period. Of these histories, the most 
 accredited is that by Sisterenchovitch, (a Polish 
 nobleman), and published soon after the con- 
 
106 COLONIZATION Of NEW RUSSIA. 
 
 quest by the Russians. He has been followed, 
 amongst other and better writers, by M. Reuilly, 
 who accompanied Monsieur le Due de Richelieu, 
 when he was first appointed to the government 
 of the Taurida. Reuilly was supposed to have 
 been sent thither by Buonaparte, to sound the 
 feelings of the Tatars, and ascertain the political 
 state of the Crimea. His brief detail of the an- 
 cient history of this country is a recapitulation 
 of the above-mentioned writer ; and in his con- 
 tinuation of its history, he had an able coad- 
 jutor and friend in Professor Pallas: never- 
 theless, there are subjects where the hasty 
 judgment of a Frenchman is marked, or where 
 the interval of time since he wrote, has produced 
 change. 
 
 These alterations it is my intention to notice, 
 and to fill up the small space which other writers 
 have left, by giving some, though but an im- 
 perfect account, of the colonization of New 
 Russia, t5r of the Taurida in general, of which 
 the Crimea, it is well known, forms but a 
 part. 
 
 New Russia comprehends the governments of 
 
BY WHOM COLONIZED. 107 
 
 uirida, Ekaterinoslaff, and Cherson : extend- 
 ing eastward, it includes the district of Ekateri- 
 nodar in Asia; and to the west, we may comprise 
 within its boundaries, Bessarabia, and such part 
 of Moldavia as is now subject to Russia. 
 
 The whole of the government of the Taurida, 
 with the exception of the Crimea, is one united 
 mass of colonization. Of course, in point of 
 numbers, the Russians rank first, and occupy by 
 far the greatest part of this vast space, which, 
 previously to its conquest from the Tatars, was 
 a flat and fertile waste of interminable extent of 
 pasture land, over which the Nomadic nation 
 of Nogay Tatars wandered with their flocks and 
 herds. It is now colonized by, 1st, Little Rus- 
 sians; 2nd, Great Russians; 3rd, Nogay Ta- 
 tars ; 4th, Greeks ; 5th, Germans ; 6th, Arme- 
 nians; and, 7th, Bulgarians. The two latter are 
 comparatively few in number to the others. 
 
 The boundary line of colonization might be 
 extended to the Danube, including Bessarabia 
 and Moldavia, which assuredly form a most 
 material part of this immense colony, which is 
 twice as large as Great Britain, and its soil 
 
108 SOIL, AND RIVERS. 
 
 certainly thrice as fertile as that of England in 
 general ; so much of which requires artificial 
 help, and is made good and preserved so at 
 great expence, while much is incapable of any 
 great improvement. But in the country we are 
 describing, Nature reigns in her greatest luxuri- 
 ance of vegetation, and varies little in the ferti- 
 lity of the soil. From the Don to the Danube, 
 from Poland to the Black Sea, the soil is, with 
 few exceptions, a dark putrid loam of great 
 depth. This great colony likewise possesses the 
 advantage of being traversed in almost every 
 direction by some of the largest rivers in Eu- 
 rope the Danube, the Dniester, the Bog, the 
 Dnieper, the Don, and the Kuban; the smallest 
 of which is in magnitude superior to the Thames 
 or the Severn : the Danube, Dnieper, Bog, and 
 Don are alone navigable ; the remainder fertilize 
 the colony through which they flow, but do not 
 contribute to float its produce to the sea. 
 
 Upon this large and promising tract, the land 
 measurers of the government, in the surveys 
 which they were instructed to make, were or- 
 dered to set apart all the best spots, for the eco- 
 
DIVISION OF LAND TO VILLAGES. 109 
 
 nomical, or crown boors ; and this was effected, 
 by fixing upon all the land on both sides of the 
 great rivers above mentioned, from ten to fifteen 
 miles on either side, right and left of the same. 
 The allotments to each village, were of course 
 granted in proportion to the number of the co- 
 lonists to be fixed there, but, universally speak- 
 ing, the quantity of soil thrown to each village, 
 would appear to us to be extremely large, and 
 certainly out of all proportion to the population 
 established upon it at the time, or even com- 
 pared with what it has become since. The 
 colony of Odessa, or the district around that 
 city, consists of nearly five millions of acres 
 of land ; and as the whole contains only 180 lots, 
 the size of each allotment averages 28,000 
 acres : many villages are much larger, and some 
 of them have 100,000 acres, all of it fertile land. 
 A village of the last named quantity, was gene- 
 rally considered capable of supporting at its 
 establishment, from two, to three thousand revi- 
 sion souls, or twice that number of persons, or 
 about forty acres per male; or, at three revision 
 souls per family, one hundred and twenty acres 
 
110 FEUDAL SYSTEM. 
 
 per house. This proportion, if we consider the 
 unvaried fertility of the soil, is unquestionably 
 very great ; and the more especially, when it is 
 further considered, that the whole of it was a 
 vast plain of pasture, to convert which into 
 fields of corn, required no extraordinary exer- 
 tion or expence. 
 
 The great misfortune which has appeared to 
 operate in counteracting the beneficial effects, 
 which might otherwise naturally have been ex- 
 pected to result from so munificent a distribution 
 of the richest soil in a fine climate, contiguous 
 to navigation, the sea, and great markets, has 
 flowed from the mode of fixing these colonies. 
 The feudal system being adopted, every house 
 in a large village was consequently huddled and 
 jammed together, with no other separation be- 
 tween house and house, than space just suffici- 
 ent to enable the colonists to build their out- 
 houses around a small yard. The evils resulting 
 from this system, are in every point of view, 
 great beyond calculation. To mention only two 
 or three immediately affecting the colonist him- 
 self, we may observe, in seed, hay, and harvest- 
 
SUBDIVISION OF LAND. Ill 
 
 time, each family (leaving the old, and the very 
 young at home), quit the village, with their 
 teams, seed, provisions, fuel, &c., and take up 
 their quarters from five, to ten, or fifteen miles 
 distant, until the work which carried them 
 there, be finished, when they remove back to it 
 again. 
 
 During this interval, the shepherd, the herds- 
 man, the hogherd, each collect the live stock of 
 the community, drive them to pasture, and back, 
 and tend them in the field. Thus the murrain, 
 and other distempers, have no chance of being 
 confined to the spot where they first broke cut, 
 but ravage the herds and flocks of an entire vil- 
 lage, in which it not unusually happens that 
 three-fourths of the whole number are swept 
 away. Fires (which frequently take place), de- 
 stroy whole villages in a single night, and often, 
 with immense quantities of corn in the straw. 
 
 At every revision or census of the inhabitants, 
 the total quantity of land is regularly subdivided 
 in such a manner amongst the whole number of 
 revision males, that each has a part proportionate 
 to the quantity to be distributed; but all of it is 
 
112 BIGOTRY TO ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 
 
 intermixed. No family has the right of securing 
 to itself the allotted share for any greater length 
 of time than the space of one revision, that is, 
 three years ; or for a fallow and two crops of 
 corn. The population is then counted over 
 again, and a fresh distribution takes place. Not- 
 withstanding this apparently equal arrangement, 
 it always happens that some boors in every 
 village, by superior industry and fortuitous cir- 
 cumstances, continue to be richer than the rest, 
 and that others, by laziness, drunkenness, small 
 families, and sundry accidents, remain in a 
 state of comparative poverty : so that one boor 
 frequently serves another, letting out his own 
 labour and land to his more fortunate neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 This very system, however, having subsisted 
 throughout every part of the empire of Russia 
 from the remotest antiquity, it was not to be 
 expected that any other, or better plan of colo- 
 nizing their fertile deserts, could have been 
 adopted. Bigotted as the boors are univer- 
 sally allowed to be to their ancient customs in 
 every country, here the whole power of govern- 
 
POLL-TAX, AND PERSONAL SERVICE. H3 
 
 ment would have been utterly unavailing, to 
 bring about so great an improvement as that of 
 settling each family immediately on the land 
 intended for cultivation. The advantages 
 claimed in favour of the Russian plan of coloni- 
 zation, over that now alluded to, flows from 
 the principles of despotic government. The 
 cultivators of the soil are slaves, and as beasts 
 of burden, their prosperity is no otherwise con- 
 sidered of consequence by the government or 
 nobles, than as they contribute to pay poll-tax, 
 and furnish recruits to the former, and labour 
 the landed property of the latter. It is obvious 
 that these services are much more easily exacted 
 from the inhabitants of a village, whose houses 
 are built contiguous to each other, than when 
 they are remote, and dispersed over a wide ex- 
 tent of country. Added to which, is the supe- 
 rior facility of governing such villages ; of calling 
 them out to labour ; of watching their motions ; 
 of receiving the orders of the government or 
 their masters, and especially of calling out the 
 recruits ; very few of which would be procured, 
 if each family did not watch his neighbours' 
 
114 REVISION OF POPULATION. 
 
 actions, in this, as in many other of the above 
 cases, and report their observations to the offi- 
 cers of government: all of which are objects of 
 the very first magnitude*. It is, however, 
 equally clear, that agriculture cannot flourish 
 under such conditions; and the extraordinary 
 fertility of the soil, while liable to these and 
 other objections flowing from the same source, 
 has alone contributed to the support of this bar- 
 barous system. 
 
 The earliest establishment of the colonization 
 of Russia may be dated from the beginning of 
 Catherine the Second's reign. The revision of 
 their numbers is taken every third year ; and all 
 who are registered on the day of the revision, 
 (which is ascertained over the whole empire at 
 the same time), are liable till the new revision, 
 to a poll-tax of five rubles per male head, includ- 
 
 * It is essential to remember, that in all the demands of 
 the government on the peasant, whether for personal service 
 poll-tax, or recruits, &c. for the sum to be paid, the service 
 to be demanded, or the recruit to be furnished, government 
 calls, not on the individual, but the village, so that if any 
 be wanting, the rest are liable. 
 
OFFICERS OF POLICE. 115 
 
 ing all ages, whether any of them die or not in 
 the intermediate time ; but, on the other hand, 
 all the new-born are exempt during the same 
 period. 
 
 The boors are subject to many vexations, from 
 the abuse of power by the officers of the govern- 
 ment belonging to the Landed Tribunal. Armed 
 with the most absolute authority, they are chiefly 
 men of low rank and humble estate, and receiving 
 salaries of from two to three, or four guineas per 
 annum, they have recourse to all the abundant 
 means within their power of extending that in- 
 come. Apparently to deliver the orders of the 
 police, though often to live in free quarters, 
 these men are seen at all times, and in all places, 
 putting into requisition the boors and their 
 horses, and galloping over the district, to the 
 annoyance of the peasant, who is frequently 
 called from the harvest field, or other important 
 occupations, to furnish the required duty. They 
 eat and drink wherever they go ; and every pre- 
 text is laid hold of to oblige the boor to furnish 
 contributions of whatever he possesses, for them 
 to carry home to their families. 
 
 i2 
 
116 POPULATION OF THE CRIMEA. 
 
 The advantages of their situation seem how- 
 ever to overcome all the impediments in their 
 way ; and that the boors are increasing in 
 wealth and population, is at once evident, from 
 the immense supplies of wheat which (inde- 
 pendently of Poland) are annually sent from the 
 Russian colonies to the ports of the Black Sea ; 
 and so superior are the Russians in number to 
 the remainder of the colonists, that when com- 
 pared with all the other settlements put together, 
 they may be estimated in the proportion of thirty 
 to one. 
 
 The villages of the Crimea are much smaller 
 in general than those of the district north of Pe- 
 rekop, but the regulation of them is the same. 
 The proportion of colonists to that of free settlers 
 in the peninsula, is much smaller than in any 
 other part of this great colony. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 Governor- General of the Tauride Governor 
 and Government of the Krim Laiv Offices 
 The existing Abuses in them- Causes 
 thereof Forms observed, in the several Jour- 
 nies of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of 
 Russia throughout his Dominions Right to 
 purchase Slaves dependent on Rank Civi- 
 lization promoted by every means, and the 
 promulgation of Christianity sanctioned and 
 encouraged by the Monarch, and the most 
 powerful Princes of his Realm. 
 
 To the Duke de Richelieu, the great bene- 
 factor of Odessa, and of all New Russia, his 
 friend Count Langeron has succeeded, who by 
 virtue of his office as Governor-General of the 
 Tauride, is of course the head of the subordinate 
 government of the Krim ; and to him appeals 
 may be made, and petitions sent, as in our 
 courts of law, referring from a lower to an higher 
 judicature. The chief management of its affairs 
 
118 RUSSIAN TRIBUNALS. 
 
 are, however, vested in the Governor of the Cri- 
 mea, who has his residence at Akmetchet, or 
 Sympheropol. Under him are the tribunals of 
 law, called the Zemskoe Sood, or Land Tribu- 
 nal ; the Oyaeznoe Sood, or District Court, for 
 matters pertaining to the nobility; the Gybern- 
 skoe Pravlania, and a smaller court, which is 
 attached to each hundred, called Pravlania, 
 from the Russian word " pravet" to set right: 
 here lesser grievances are often adjusted, with- 
 out the necessity of carrying the appeal to a 
 higher court. The Zemskoe Sood, or Landed 
 Tribunal, is headed by an officer entitled Capi- 
 taine Espravnek, or, as the Tatars and Turks 
 call him, Kai-ma-kan. Below him are the 
 Zasiedattels, and one of whom is commonly or 
 frequently a Tatar ; the others Russian. In the 
 district of Kaffa there are four of these, and at 
 their command a certain number of strapchies, 
 or clerks. The Espravnek is, or ought to be, 
 of noble rank, and of some consequence in the 
 country, as the power vested in his hands is 
 very great. 
 
 The Russians have a proverb, which runs 
 
RUSSIAN PROVERB. 119 
 
 thus : " Sood lubeet Zoloto, ah strapchie sirebro" 
 or, " The sood love gold, and their clerks silver." 
 As I quote from a Russian book published in 
 1815, I cannot be said to satirize, when I confess 
 my belief of their proverb being a true one ; and 
 my knowledge that the government of the Krirn 
 is somewhat famous for verifying it. " Which," 
 said a gentleman, who was neither an English- 
 man or a Russian " which of the two do you 
 think most likely to succeed in this cause ? My 
 friend is ready to withdraw his claim, if it be 
 not founded in justice and truth." This was the 
 inquiry of a gentleman for his friend, to one of 
 the Zasiedattels. " How much money will your 
 friend give to have it settled ?" was the reply. 
 Whatever strictness or conscientious dealing 
 mark the heads of government in the Crimea, 
 the underlings, who live upon such small salaries, 
 take a watchful advantage of every opportunity 
 for increasing them, which their almost unli- 
 mited authority so frequently presents them with. 
 " I cannot take your money for what I am going 
 to do," said one of them, when a twenty-five 
 ruble note was offered to him " it is my duty 
 
120 CORRUPTION IN OFFICE. 
 
 to do it; but if you choose to make me any 
 present" a bow, which promised acceptance, 
 finished the speech. 
 
 The salary affixed to the office of Espravnek 
 is 250 rubles per annum ; which, it has been 
 confidently said, that he is able to stretch to 
 10,000. Whether it be really the case, that he is 
 gifted with the touch of Midas to such an extent, 
 I have not authority enough to vouch for ; but it 
 is an undoubted fact, that his nominal income is 
 very much below what he really receives, and 
 that all above the sum allowed by government, 
 is extorted from the Tatars, or received by way 
 of present, which the donors in most cases are 
 compelled to make, to avoid worse consequences. 
 
 They have another proverb, which will speak 
 for them better than I can it is this: " Nebo 
 Vicokie, ah Gocydar dalokie;" or, " Heaven is 
 high, and the Emperor is a long way off." Yet 
 the portrait of his Imperial Majesty is set up in 
 all their law offices, and all heads are uncovered 
 with the greatest reverence to the picture, and 
 an outward demeanour kept up, as though he 
 were indeed present to behold them ; they, how- 
 
FRAUDULENT PRACTICES. 121 
 
 ever, tenaciously remember, " Gocydar da- 
 lokieT This corruption, as may be reasonably 
 expected, defeats its own purpose ; and the man 
 who might possibly remain for years undisturbed 
 in the same office, is quickly removed, with the 
 hope of obtaining in another, a better and more 
 faithful servant. The causes which contribute 
 to this depravity are several; but chiefly the 
 very low salaries which, in the civil service 
 especially, is awarded to the servants of the 
 crown; and, according to their own proverb, its 
 distance from the seat of government makes cor- 
 ruption and fraud more easy. Another cause of 
 this monstrous depravity [is eminently owing to 
 the total neglect of every species of education 
 amongst the Russians; for this description of 
 people positively know nothing more of it than 
 how to hold a pen, or how to copy or scribble 
 voluminous reports, and other documents of their 
 numerous tribunals. 
 
 In an empire so extensive as that of Russia, 
 whatever be the eiforts, whatever the wishes of 
 him who governs, it is scarcely to be expected 
 their influence, so powerfully felt at the centre, 
 
122 THE EMPEROR'S VISIT TO THE CRIMEA. 
 
 can extend with equal force to those distant pro- 
 vinces, which his smile seldom visits, his pre- 
 sence rarely cheers. Yet here, though depravity 
 marks so many individuals, and they mar the en- 
 deavours which the Emperor is continually mak- 
 ing for the universal benefit of his subjects, even 
 here, he is beloved and respected, reverenced 
 and obeyed. 
 
 His visit to the Crimea was a subject of joy- 
 ful expectation before it took place ; and the 
 mild and conciliating manners of this most pow- 
 erful monarch, won the hearts of the humblest of 
 his subjects : few there are who do not boast of 
 having seen the Emperor Alexander, and not a 
 few who had the honour to converse with him. 
 Divested of the parade of state, he travelled 
 without any military escort, and won, or se- 
 cured the confidence of his people, by that he 
 evinced in them. Yet, to man is allotted no 
 good without alloy ; and the same sun which 
 nourishes and brings to perfection the healthy 
 and nutritious plant, draws up also the most 
 noxious weeds. As, however, cultivation over- 
 powers and destroys their number, so the spread- 
 
REGULATIONS ON THE EMPEROR'S JOURNEY. 123 
 
 ing of civilization, will lessen many of the moral 
 evils which now exist. 
 
 The manner in which his Imperial Majesty 
 travels, and the forms observed throughout his 
 journey, it may be well to notice. Previous to 
 his departure from the capital (where he is sel- 
 dom very long stationary), the route he deter- 
 mines to take is marked out, and those places at 
 which he will stop ; to these are affixed the date, 
 and time of the day he purposes to be there, from 
 which he seldom deviates : of this list, several 
 copies are printed, and distributed to the dif- 
 ferent governors of provinces through which the 
 Imperial suite is to pass ; the governor distributes 
 these lists to the Espravneks, and it is their duty 
 to assemble all the horses of the district to the 
 different stations, to be in readiness before the 
 appointed time. This, in a district sometimes con- 
 taining 20,000 souls, is no inconsiderable office ; 
 and in the Crimea is said to have afforded a 
 golden harvest to those who had the trouble of it; 
 for the rich and noble bribed high to be exempted 
 from sending their horses, and those of the poor 
 only were sent to this service. 
 
124 REGULATIONS RESPECTING SLAVES. 
 
 The Emperor's suite on this occasion, con- 
 sisted of twenty-three carriages, all of which 
 were drawn by eight horses, except two or three 
 occupied by the domestics, which had six only. 
 The carriage of a general officer preceded the Im- 
 perial carriage, that all might be in readiness, 
 and the work of changing horses was almost in- 
 stantaneous, where the Emperor found no in- 
 ducement to delay. 
 
 No foreigner can now purchase slaves in Rus- 
 sia, and a late excellent ukaz has enacted, that 
 a Russian, or naturalized subject, must have 
 civil rank, equal to that of Lieutenant in the 
 army, or one degree lower only in the military 
 service, to admit of his purchasing an estate, 
 and consequently possessing slaves. Formerly 
 the wearing a sword, which, raising a man one 
 degree above the private or common soldier, 
 constituted him a noble, was a privilege that 
 also gave him this power of purchasing property, 
 and possessing slaves. 
 
 The nobles, however, may sell property to 
 their own slaves, who thus, through the favour 
 of the monarch, are encouraged and stimulated 
 
EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 125 
 
 to industry, by the promised reward of freedom. 
 The abridgment of this right of purchase, by 
 slow and gradual means, is one of the most 
 needful steps towards emancipation ; and while 
 his Imperial Majesty thus forwards, and endea- 
 vours to promote this Christian work, he sees 
 the necessity of civilization going hand in hand 
 with freedom. 
 
 The free-born Briton, will perhaps think it 
 impossible, that emancipation should not give 
 happiness the moment it is conferred ; yet, 
 certain it is, that the Russian peasant is hap- 
 pier, and has fewer wants unsatisfied, than the 
 peasantry of that country whose liberty is her 
 boast ; and we had, during our journey across 
 the Continent of Russia, more than one proof 
 given to us, that this blessing, in the hands of 
 those who know not how to use it, soon ceases 
 to be valued, even by themselves. " Take us 
 back again to your service," said the slaves of a 
 Polish nobleman of high rank, who had given 
 freedom to one of his villages " when we were 
 with you, we wanted nothing ; now we are free, 
 vre want every thing!" So true is it, that the 
 
126 PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 
 
 Russian, accustomed from his infancy to find all 
 his wants supplied upon the estate to which he 
 belongs, is too thoughtless and improvident, to 
 have the care and provision for a family, devolve 
 upon himself. 
 
 That civilization will not raise the Russian 
 boor to a more respectable rank in the scale of 
 human existence, who can doubt? It is the 
 want of light, and not the incapacity to receive 
 it, which makes him what he is. The progress 
 of civilization must, however, be slow in this 
 vast empire, even though every incitement be 
 given by him who is universally believed to have 
 the best interests of his subjects at heart. The 
 increased facility afforded to commerce, the 
 encouragement given to foreign settlers, the 
 ready attention shown to strangers, the aid 
 granted to public works, and the increase of 
 manufactures, all speak an awakened, and an 
 anxious attention to the public good. Know- 
 ledge, though she slowly dawn in the Russian 
 horizon, will yet spread increasing brightness 
 over their hemisphere. The bigot bonds of the 
 priesthood will be broken, the interest of the 
 
INTRODUCTION OF MISSIONARIES. 127 
 
 nobles united with that of the people, and in- 
 dustry will supply the increasing wants, which 
 freedom must produce. May we not with san- 
 guine expectation look for such a result, when we 
 see Christianity assisting, by her pure and ener- 
 getic light, to dispel the gloom of ignorance, and 
 find the cause supported, not only by the mo- 
 narch himself, but also by the most powerful 
 princes of the realm, and the dignitaries of the 
 church, who with a most honourable zeal have 
 given their sanction, and lent their aid, to those 
 who, knowing and estimating the important 
 truths of religion, desire to spread wide the 
 blessings, and dispense its gifts around a dark 
 and sinful world*. 
 
 * Amongst many of the uncivilized hordes subjected to 
 Russia, missionaries are now residing, and schools are estab- 
 lishing. The northern, the southern, and the eastern extre- 
 mities of this vast empire, are now visited by these messen- 
 gers of peace ; to those who were in darkness, a light hath 
 sprung up, and the rose will yet bloom in the desert. 
 
 Since I left South Russia, the establishment of two mis- 
 sionaries in the Crimea has taken place ; and the Missionary 
 Register of January 1823, states the return of the Sultan 
 
128 MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Katte Ghery to the peninsula, who in company with Mr* 
 Lewis Way, and a Polish Rabbi, visited it during my resi- 
 dence there : the school now proposed was then talked of. 
 That the Tatars will be won to confidence by the mild and 
 gentle demeanour of Christian ministers, I feel little doubt ; 
 and this confidence once perfected, and schools established 
 with any success, a more abundant harvest may be hoped 
 for from the Crimean Tatars than from any other of the Ma- 
 hommedan subjects of Russia. The residence of the Sultan 
 (the acknowledged descendant of their Khans), may be ex- 
 pected to have great weight and influence in favour of the 
 cause he has engaged in ; and I am induced to think, no 
 missionaries will have fewer hardships and privations, or fewer 
 impediments to contend against, than those of Crim Tatary. 
 Should the one great difficulty of exciting the Tatar mind to 
 active enquiry, be accomplished, we shall perhaps soon have 
 cause to rejoice in the fruit of their labours. Since it hath 
 pleased the Lord of the harvest to send forth these his la- 
 bourers, may he bless their ministry with increase, and sa- 
 tisfy the poor with bread. 
 
 I subjoin from Baron de Tott's Memoirs, an explanation of 
 the rank of Sultan. 
 
 " The word Sultan is a title given to the Ottoman princes 
 born while their fathers were in possession of the throne, and 
 to those of the Giuzuisian family. It is pronounced Sooltan, 
 and no doubt is the same with Soudan, which in Egypt may 
 signify king ; but in Turkey or Tartary conveys no idea of 
 
MISSIONARIES. 129 
 
 sovereign authority. The title of Cham (or Khan) is assumed 
 by the sovereign of the Tartars, and is equivalent to that of 
 Shah, which signifies king among the Persians." " The epi- 
 thet Sultan, therefore, is bestowed on him who enjoys the 
 right of succession ; and this, by the Turkish law, belongs to 
 the eldest of the family." 
 
 K 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 Commission for Examining the Titles of Disputed 
 Lands Size of Estates in the Crimea In- 
 come Tax The Government of the Penin- 
 sula somewhat more independent than other 
 parts of Russia Of the Merchants, and the 
 Rules and Regulations to which they are 
 subject Of Recruits Sea-port Town of 
 Kaffa, or Theodosia Its Government 
 M. Engell, a late Governor Revenue 
 Comparative Statement of its former Splen- 
 dour, and its present Condition Free School 
 Museum Trade. 
 
 THE Commission for examining the titles of 
 disputed lands, called in Russ Spornie Com- 
 missie, seems to have been very unsuccessful in 
 its labours; the boundaries of estates in the 
 Crimea are still very indistinctly known, and 
 many, if not most of them, are involved in a 
 perplexity, which appears to be hopeless from 
 its long continuance. The size of the largest 
 
EXTENT OF ESTATES. 131 
 
 estates in the Crimea, are not to be compared 
 with those of the colonies on the northern shores 
 of the Black Sea, and Asoph ; but they greatly 
 exceed our ideas of a large estate, some few con- 
 taining twelve thousand desaiteens, or twenty- 
 eight thousand English acres*: the smallest 
 ones, from five hundred to one thousand de- 
 saiteens. The only tax paid by the proprietor, 
 is that upon income, at the rate of six per cent. 
 The government of this peninsula, though in 
 most of its forms similar to that of the other 
 provinces of Russia, has yet some peculiarities 
 attaching to it, which make it more indepen- 
 dent, and consequently as a residence for a 
 stranger, preferable to many parts of Russia. 
 
 It is not absolutely necessary to be natura- 
 lized, or become a Russian subject, to be an in- 
 habitant here ; except for the merchants, who 
 are required to enrol themselves in one of three 
 classes, according to their means or their wishes. 
 In the first of these, they are expected or sup- 
 posed to possess property in the town to which 
 they belong, to the amount of 20,000 rubles; 
 
 * The Russian desaiteen is 2f English acres. 
 K2 
 
132 LEVYING RECRUITS. 
 
 the second class, to the amount of 10,000 ; > 
 and the burghers, or lower class, 5000 rubles : 
 of course I refer to the towns of the Crimea. In 
 Russia Proper, the capital necessary to become 
 a merchant of any of the guilds, is considerably 
 greater. This however is evaded, and not so 
 much for the casual expence to which it subjects 
 them, as on account of the fetters it brings with 
 it ; since a person thus naturalized, cannot leave 
 the empire without giving acceptable bond for 
 his return thither. 
 
 There are, however, many advantages which 
 the government have the power of giving to 
 those who come under their protection, and he 
 who consults his interest rather than his inclina- 
 tion, will do well to accept it. The first two 
 classes of merchants are exempt from furnishing 
 recruits ; but the burghers find them ; and the 
 price of a recruit, rises in proportion to the num- 
 ber demanded by government from every hun- 
 dred male souls; varying from 1200 to 2000 
 rubles. In the late war, five recruits from one 
 hundred males, were levied annually. This 
 fell with great severity on the large as well as 
 
RUSSIAN MERCHANTS. 133 
 
 the small landed proprietors, and the value of 
 a recruit rose in many places much higher than 
 what I have stated here, notwithstanding the 
 senate had fixed the price of 1260 rubles for 
 one. 
 
 The Russian merchants may be considered as 
 forming an intermediate class between the nobles 
 and the peasantry. Those of the first guild or 
 class, are said to rank as Majors in the Civil 
 Service ; while the lowest class includes all the 
 petty shopkeepers of every description, who 
 equally denominate themselves kopetts, or mer- 
 chants. 
 
 The town o Kaffa has a Nachalnek, or Chief, 
 of its own, who is commonly, though improperly, 
 designated Governor. His jurisdiction extends 
 to the town alone. The late Chief, M. Engell, 
 a man highly calculated for this appointment, 
 reformed many abuses which had crept into the 
 quarantine and customs, and exercised a watch- 
 ful care in behalf of the government, which was 
 felt by many who had before acknowledged, in 
 the words of an officer, the Director-General of 
 the Quarantine, " Ilfaut voter, Monsieur!" 
 
134 PRODUCE OF CUSTOMS. 
 
 The produce of the customs in the year 1818, 
 was 250,000 rubles; but in the administra- 
 tion of this governor, it increased to 700,000 
 rubles. Such was the difference between honesty 
 and corruption ! 
 
 M. Engell, after his first year's administra- 
 tion, went to St. Petersburgh to give an account 
 of it ; and previous to his departure he declared 
 in public, that if he could not persuade the go- 
 vernment to give their consent to the execution 
 of some plans he had formed for the advantage 
 of the town, he should never return to it. He 
 did not succeed ; and another was appointed to 
 the office, which he had once avowed it was the 
 extent of his wishes to fill honourably, and for 
 which he had declined the offer of a more lucra- 
 tive or honourable post. 
 
 This gentleman also endeavoured to effect an 
 alteration in the terms of tenure, which, if it 
 prove successful, will greatly enhance the value 
 of estates, and be a spur to the sluggish spirits 
 of the tenantry. Upon his own estate, he had 
 demanded from the Tatars fifty kopeeks per 
 head, per annum, for every ewe sheep and Iamb, 
 
KAFFA, OR THEODOSIA. 135 
 
 and two rubles per head for each working ox, or 
 cow and calf; smaller cattle to pay from fifty 
 kopeeks to one ruble, according to their age. 
 I left the Crimea before the effect of this arrange- 
 ment could be known ; but I have since heard, 
 that the Tatars considered it as novel as it was 
 oppressive, and many families left the property 
 in consequence. 
 
 To the town of Kaffa belongs twenty thousand 
 desaiteens of land ; originally ten thousand only 
 were granted, which have been, by the interest 
 and solicitations of different governors, increased 
 to the present quantity. This, however, pro- 
 duces only a revenue of two thousand five hun- 
 dred rubles, it being a thin gravelly soil, and 
 growing generally very meagre crops of corn; 
 but it also grazes several thousand sheep in the 
 spring and early part of the summer. The revenue 
 of this town-land belongs to the magistracy, and 
 is spent in town charges of various descriptions. 
 
 KafFa, so called by the Tatars and Latins, 
 and by the Russians and Greeks, Theodosia, on 
 the supposition of its being the site of the an- 
 cient Greek town of that name, was in its pros- 
 
136 ANCIENT STATE OF KAFFA. 
 
 perity under the Genoese, often designated Krim 
 Stamboul, or Constantinople of the Crimea, and 
 by the Tatars has since been, and is even now, 
 very frequently called Kutchuk Stamboul, or 
 Little Constantinople. This place, it is said, 
 once contained within its walls 36,000 houses, 
 and, including its suburbs, not less than 44,000. 
 In the year 1780, we are told it had only 100 
 houses, and in 1800 it is stated by Dr. Clarke to 
 have had a population of only fifty families. (This 
 I cannot conceive to have been correct). Since 
 then, the dreadful havoc of the plague of 1812 
 has depopulated its houses, destroyed the pro- 
 perty of every individual, and for a time seemed 
 to have annihilated both the means and the 
 spirit for commerce. At this period it lost 3000 
 persons. 
 
 But the alteration which a few years can 
 produce, is seldom more strongly evinced than 
 on the shores of the Black Sea : scarcely a sea- 
 port around its confines that is not capable of 
 bringing incontestible proof of this ; and chief 
 of all of them is Odessa in its present state! 
 That, with the return of quiet and confidence, the 
 
FREE SCHOOL AT KAFFA. 137 
 
 revival of commerce should take place, was 
 reasonably to be expected, particularly as the 
 ports of the Crimea afforded such facility to the 
 navigator, and especially the port of Kaifa. That 
 its traffic is reviving, and its 'population rapidly 
 increasing, is unquestionable. In the year 1820, 
 no less than fifty houses were built at Kaifa, and 
 the incorrectness of my former statement in the 
 population of this place, was in under-rating its 
 numbers, since it contained in that year ( 1820 ) 
 five thousand inhabitants, without including the 
 garrison, which consists of from twelve to fifteen 
 hundred men. 
 
 Perhaps I have equally under-rated the popu- 
 lation of Akmetchet, which I doubt not, accord- 
 ing to the latest revision, must also have in- 
 creased materially in number. Kaffa has a free 
 school endowed by the Emperor Alexander, 
 where five different languages are taught: 
 Russian, Turkish or Tatar, Greek, and I be- 
 lieve, Italian and French. The Sclavonian 
 language is also taught, but its study is confined 
 to those intended for the church. Here is also a 
 small museum, established by M. Broneffskey, 
 
138 TRADE OF KAFFA. 
 
 when he was Nachalneck of the town; but it 
 contains nothing of note, and is said to have 
 been pillaged. 
 
 The churches of the Crimea are poor, and bear 
 no comparison with those which in all the prin- 
 cipal towns of the Continent mark the love of 
 splendour and pomp, in both the Greek and 
 Latin churches. Here perhaps I ought to except 
 the new and magnificent church recently erected 
 at Sympheropol, though, for want of money to 
 finish it, it is suspended in its execution, and re- 
 mains uncompleted. 
 
 The trade of the town of Kaffa consists chiefly 
 in the export of wheat ; beside which barley, 
 salt, and a few manufactures in iron and woollen. 
 The imports are somewhat more numerous: 
 Greek wines, dried fruits, Turkish stuffs, silks, 
 and other manufactures, raw cotton, and a few 
 copper utensils ( smuggled). 
 
 Some Italian and French products find admis- 
 sion ; but the chief articles sold in their shops 
 are of Russian manufacture, and brought from 
 the interior, or else Turkish, either from Constan- 
 tinople or Trebizond. Kaffa is inferior to the 
 
GROWTH OF WHEAT. 139 
 
 other towns of the Crimea, in point of local 
 situation for communicating with the interior of 
 Russia and Poland; and the peninsula being 
 inhabited by the non-consuming and non-pro- 
 ductive race of Tatars, its materials for foreign 
 markets are very insignificant. Even in the great 
 article of wheat, for the growth of which it is so 
 peculiarly well adapted, both from its soil and 
 local situation, it adds but a mere trifle to that 
 immense quantity which is sometimes shipped 
 from Kaffa and Kosloff ; almost every grain of 
 which is brought into the Crimea to be exported 
 from those two towns. 
 
 Three hundred years before the Christian j^Era 
 the trade of Theodosia, in wheat, for Athens 
 and other ports of the Mediterranean, was far 
 greater than it is now : probably in a twenty- 
 fold ratio greater ; and all of it grew in the penin- 
 sula: but it was then inahbited by a race of men 
 very different from the poor and sluggish Tatars. 
 
 There were no Consuls resident at Kaffa, at 
 the time I left, but the appointment of an English 
 Vice-Consul there had long been spoken of, and 
 has probably taken place. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the Nogay Tatars Their chief Settlement, 
 particular Habits, 8fc t - Greek Colonists 
 Present Greek Settlers in the Krim Cha- 
 racter, Occupation, Dress, and Manners of 
 the Women Marriages. 
 
 I NOW proceed to give some account sepa- 
 rately of the other colonists. After the great and 
 little Russians, the Nogay Tatars, Greek, and 
 German colonists may be next classed ; but in 
 point of numbers, it is doubtful which should 
 have the preference: they may be reckoned at 
 from twenty-five to thirty-five thousand inhabi- 
 tants in each colony. 
 
 The Nogay Tatars, if not the original inhabi- 
 tants of the country, at least wandered over the 
 immense Stepps of New Russia, with their tents, 
 flocks, and herds, at the time of the Russian 
 Conquest, and for ages before : this remnant of 
 the Nomades of Nogay Tatary, are now col- 
 lected together in a number of villages, of a 
 
NOttAY TATARS. 
 
 141 
 
 somewhat similar description, (though much 
 meaner and dirtier buildings) to those of theKrim 
 Tatars. They inhabit that part of the Taurida, 
 which now goes by the name of Moloshnia Voda. 
 The government have at length conquered the 
 inveterate prejudices of this wandering horde, 
 and induced them to lay aside their roving habits, 
 settling them in villages, and inciting them to 
 cultivate the ground. They are, however, of all 
 the colonists, far the worst cultivators ; and are 
 still much addicted to grazing large flocks and 
 herds, and numerous studs of mares. Under 
 the encouragement of government, agriculture 
 has, nevertheless, much increased amongst them ; 
 arising in a great degree from the high price of 
 wheat; and large quantities of this grain are 
 now annually transported from the interior to the 
 sea-side by these people. 
 
 The moral character of the Nogays is of the 
 worst description, and there is hardly any kind 
 of mischief which they will not perpetrate. In 
 horse-stealing they have no rivals, the Cossacks, 
 in this respect, being much their inferiors. It is 
 a trade which they practise with great success, 
 
142 NOTORIOUS HORSE-STEALERS. 
 
 and much profit. The plan they follow is, to 
 steal horses from the neighbourhood in which 
 they live, and take them to the Crimea to sell : 
 here they steal others, which they dispose of 
 in their own neighbourhood ; and although this 
 traffic is notorious, and has been carried on to a 
 great extent for many years, it is remarkable 
 how they manage to evade or satisfy the officers 
 of government, the more especially, as there is 
 a ferry at Tonki which must be crossed in pass- 
 ing and repassing, in and out of the Crimea, 
 which subjects every body to examination, and 
 where all passports are registered. A French 
 nobleman is at present Director-General of the 
 whole establishment of Nogays, and resides 
 amongst them*. 
 
 The Greek colonists are seated on the western 
 side of the sea of Asoph, and occupy the district 
 of Mariopol, of which the town of that name is 
 the capital. They are divided into twenty-four 
 large and flourishing villages. In the year 1778 
 
 * For a further account of them, see Mr. Whittington's 
 Memoir, in Walpole's Travels in the East. 
 
T '(!> !L 1 
 
 C\i\ J M K A 
 
GREEK COLONISTS. 143 
 
 they petitioned to become Russian subjects, 
 which was granted by a manifesto of Catherine 
 in 1779. They are therefore subject to the same 
 laws and regulations as the Russians, finding 
 recruits, paying capitation tax, and other taxes, 
 and personal service when demanded, and belong 
 to the Russian tribunals in the same manner as 
 the Russian colonist. Soon after the cession of 
 the Crimea to Russia, the Greeks were com- 
 pelled to quit the peninsula, that they might 
 not give assistance to the Turks and Tatars, in 
 their endeavours to repossess themselves of this 
 country. Whether or no this was the true 
 motive, the effect was that of driving them into 
 the interior, and their landed property thus re- 
 verted to government. The Greeks who now 
 reside in the Crimea, are for the most part new 
 settlers from Anatolia, who came for the pur- 
 pose of accumulating a certain sum, with which 
 they intend to return to their " native land," 
 for which even Turkish domination had not obli- 
 terated the love. The late events must, how- 
 ever, have wrought a change in this respect, 
 and many who were anticipating the period of 
 
144 CHARACTER OP THE GREEKS. 
 
 revisiting Anatolia, will rejoice at their present 
 security from the storm which has spread so 
 much devastation around. 
 
 The character of the Greeks is exceedingly 
 litigious ; they are jealous of each other's pros- 
 perity, and anxiously engage in the pursuit of 
 gain. They live in the most parsimonious man- 
 ner, and I have seen them, though employed in 
 day labour, subsisting on onions, or garlic and 
 bread. They are rigid observers of the fasts of 
 their own church, and as attentive rejoicers upon 
 each festival ; often making those as great holi- 
 days, which the Russian calendar marks as slight 
 ones, and of which the Russian priests less pe- 
 remptorily exact the observance. Though thus 
 religiously attentive to their fasts and feasts, 
 they do not, however, seem to consider the ne- 
 cessity of public worship so great, nor do they 
 provide for it as the Tatars do, who have no 
 village without a metchet (mosque) or place 
 used for public worship. This, though in many 
 cases its exterior is no better than a cottage, 
 nor has it other decoration to boast of within, 
 than clean walls and a matted floor ; yet as a 
 
OCCUPATIONS OF THE GREEKS. 145 
 
 place for religious ceremony, it is never entered 
 without respect and solemnity. 
 
 How is it that these people rank so much 
 higher in attention to their profession than many 
 Christians, who wholly neglect the express in- 
 junction of the Apostles for assembling them- 
 selves together; and seem to consider, when 
 distributed in small communities, that they are 
 exempted from the duty of public worship? 
 
 The village Greeks content themselves with 
 an occasional appearance at the church of the 
 nearest town ; where, however, upon special 
 occasions, such as the great festival of Easter, 
 whole villages may be found. In the large 
 towns there are Greek as well as Russian 
 churches, but to this, Staria Grim is an excep- 
 tion. 
 
 The occupations of the Greeks are perhaps 
 more various than those of most of the settlers. 
 In the towns they are found as respectable mer- 
 chants, as small shopkeepers, keepers of the 
 khans, &c. The Greeks also are the only fishers 
 who adventure far for the purpose of fishing ; 
 but notwithstanding the quantity and variety of 
 
146 SUPPLY OP FISH. 
 
 fish which may be caught with little trouble in 
 the Black Sea, the markets are very ill supplied. 
 Salt-fish is furnished from Kertch alone, though 
 each town on the coast affords abundance for its 
 own consumption. Fresh fish is bought up in- 
 stantly it comes into market, and double or 
 treble the quantity that usually contents the 
 fisherman, might readily be sold. At Kertch 
 more attention is paid to this employment, as 
 the fisheries form a productive part of the 
 revenue of estates, and it becomes the interest 
 of the proprietor to render that as profitable as 
 possible. The sturgeon is here caught and 
 cured ; and the mullet is frequently in the mar- 
 kets of Kaifa. Besides these, are mackarel of a 
 smaller species than the English ; several sorts 
 of flat fish, soles, turbots of two sorts, and 
 oysters in plenty. 
 
 In the villages they enter partially into agri- 
 cultural pursuits, cultivating as much ground 
 as will give the produce necessary for their 
 own private consumption; but they are bad 
 farmers, and not much skilled in the manage- 
 ment of cattle : they, however, accumulate herds 
 
CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 147 
 
 of cows and oxen, and live much upon the pro- 
 duce of the former : eat the milk sour as the 
 Tatars do, and make a much better sort of 
 cheese. Few of them keep sheep, and such as 
 do, entrust the management of them to Tatars, 
 or Bulgarians ; but the losses in small flocks 
 make them very unprofitable. 
 
 The chief attention of the Greek villagers is 
 given to the planting and raising tobacco and 
 cabbages ; and such situations as are eligible 
 for these purposes have been chosen for their 
 villages. I have already spoken of the culti- 
 vation of cabbages : the tobacco is a tender 
 plant, and also depends much upon the care 
 bestowed to weed and irrigate it. The pull- 
 ing it affords a busy season to all the inhabi- 
 tants of the cottage; and when housed, it is 
 strung, or tied singly, by the stalk of the leaf, 
 on long threads, and hung up under sheds, 
 exposed to the air and sun, but kept from 
 rain, until it be thoroughly dried: it is then 
 packed in an inner apartment, ready for sale. It 
 bears price according to the season, from one 
 ruble and twenty kopeeks to two rubles; but 
 
 L2 
 
148 GREEK ARTISANS. 
 
 averaging one ruble and a half, or fifteen pence 
 per oka. 
 
 Amongst the Greeks are commonly found 
 artisans of different sorts, but especially masons 
 and carpenters ; and those who do not occupy 
 themselves in the gardens, or at seasons when 
 their work there is not required, always find 
 employment in the towns as builders, &c. It 
 is a common thing to see the Greek men engaged 
 in making worsted, or knitting stockings: an 
 effeminate occupation this, and a strong con- 
 trast to the noble games which once excited 
 their ardour and engaged their pursuit. The 
 women are extremely dirty in their houses and 
 in their persons : in two villages near us, I 
 never found any of the Greek cottages that in- 
 duced me, either by its own appearance or that 
 of its mistress, to be a frequent visitor, while I 
 was often a daily attendant at one or other of the 
 Tatar cottages. The little they have of furni- 
 ture is in the Tatar style ; but the black aspect 
 of their smoked walls seems to accord with every 
 thing around them ; and the mother, with un- 
 combed locks and unwashed hands, cannot rank 
 
GREEK COSTUME. 149 
 
 amongst her possessions, or those of her hus- 
 band, the comfort of a clean hearth, or the 
 charms of order and neatness. His dirty chil- 
 dren may, perhaps, welcome his return home 
 as warmly as others, and he possibly finds no 
 misery in that to which habit has reconciled 
 him. 
 
 The women wear the Turkish habit, even to 
 the veil ; they are dark in complexion, with in- 
 telligent dark eyes ; they stain their hair and 
 eye-brows black, and the hair is braided, and 
 hangs down the back as a Tatar woman's. The 
 Greek merchants, however, and their wives and 
 families, dress in the European style ; while the 
 men among the peasantry retain the ancient 
 Greek costume, and are immediately distin- 
 guishable by their dress. The turban worn by 
 the men is very becoming, and they pride them- 
 selves upon having it handsome, nay even costly ; 
 and a Turkish shawl is often the ornament of 
 the head, when the rest of the dress is by no 
 means correspondent. A shawl is likewise worn 
 by some around the waist ; and the well-dressed 
 Greek becomes his attire^ for they are fine 
 
150 BETROTHING CHILDREN. 
 
 handsome men, and though not generally above 
 middle stature, are more than usually strong and 
 powerful, and are remarkable for being able to lift 
 and carry great weights. I have seen the Greek 
 boys mount a ladder, with a quantity of stones 
 on their backs, which our porters would think 
 no inconsiderable burden. 
 
 The Greek children are early betrothed, and 
 the marriage formed upon motives of policy by 
 the parents, which the children, I believe, seldom 
 refuse to ratify, since they marry at too early an 
 age to have an opinion on the subject, or, at 
 least, to be likely to feel influenced by any con- 
 siderate motives themselves; it is therefore so 
 far well that the discretionary power is in the 
 hands of those who are likely to exercise it with 
 more judgment; and as to the feelings which a 
 refined sensibility produces here, they are not 
 expected to be found. At the time a Greek girl is 
 affianced, the father of the intended bridegroom 
 makes presents to his daughter-in-law, or to her 
 father, in proportion to his circumstances ; and 
 he is bound to aid, according to his means, in 
 providing for the young couple. At fourteen, 
 
GREEK WEDDINGS. 151 
 
 and I have heard sometimes even at twelve, the 
 girls are married ; and at sixteen or seventeen 
 the boy takes upon him man's estate, and be- 
 comes master of a family. 
 
 The Greek weddings in the Crimea are a 
 mixed ceremony, partaking of their own gayer 
 forms, and also of the Tatar ceremonials. The 
 bride, deeply veiled, is conducted to her new 
 abode, with as many carriages and attendants 
 as they have the power of mustering : yet she 
 is allowed to join the dance with the gay com- 
 panions the marriage-feast has called together. 
 The day after the wedding, she is destined to 
 the form of standing in one corner of the room, 
 not appearing as an English bride, the object 
 of affection, and the centre to which all the 
 kind wishes of her friends are attracted, but 
 rather, that of rude curiosity, and more like 
 the school-girl, who, having transgressed, is 
 set as the mark of derision and observation, for 
 the advantage of her companions. I know not 
 if the bride be enjoined so long a silence as 
 that of eight days, which is spoken of by Dr. 
 Hunt, in his brief account of a Greek wedding, 
 
152 SINGULAR CUSTOM. 
 
 but certain it is, that she is destined to stand a 
 silent statue, as long as the people chuse to 
 come to stare at her : when I have been present, 
 I was always glad to get leave for the dance to 
 begin (the romaika), which was much the best 
 part of the ceremony. 
 
 I had no opportunity of seeing a Greek wed- 
 ding in Kaffa, but I have no doubt they are 
 conducted on more civilized principles in the 
 towns. Pallas has given a description of this 
 kind ; though for the most part their native 
 customs are probably broken in upon by the 
 different usages of the nations amongst whom 
 they are residing. 
 
CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Further Particulars of the Crimean Greeks 
 Language Greek Family at Sudac Silk 
 Worms Of the German Colonists The pe- 
 culiar Advantages they have enjoyed The 
 Result The Occupation The Character of 
 these People The Mennonists, or Moravians 
 German Cottages Visit of their Priests. 
 
 I HAD many strong reasons to remark the 
 powerful effect of prejudice over the mind; and 
 the slow degrees by which light dawns upon 
 the uninformed, who ever appear to love dark- 
 ness rather than light. In particular, the for- 
 cible objection which exists, not to vaccination 
 only, but to inoculation also. In a small village 
 of ten or twelve houses, in the summer of one 
 year, out of the number who had the small-pox, 
 four persons had it so violently, that none were 
 expected to recover ; two of them were a young 
 man and his wife, who had only been married 
 a few months : she and another died of the dis- 
 
154 SMALL-POX AND VACCINATION. 
 
 order, and the two who recovered were both fine 
 young men, but were so shockingly marked, 
 that they could not bear for a long time after to 
 see the change thus wrought in their appear- 
 ance. The following year, when I had my 
 youngest child vaccinated, I endeavoured, 
 through the medium of the most intelligent 
 amongst them, to have their children vaccinated 
 also. The fathers assented, but the prejudices 
 of the mothers could not be overcome, and the 
 consequence was, the loss of one of the stew- 
 ard's children soon after, by this virulent dis- 
 order. The reason assigned, was of course 
 founded upon their belief in predestination 
 " That which God ordains," they say, " will 
 happen." Thus in a very mistaken kind of re- 
 signation to divine power, they tempt the fate 
 which threatens them, instead of using such 
 means as, under the blessing of God, might be 
 expected to avert impending calamity. 
 
 Notwithstanding what has been said, the 
 Greeks have a more awakened curiosity than 
 the Tatars ; they can be made to understand the 
 possible existence of things which they have not 
 
ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGES. 155 
 
 seen, and they listen with interest, to the com- 
 parative accounts of the productions or the cus- 
 toms of other countries. 
 
 The Greeks speak the Turkish and Tatar lan- 
 guage as fluently as their own ; many of them 
 the Russian language also. Indeed the acquisi- 
 tion of languages, though forming indispensibly 
 a part, and a principal part, of a foreign educa- 
 tion, is by no means a proof of education, since 
 they are acquired without study, in the conti- 
 nual intermixture of the people of so many na- 
 tions ; and we have had servants who were able 
 to speak five languages. The women speak 
 the Greek only, which varies considerably from 
 that classical language, as taught in our schools. 
 The Greek women of the Crimea are not merely 
 retiring, but repellant in their manners : I speak 
 of the peasantry, not those of the towns, who, 
 with the European costume, have put on the 
 manners of civilization. 
 
 At our visit to Sudac, in the route of the south 
 coast, we were received and most pleasantly 
 lodged at the house of a worthy old Greek and 
 his wife, who have often given refuge to such 
 
156 SILK WORMS. 
 
 as, in search of this earthly paradise, must needs 
 pass through a purgatory, if reduced to the ne- 
 cessity of lodging at the dirty and miserable 
 place, called a tracteer, which is kept by some 
 Germans near the Castle. The house of our 
 Greek friends was a perfect contrast in all 
 respects to the cottages I have described ; and 
 rest and comfort had the additional pleasure of 
 a cheerful reception from those who, though 
 living privately, feel themselves gratified by the 
 opportunity of thus mixing in society, and be- 
 ing serviceable to others. His cellar boasted 
 some good wine, and his wife's stores some 
 liqueurs and delicious preserves, which they 
 pride themselves upon their skill and excellence 
 in making. 
 
 We saw there also, the largest collection of 
 silk-worms that I met with in the Crimea. The 
 encouragement given by the government to 
 rearing them, was insufficient to produce any 
 stimulant, and the trees, once planted so pro- 
 fusely on this account, are the greatest part of 
 them destroyed. The Tatars keep a small num- 
 ber, but all the silk is, I believe, spun at home, 
 
GERMAN COLONISTS. 157 
 
 and used by the Russian ladies for knitting of 
 stockings, or by the Tatars for weaving. 
 
 The administration of the Germans is very dif- 
 ferent from the rest, having a special Comptoir 
 for colonial government, which includes the Bul- 
 garians. This Comptoir is situated in the town 
 of Ekaterinoslaff; and there, inspectors and de- 
 puty inspectors are appointed, with small sala- 
 ries 3 to reside in the chief town of the district in 
 which the colony is planted, through whom all 
 business is communicated to the principals, and 
 who again correspond with the Minister of the 
 Interior. 
 
 Although his Imperial Majesty has accorded 
 more privileges, and conferred more special 
 favours upon them, than any other of the colo- 
 nists, with the exception of a few hereafter no- 
 ticed, none have succeeded less. And yet the 
 lands distributed among them, have been univer- 
 sally of the most fertile description ; and large 
 sums of money, in the proportion of from one 
 to five or six hundred rubles per family, were 
 lent to them upon their arrival, free of inte- 
 rest, for ten years, (and afterwards increased to 
 
158 TERMS OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 twenty years), to build their houses and buy 
 stock, &c. &c. No recruiting amongst them for 
 twenty years was allowed, nor any taxes for that 
 period. Still the same system was pursued with 
 these as in all the Russian colonies by assem- 
 bling large masses of people into villages, whose 
 houses were contiguous to each other. 
 
 The money advanced by government to these 
 Germans, was expressly lent on the conditions 
 that, in the payment of it, each colonist of a 
 village should be responsible for the total num- 
 ber, and the total number for each individual. 
 It happened, however, in several of these colo- 
 nies, soon after they were transplanted from 
 their native country, that many of them died 
 from fevers, intermittents, and the consequences 
 of intemperance ; and in the Crimea the plague 
 added much to the havoc. The result has been, 
 that the money lent by government, falling with 
 such accumulated weight on the few survivors, 
 put it utterly beyond their power to discharge 
 the debt; to obviate which, fresh importations 
 were added to the original stock, amongst whom 
 the debt was divided ; and some of their villages 
 
COLONIAL REGULATIONS. 159 
 
 have been more than once renewed from Ger- 
 many. But, to speak in a more limited sense, 
 all the males of a family being answerable for a 
 debt, which all had borrowed, if any of these 
 died, the debt was doubled or trebled for the 
 remainder. 
 
 Liable to such disadvantages, it was not to be 
 expected that much progress would at first be 
 made in the colonization of these plains, fertile 
 as they were; and the Colonial Administration, 
 aware of the impossibility of satisfying the de- 
 mands of government, permitted many of these 
 colonists, of either sex, to quit their villages, 
 granting them passports for six, or twelve months 
 at a time, subject to renewal, so that they might 
 in servitude, or as artisans, collect by degrees 
 enough to pay the government, and redeem their 
 liberty. By these means, many of them have 
 set up for themselves, in the different towns of 
 the three provinces (beyond the limits of which 
 they are not suffered to proceed), as carpenters, 
 shoemakers, cabinet-makers, blacksmiths, tailors, 
 &c. &c. Any occupation suits them better than 
 the trade of husbandry; though the despotic 
 
160 MENNONISTS, OR MORAVIANS. 
 
 principles which were once visible in these newly 
 established colonies, enabled the titled colonial 
 officer resident on the spot, or in the neighbour- 
 ing town, to order the overseer to flog the 
 colonist who refused to work, and thus the lazy 
 or drunken boor, who would not plough, or sow 
 his land as he ought, was compelled to do so. 
 Immoral conduct in the female colonist was 
 equally corrected by flogging. 
 
 These severe measures, however, fell on the ori- 
 ginal emigrants, who were chiefly from Swabia : 
 these have for the greater part been succeeded 
 by another generation, better than the first in 
 moral character ; more healthy, more active, and 
 laborious ; nor were such harsh means ever re- 
 quired to be applied to some of the German 
 colonists, whose habits and character were very 
 superior to the above-mentioned. 
 
 The Mennonists, or Moravians, who are settled 
 in the neighbourhood of Perekop, came over with 
 plenty of money, knowledge of business, and 
 superior industry, and are at present a wealthy 
 race; having built large farm-houses and offices, 
 planted extensive orchards, and laid out great 
 
SUPERIOR GARDENING. 161 
 
 gardens, possessing the finest breed of cows in 
 the country, and growing a great abundance of 
 corn. They are a most industrious and religious 
 class of people, deservedly held in high estima- 
 tion. 
 
 Those in the neighbourhood of Kaffa are chiefly 
 Swabians, and a few Swiss emigrants. The 
 favourite occupation of those who reside in 
 these villages is that of gardening, which they 
 thoroughly understand; and by them the mar- 
 kets of the different towns are supplied with all 
 kinds of vegetables. Most of them keep a cart, 
 or light German waggon, in which they convey 
 their different garden produce to town, and also 
 poultry, eggs, and fresh butter, which is very 
 excellent, and much superior to any other, and 
 sells at a higher price. They also (with the 
 exception of a few French bakers), make the 
 best bread sold in the towns of the Crimea, and 
 have by far the best hops, from their method of 
 drying them. 
 
 The cottages of the Germans are much better 
 built than those of any other peasantry of the 
 Crimea. They have a church in each of their 
 
 M 
 
162 CHURCH SERVICE NEGLECTED. 
 
 villages, at which one of the parishioners, who 
 is best enabled to take upon him the Sacerdotal 
 office, reads prayers twice every Sunday ; and a 
 Lutheran priest properly authorized, who resides 
 at Sudac, visits each colony twice a year, to 
 marry, christen, and enquire into the state of 
 their churches. The effect of these visitations 
 must be miraculous, were they to produce any 
 good, beyond that which may result to the pocket 
 of the priest for the marriages, and other church 
 ceremonies that he performs ; and the character 
 of these people is such, that nothing short of a 
 miracle, or long and assiduous care, can make 
 any impression upon it. They are slow in un- 
 derstanding, and it is said, owe their name in 
 Russian, N&metz, to their being thought dumb, 
 or unable to learn the language of the people 
 amongst whom they live : they are low, and brutal 
 in their manners, more especially the men, who 
 appear the least civilized inhabitants of the 
 Crimea. 
 
CHAP. XV. 
 
 Of the Bulgarians : their frugal, industrious Ha- 
 bits: their Flocks of Sheep and Goats: their 
 Agriculture Domestic Habits of the Women : 
 their Dress Houses Hospitality Story of 
 the Plague Religion Village Regulations 
 Language t and Origin. 
 
 THE Bulgarians, though ranking low in 
 point of numbers amongst the other colonists of 
 New Russia, are perhaps deserving the first 
 notice, from the high character they bear, as a 
 sober, industrious, and meritorious class. These 
 people have migrated from the arbitrary sub- 
 jection of the Turkish government, to the mild 
 one of the Crimea, which, in affording a refuge 
 from despotic tyranny, possesses a sufficiently 
 strong inducement to the peasant, who lives 
 there in ease and independence, such as he can 
 scarcely find equalled in any other part of the 
 world. Besides rather large villages which be- 
 long to this people in the neighbourhood of Staria 
 
 M2 
 
164 THE BULGARIANS. 
 
 Grim, they have a few flourishing ones near 
 Odessa. They are in all respects under the 
 same regulations as the German colonists, not 
 furnishing horses to the government, and enjoy- 
 ing all their exemptions. 
 
 Many of their community are more affluent 
 than they are willing to acknowledge them- 
 selves : the policy of avoiding with extreme 
 caution any display of wealth, which the impo- 
 sition of their former masters has taught them, 
 is, like other habits, continued even when the 
 necessity for it no longer exists ; since none but 
 the Tatars are now regarded with any jealousy 
 by the Russian government. 
 
 Luxury, though the offspring of wealth, needs 
 the fostering hand of civilization to rear it, and 
 is not found in the cottage of the hardy moun- 
 taineer, or the uncivilized inhabitant of the 
 plain. Nursed by frugality, he is parsimonious 
 by nature, education, and long habit ; and the 
 difference between abundance and poverty, is 
 only discerned by a larger or smaller share 
 of the same plain food, and plain clothing, if 
 we except the single channel into which his 
 
BULGARIAN SHEPHERDS. 165 
 
 wealth flows the increase of his flocks or herds. 
 The Bulgarian is a careful shepherd, and un- 
 derstands far better than the Tatar, either that 
 occupation, or the culture of the ground. The 
 former, however, is a point to which the Tatar 
 would not accede ; and I think it possible his 
 knowledge might be more conspicuous, were 
 not his avarice and idleness so predominant. 
 The industry of the Bulgarian makes him a 
 provident master; and while he too is careful 
 in the expenditure of a kopeek, he does not 
 neglect to guard against inclement seasons, and 
 accidental wants. 
 
 The clean and healthy appearance of their 
 flocks, shews the attention which is bestowed 
 upon them, and the losses amongst them are 
 proportionably less. These flocks are all of the 
 Crimean breed, the Spanish flocks being in the 
 hands of large proprietors, or among French 
 settlers. 
 
 The Bulgarian shepherd leads a roving and 
 unsettled life, moving about wherever he finds 
 pasturage for his sheep, and raising his tem- 
 porary and lonely habitation, sometimes in the 
 
166 TATAR CHEESE, 
 
 woods, and at other times a short distance 
 from some village of the plain. It never, I be- 
 lieve, happens that one man alone has charge 
 of a flock; two, and often three or more, ac- 
 cording to its size, are required ; and the dog, 
 ever the faithful ally of man, is the watchful 
 guardian of his master's treasure. To a thou- 
 sand sheep four men are assigned, including the 
 chief shepherd, called Attaman; the wages of 
 the men are paid in kind, never in money. In- 
 deed most of the shepherds are more or less pro- 
 prietors or sharers in the flock, and some of 
 them, who tend their flocks the whole year, pos- 
 sess a thousand sheep, and even more. 
 
 The goats kept with their sheep are turned to 
 more profit than those of the Tatar flocks, for 
 they milk them regularly, and make a rich good 
 cheese of the milk, which is preserved in blad- 
 ders, being put in while warm ; it then cuts and 
 eats not unlike the fresh cheese of Cambridge- 
 shire ; and is thus kept throughout the year. 
 
 I ate once a sort of pudding made of this 
 curd, which some shepherds who had their 
 flocks in the forest of Agirmish prepared for 
 
FARMING STOCK. 167 
 
 our party ; and both cheese and cheese-cakes, 
 in the English manner of making, are excellent 
 from this curd. The goats' hair is sometimes, 
 but not generally, pulled ; it is to be bought in 
 the Crimea, and is sent to Constantinople. 
 
 They keep a few horses, oxen for the plough 
 or team, and cows, but not in large numbers. 
 Pigs are generally or frequently found in their 
 store-yards, some of which they kill and take 
 to market, and others reserve for their own 
 seasons of feasting, or at least for those not set 
 apart for fasts. Poultry also is kept for home 
 consumption, and is seldom to be purchased in 
 their villages. 
 
 The men are good shots, and skilled parti- 
 cularly in using the rifle, (which, of Turkish 
 manufacture, may be bought at low prices), 
 and by their means the markets of Kaffa, and 
 other towns, are frequently supplied with deer, 
 and wild boars. The flesh of the latter is not 
 comparable with that of the home-fed pig ; and 
 the former, though estimated by the Crimean, 
 cannot be by those who have eaten venison in 
 England. 
 
168 COURSES OF GRAIN CULTIVATED. 
 
 As agriculturists, the Bulgarians hold also 
 pre-eminence amongst their neighbours ; they 
 bestow the trouble of weeding their corn, and 
 are more careful in the description of seed they 
 sow ; for this reason they cannot say with 
 the Tatars, that they sow wheat till rye comes, 
 and vice versa. Now the former may, I think, 
 be literally the case, since they never change or 
 clean their seed, and the proportionate rapidity 
 of the increase of that which is evil, to the 
 growth and progress of good, is, I fear, a fact 
 easily established in more cases than that of a 
 crop of corn. 
 
 Besides the common courses of grain which 
 the Bulgarian cultivates, he raises flax enough 
 for the purposes of his family, but seldom sows 
 millet, or garden-seeds; for their villages being 
 near the mountains, they have for the most part 
 a considerable distance to go to plough. Such 
 of them as live near the forests which are not 
 exempted from the havoc and depredation of 
 the axe, have made considerable profit from the 
 burning of charcoal, for which they find ready 
 sale at the nearest market ; it being much used 
 
INDUSTRIOUS AND FRUGAL HABITS. 169 
 
 to cook with, as well as in their khans, or 
 coffee-houses. 
 
 Thus the industry and frugality of the Bul- 
 garian, taking advantage of every circumstance 
 that favours his independence, places him too 
 much in ease, to send his children out into ser- 
 vitude ; every village finding employment, even 
 more than enough to occupy its inhabitants. 
 The women are industrious and cleanly : be- 
 sides the usual occupations of the household, 
 they spin and weave their own and their hus- 
 bands' clothing ; and the Bulgarian wears few 
 articles, but what are either the work of his wife, 
 or his own. Many of their domestic utensils are 
 also their own manufacture. During hay-time, 
 or harvest, the women likewise assist in the 
 field ; and thus in habits of industry pass the 
 active and cheerful lives of these people. 
 
 The men are in height of middle stature, 
 thin, and sharp-faced, with high cheek-bones ; 
 long lanky hair hanging down almost to their 
 shoulders, and commonly very high foreheads, 
 or bare on the crown of the head. Their dress 
 is of coarse baize, or woollen cloth, spun and 
 
170 FEMALE COSTUME. 
 
 woven at home ; their woollen girdles are similar 
 to those worn by the Tatars, &c. ; hut they are 
 also wrought at home, and dyed with madder. 
 
 The women are much more pleasing in their 
 general appearance; a dark complexion, and 
 sparkling dark eyes, set off a dress, singular, if 
 not attractive : it is composed of a fine and very 
 white woollen cloth, edged at the bottom and 
 around with a border of red, about two inches 
 deep. The petticoat, which is of the same ma- 
 terial, and also red, is seen below the gown, to 
 the full depth of the border ; a broad girdle, or 
 sash, with long ends tied behind, and com- 
 monly embroidered with silk or gold thread; 
 and on the head a handkerchief, or veil of white 
 muslin, with a border around, to match the rest 
 of the dress : this is thrown carelessly over the 
 head, and falls down the back, and, divested of 
 the extreme formality of the Tatar veil, is much 
 more graceful. 
 
 Formerly, the front of the dress was orna- 
 mented with pieces of gold or silver coin, 
 and in many cases the whole of the front of 
 the body entirely covered with them ; but as 
 
HOSPITALITY OF THE BULGARIANS. 171 
 
 they found that this display was often viewed 
 with an evil eye by the Turkish Aga, or Chief, 
 who chanced to observe them, and that without 
 necromantic skill he commonly contrived to 
 convert the gold of others to his own imme- 
 diate use, they learnt to doff their golden trim- 
 mings, and are now content to tell that they 
 have worn them. 
 
 At their holiday festivals they dance in 
 groups, forming each party into a circle, and 
 dancing with much spirit, somewhat in the 
 style of the Anatolian romaika, to the bag- 
 pipes, the drum, and sometimes the balalaika, 
 or three-stringed fiddle. 
 
 The houses of the Bulgarians are remarkable 
 for cleanliness and order, though objectionable 
 from their extreme darkness ; a very small win- 
 dow, and a large open chimney, admit all the 
 light they have ; yet, like the mole, they seem 
 to have as much as they require. 
 
 They are simple and open in their manners, 
 and hospitable to the stranger, giving of the best 
 they possess, and cutting their coarse loaf with 
 an expression of welcome, that makes one for- 
 
172 SUPERSTITIOUS RELATION. 
 
 get its colour in the good humour which pre- 
 sents it. Dried fish and cheese are always 
 amongst their stores ; and the traveller who has 
 passed " the desert mountain-track of Leon," or 
 the dreary Stepps of Russia, will not reject the 
 clean, though coarse provisions, which the hos- 
 pitality of the Bulgarian peasant sets before 
 him. 
 
 It is recorded, and believed by all denomina- 
 tions of the superstitious inhabitants of the Cri- 
 mea, that this quality (hospitality) was the 
 means of preserving a whole village from the 
 dreadful visitation of the plague during the years 
 1812 and 1813. The belief of the personification 
 of evil, is rarely found, though we read of it in 
 all the Eastern tales. The story is as follows : 
 Near midnight a stranger knocked, and obtained 
 admittance, at the cottage of one of these vil- 
 lagers ; he begged for food and drink, both of 
 which were freely given to him, and his stay for 
 the remainder of the night pressed; but having 
 refreshed himself, he got up to depart, and 
 thanking them for their reception of him, assured 
 them he would amply repay it. "I am," said 
 
SUPERSTITION. 173 
 
 he, " THE PLAGUE, and during the scourge 
 with which I am come to visit this country, 
 jour village shall remain unhurt and untouched 
 amidst surrounding devastation." The promise 
 was fulfilled, and the village escaped the in- 
 fection, which spread with horrid rapidity 
 around. 
 
 The fact of their escaping the plague is well 
 known, but it would not be difficult to account 
 for this circumstance by much more reasonable 
 means. The tale alone serves to shew the extent 
 of credulity, and that superstition alike exerts 
 her powerful influence over the ignorant of every 
 nation. Could the skull of a horse or ox, with 
 which the Bulgarian guards his cattle-yards from 
 the malice of witches, or the evil eye, defend 
 him from the much more to be dreaded witch- 
 craft of superstition, it would indeed be a friend 
 to him. But until education dispels the native 
 darkness of the mind, we cannot hope to see 
 this universal power of superstition subdued, 
 any more than we can expect the light and 
 genial warmth of the sun, before he has risen in 
 our horizon. 
 
174 RELIGION OF THE BULGARIANS. 
 
 The religion of the Bulgarian is that of the 
 Russian or Greek church, and they observe the 
 holidays with more strictness than the Sabbath ; 
 the breach of one of these being punished by 
 setting the offender in the stocks. Each village 
 has its public concerns regulated by the elders 
 of it ; and one man serves an appointed time the 
 office of constable. 
 
 Their language and origin is Slavonian*, but 
 the intercourse with the Russians has made it 
 now a mixture of that and modern Russian. 
 
 * The Bolgarians are Slavonians, who obtained their name 
 from their capital, Borgard, situated thirty versts below the 
 Kama, and five from the Volga. It was destroyed in 1500 
 by the Russians. Tooke's History of the Russians. 
 
 
CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Armenians Character Dress, and Manners 
 Jeivs Superiority of the Karaite Jews : 
 They claim Exemption from consenting to 
 the Death of the Saviour Jewish Women 
 Curious Jewish Custom Of the Natives of 
 other Nations resident in the Crimea Of the 
 Poles Importance of Rank in Russia O6- 
 servance of the Russian Fast of Prayer. 
 
 THE Armenians now settled in the Crimea 
 are comparatively few in number. The settlement 
 of these colonists at Nachtchivan has been fully 
 described by Dr. Clarke, who states the number 
 of them there to be eight thousand. Those of 
 the Crimea are universally resident in the towns, 
 either as merchants or burghers ; and the appli- 
 cation so contemptuously bestowed by Buona- 
 parte on the English, seems, in truth, perfectly 
 applicable to these people they are really a 
 nation of shopkeepers, having no other pursuits 
 than those of buying and selling, in which they 
 
176 ARMENIAN COSTUME. 
 
 shew a keenness that makes them much more 
 apt to over-reach others, than liable to be de- 
 ceived themselves. 
 
 In character they are more retired than 
 many others of the settlers, and particularly the 
 women, who are reserved and awkward amongst 
 strangers : they have quick piercing dark eyes, 
 very dark hair, handsome noses, most intelligent 
 countenances, she wing a natural capacity, which, 
 from the want of education, is all absorbed in 
 one acquirement, and devoted to the knowledge 
 of increasing gain ; and in the comprehending 
 pecuniary interest, they are remarkably shrewd. 
 
 The dress of the Armenian has little of pecu- 
 liarity : a very high cap of fur, or lamb's wool, a 
 loose frock coat, and a caftan, or shube, of lamb's 
 wool or fur ; or in warm weather, of cloth. The 
 women, in addition to the Eastern dress, wear 
 a long and wide cloak of black silk, or satin, 
 and a veil the same as the Tatars. 
 
 The Armenian prides himself as much upon 
 performing pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as the 
 Tatar or Turk upon that to Mecca, and assumes 
 also the rank of Hadgee, having his arm tattooed 
 
AMUSEMENTS OF THE ARMENIANS. 177 
 
 with the sign of the Cross, the Holy Sepulchre, 
 &c. &c. An Armenian merchant of Kaffa in- 
 troduced his son to us, a rough awkward boy of 
 thirteen years old, telling us with much exulta- 
 tion, that he was Hadgee, and shewing the in- 
 disputable marks of his being entitled to that 
 rank. 
 
 I could not help feeling of how little true 
 value is rank, which all so much prize, unless it 
 be dignified by a character which exalts and 
 ennobles it. The father of this lad, a drunken 
 and disgusting man, could not possibly feel any 
 interest in having visited the place where the 
 Saviour of mankind had suffered : his was the 
 pride of heart which least befits the man who 
 bears upon his arm the badge of having been 
 at the holy city. 
 
 The Armenians manufacture for sale a 
 coarse felt, called wylocks, which is used for 
 many purposes, and possessed by all the pea- 
 santry. 
 
 Their chief amusement is playing at chess, 
 and a game called by the Russians trie-track, 
 which is a superior game of backgammon : they 
 
 N 
 
178 KARAITE JEWS. 
 
 sit on the shop-board in front of their shops, and 
 often play throughout the day, except when 
 interrupted by the occasional visit of a cus- 
 tomer. 
 
 The most respectable of the Armenians are 
 Roman Catholics, the rest Arians. 
 
 The Jews are very numerous indeed in all the 
 colonies, composing from one-fifth to one-tenth 
 of the whole population. But they are, with 
 very few r exceptions, fixed in the class of burgh- 
 ers and shopkeepers, in every one of the towns 
 of New Russia. Latterly the government tried 
 the novel experiment of colonizing them as 
 husbandmen, and some establishments were 
 formed in the government of Ekaterinoslaff. 
 
 The Karaites, of whom Mrs. Guthrie speaks, 
 still retain undisturbed possession of the fortress 
 of Tchoufout Ka-Ie. Several of them, and parti- 
 cularly those of Kosloff, are designated Million 
 Tcheks, from their possessing a million or more 
 of rubles. The Karaites are commonly the most 
 wealthy, and are on all accounts the most 
 respectable. They hold themselves very distinct 
 from their Polish brethren, and neither of the 
 
BELIEF OF THE KARAITES. 179 
 
 sects will eat meat with a stranger, or such as 
 has been killed by strange hands. Would that 
 they were found in their dealings with others, 
 as strictly observant of the law in its moral sense, 
 as in its outward rites. But still they continue 
 "extortioners, unjust," yet expect that the ob- 
 servance of sacred ceremonials of fasts and 
 feasts, shall be an acceptable offering to Him 
 who has declared to them His abhorrence of 
 them. They must be wilfully blind, who believe, 
 like the fellow at Dunabourg, that his sanctified 
 hypocrisy could avail him, when he took the 
 money in a napkin, which he would not prophane 
 his fingers by the touch of, on the Sabbath 
 Day! 
 
 The Karaite Jews, though they receive not 
 Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, yet 
 aver that they were no way concerned in, or con- 
 senting to his death. But though they thus reject 
 the dreadful responsibility entailed on them by 
 the declaration of their forefathers " His blood 
 be on us, and on our children," yet, like many 
 others of mankind, they ground their opinions 
 in matters of lo/igion, less upon their own reason 
 
 N2 
 
180 COSTUME OF JEWISH WOMEN. 
 
 and conviction, than on the faith and practice 
 of their ancestors. " Why should I," said one of 
 these people in conversation, " Why should I 
 suppose my father was mistaken upon a subject 
 which it concerned him as much as myself to be 
 informed upon?" 
 
 " Supposing him not to have been mistaken, 
 that is no sufficient cause for your not consulting 
 your own reason in a matter of such great 
 importance: if it was a speculation in which 
 your worldly possessions were hazarded, pro- 
 bably you would think it right to judge for your- 
 self, and should you differ in opinion, would 
 even venture in conduct to oppose him also. 
 How much more essential then, when the inte- 
 rests of time and eternity are equally implicated 
 in the question?" He shrugged his shoulders 
 with a tacit assent to a truth, that was yet 
 above his reach. 
 
 The Jewish women are generally handsome, 
 though disfigured by their extremely disagree- 
 able costume, which abroad they universally 
 wear, though in England the most part have 
 laid it aside. They are, I believe, the only 
 
THE WEDDING SHIRT. 181 
 
 women in the Crimean towns, who are enough 
 skilled in needle-work to do it for hire; and 
 many of the Jews are tailors. 
 
 A curious Jewish custom was related to me 
 by a Polish gentleman. The Jews, when first 
 married, wear a shirt of finer texture than ordi- 
 nary, which, after the wedding-day, is carefully 
 put by unworn till the time of their deaths, 
 when they are uniformly buried in it. So valu- 
 able is this shirt in their estimation, and so in- 
 dispensible a part of their possessions, that in 
 money transactions, when they require to bor- 
 row, and have no pledge in gold or pearls to 
 give, they frequently deposit this shirt, which 
 is always a satisfactory security to the lender, as 
 the Jew could not die happy without redeem- 
 ing it. 
 
 Of the other nations who constitute a part of 
 this mingled multitude, none are settled as 
 colonists in large bodies, but are such as the 
 different offices of government, or some acci- 
 dental incitement, has brought thither ; those of 
 the peasantry have been either attached to the 
 army, in the service of some family, or, (and it 
 
182 POLES IN THE CRIMEA. 
 
 is said not a few), escaped from the rigour of 
 offended laws. 
 
 Heterogeneous as this mass appears., they yet 
 form a whole in which each, as a member, bears 
 a distinct part; and though daily mixing in 
 commercial pursuits, and all following one 
 grand object, the never-failing desire of gain, 
 yet the characteristic traits of each nation are 
 preserved; and the assimilation between them 
 is no more than is needful to effect this predo- 
 minant purpose. 
 
 The Poles in the Crimea are few in number, 
 tall, and finely formed: even the servants are 
 superior in their manners to any other of the 
 peasantry, and many of them found in such situa- 
 tions, still relate with a proud consciousness, and 
 a spirit that scarce brooks controul, that they rank 
 as nobles. Amongst our particular acquaintance 
 too, was a Hungarian, a worthy excellent man, 
 who, though living 'in a small cottage, which 
 had nothing to recommend it except the beauty 
 of its situation and its internal neatness, could 
 yet shew the credentials of his nobility, and feel 
 an inward superiority, of which the power of 
 
IMPORTANCE OF RANK. 183 
 
 fortune had not been able to deprive him. His 
 two sons were both in the army, the only line of 
 advancement to honour in the Russian govern- 
 ment. The youngest having been wounded, 
 was permitted to retire, and a civil appointment 
 given to him. In this manner his Imperial Ma- 
 jesty, with great policy, reserves as rewards and 
 encouragements for his soldiers, the civil offices 
 and most honourable distinctions of his state. In 
 their schools, rank is alone given to the military 
 cadet, which he receives immediately on enter-, 
 ing the school, if designed for the army or the 
 navy. 
 
 To be a citizen of Russia, rank is indispensibly 
 necessary ; and the peasant will refuse to obey 
 the orders of him who cannot call himself by 
 some more distinguishing title than that of gen- 
 man ; and he who, unmarked by rank, can find ad- 
 mission even at our court, cannot fail to be struck 
 by the difference of system in the country of 
 which I am now speaking, where a man bearing 
 a rank, however high, will not presume to sit 
 before his superior officer, until bidden perhaps 
 more than once to take his place. 
 
184 OBSERVANCE OF FASTS. 
 
 The Russian fasts are kept with rigid sanc- 
 timony by the peasantry ; those who are in ser- 
 vitude, and living in the houses of such as eat 
 meat, always prepare their own food, and refuse 
 to partake of that cooked in a saucepan where 
 meat has been : they use the greatest care to 
 avoid intermixing their eatables or utensils 
 with such as are unholy. The Russian proprie- 
 tors of estates (who are resident in the Crimea) 
 for the most part find it more convenient in 
 all respects, and accordant with their circum- 
 stances, to keep the fast ; but the more wealthy 
 observe it variously some keeping the first and 
 last week, and others disregarding it altogether; 
 and perhaps it may be considered one proof 
 that the present age is becoming more enlight- 
 ened, since the younger part of families are be- 
 ginning to look with a very doubtful eye at the 
 efficacy of that self-denial which aboundeth unto 
 evil, rather than to good. 
 
 A Russian priest called upon us, with some 
 other friends, during Lent, and I felt sorry that 
 we had nothing to set before him that I thought 
 he would eat, except some pickled fish : he how- 
 
A RUSSIAN PRIEST. 185 
 
 ever soon relieved me from this regret, and while 
 partaking of that which the rest of the party 
 were eating, he said, " we understand as well 
 as you the nature of fasting; not that which 
 goeth into the mouth defileth the man is it not 
 so ? but yet it is not necessary that all should 
 see so clearly." His own clearness of sight, I 
 was told, was more frequently impeded by 
 drinking than eating ; however, those who are 
 less liberal than he, never think of abstinence 
 from drink, or any other intemperate desire; 
 and that self-denial which can abstain for five 
 or six weeks from animal food, is expected to 
 make amends for the breach of all the remaining 
 catalogue of sins. " Thank God," said the 
 murderer of the Jew's family at the Karagoss 
 tracteer, devoutly crossing himself as he spake 
 thank God, I never broke the fast !" 
 
 A Russian thinks it not needful to enter his 
 closet, to offer up his morning or his evening 
 orisons to the great Being he worships ; but does 
 it through the intervention of some saint, whose 
 picture hangs suspended in a corner of his 
 sitting-room, to which he bows, and crossing 
 
186 PRIVATE DEVOTION. 
 
 himself, prays in a low or inaudible voice, re- 
 gardless by how many he is surrounded. This, 
 as a public acknowledgment of his faith, how- 
 ever it may be deemed meritorious, has decid- 
 edly its disadvantages; and I have frequently 
 remarked, two at least of his senses not occupied 
 by the ceremony he was performing, namely, 
 those of sight and feeling ; the former wandering 
 to other objects, and the latter excited by that 
 little animal., which seems to share with the lord 
 of the soil the possession of a Russian peasant. 
 In the solemnity of public worship, in which all 
 as one family join in adoration and prayer, or 
 in that of private devotion, our hearts are too 
 often cold and wandering : shall we not then 
 find fresh obstacles in praying publicly, when 
 those around us are not engaged in the same 
 duty? The Russian never passes a church, 
 or rather the image of the saint to whom the 
 church is consecrated, without crossing himself; 
 yet the inefficacy of this outward bearing of the 
 cross is abundantly testified in all his works. 
 
CHAP. XVII. 
 
 Accommodation of the Crimean Towns to a Tra- 
 veller Of the Posts of the Crimea Ra- 
 pidity of Travelling in Russia Quartering 
 of Troops Troops furnished by the Tatars 
 Yie Yie Mwza Felt-yagers Cursory 
 Remarks. 
 
 THE chief towns of the Crimea can boast 
 accommodation for the traveller much superior to 
 that generally found in the interior of Russia ; 
 since there are tracteers, or inns, kept by indi- 
 viduals of almost every nation that resort 
 thither. It is true, it may be difficult to feast 
 in a Russian town, during a fast of their church; 
 the traveller who goes to a Russian inn, cannot 
 hope for any thing better than sour soup, and 
 hemp oil ; at a Greek or Bulgarian khan, he 
 may have as much wine or brandy as he chooses, 
 and perhaps obtain bread, and olives, or ca- 
 viarre ; the same may be said of the Armenian 
 khans; at the French and Italian, or at the 
 
188 INNS IN THE CRIMEA. 
 
 German inns, he may hope to fare better : at 
 all events, they will not refuse, like the Jewish 
 hostess, to boil the water for his tea, or cook 
 such provision as the town affords ; much less 
 will they deny him the use of plates, knives and 
 forks, with which the Jewess will rarely supply 
 him, lest prohibited food pass the lips of her 
 guest, and then no water can wash that clean, 
 which, by the law of Moses, has been thus defiled. 
 These remarks, however, might mislead the 
 expectation of the traveller on the south coast, 
 for I speak of the interior towns only; and 
 he who seeks to indulge his natural or clas- 
 sical taste by wandering through its beautiful 
 scenery, will find in the cottage of the moun- 
 tain Tatar, his best accommodation, a*nd such 
 simple fare as they can give, freely afforded 
 him. Their cordiality, however, may be much 
 heightened, if they find he is not a Cossack 
 (their term for Russians in general), who for 
 the most part being subaltern officers of the go- 
 vernment, visit them on occasions, in themselves 
 not gratifying, and are considered their worst 
 paymasters. 
 
REGULATION OF POSTS, 189 
 
 This leads me to speak of the posts. Reuilly 
 says, cc under the Khans, the posts of Tatary 
 were free, as those princes defrayed all the ex- 
 pences occasioned by them. Since the domi- 
 nation of the Russians, they have been placed 
 upon the same footing as all the other posts of 
 the empire, and the Tatars are obliged to sup- 
 port them at their own expence." Upon this 
 subject he is very incorrect. The traveller on 
 the south coast is certainly furnished with 
 horses and guide by the Tatars ; for which a re- 
 gular passport is requisite, and a regular price 
 is paid ; but the post-stations of the public roads 
 of the Crimea, as those throughout all Russia, 
 are rented by Russians, and a very considerable 
 profit made upon them, partly by fair means, 
 and partly by a species of finesse in which the 
 many are well skilled. 
 
 I have given some previous account in my 
 journey, of the posts of Russia; to that, the fol- 
 io wing particulars, which I have since ascer- 
 tained, may be added : government allow twelve 
 hundred rubles per troic, or, set of three horses, 
 per annum, besides the progone, or regular 
 
190 INFORMATION FOR TRAVELLERS. 
 
 price paid by the traveller, for as many troics as 
 the traffic upon the road make it necessary to 
 keep at one station. For this, which certainly 
 appears a very large sum, the renter furnishes 
 the three horses, as aforesaid, one yemtchek, or 
 driver, and a small four-wheeled cart, or car- 
 riage without springs, which he is bound to 
 have always ready for the road, and for which he 
 pays all regular, and contingent expences. He 
 is besides liable to furnish horses, free of expence, 
 for the Imperial family, the senate, government 
 estafettes, felt-yagers, and the post. Yet, though 
 this seems a most liberal allowance, many of 
 them think it necessary to increase it, by con- 
 triving to keep fewer horses than they contract 
 for, and often compelling travellers to bribe 
 them to obtain horses, unless they wear the in- 
 signia of rank, or travel with a courier's pass- 
 port, which having upon it, the words "cazonie 
 nadobnost" or " government service," they dare 
 not disregard. 
 
 The rapidity of travelling in Russia, is very 
 remarkable. The Emperor has been from Mos- 
 cow to Petersburg!), a distance of 483 miles, or 
 
RAPIDITY OF TRAVELLING. 191 
 
 728| versts, in 36 hours. Another instance 
 may be given, from a highly respectable mer- 
 chant at Odessa, of this style of travelling 
 on the Continent : this gentleman went from 
 Odessa to Calais in seventeen days. I have 
 heard several other things of the same kind. The 
 general officer who conveyed the intelligence of 
 the fall of the fortress of Otchakoff on the Black 
 Sea, to the Empress Catherine, accomplished the 
 journey of 1200 miles in five days and nights. The 
 post, however, does not travel swiftly ; it is often 
 subject to detention in the district towns, and 
 is fourteen days passing from Kaffa to Moscow, 
 which is at the rate of only sixty-six miles per 
 day. 
 
 The quartering of troops is another subject 
 on which, as I have not previously remarked, it 
 may not be uninteresting to give a few parti- 
 culars. Reuilly says, " under the Empress Ca- 
 therine, the Tatars obtained an exemption from 
 every kind of tax, and of the quartering of 
 troops, as well as the privilege of not furnish- 
 ing recruits. But they undertook to maintain 
 two regiments of Bechley, or cavalry, amounting 
 
192 QUARTERING OF TROOPS. 
 
 to nearly 5000 men. Paul the First having abo- 
 lished the regular troops, it was proposed to 
 subject the Tatars to the same taxes as the rest 
 of the empire, which exciting emotion, the pre- 
 sent Emperor restored them to their privileges, 
 and instead of the maintenance of the two regi- 
 ments, ordered that they should supply the troops 
 quartered there with wood." 
 
 The fact is, the Tatars do not maintain, but 
 furnish two regiments ; and in the war with 
 France, they furnished four regiments, which 
 were commanded by Prince Balatook: they 
 were a line body of men, 800 in each regiment, 
 and their brave conduct was highly extolled. 
 Prince Balatook has been lately exerting all his 
 interest to be made Hetman of the Tatars, and 
 for a time it excited much commotion in the 
 government of the Grim : he, however, has not 
 yet succeeded to his wish. Besides the furnish- 
 ing the two regiments, which is their quota in 
 the peace establishment, the supply of wood is 
 required ; and they are also subject to the quar- 
 tering of troops in their marches and counter 
 marches through the peninsula, which is some- 
 
MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 193 
 
 times their route for Georgia, when detach- 
 ments are marched from Moldavia, or Bessara- 
 bia, or the western part of the empire, beside 
 the interchange of those stationed in the penin- 
 sula. 
 
 In 1789, the number of troops in the Cri- 
 mea are stated to have been thirty thousand, 
 of which five thousand were Cossacks : the pre- 
 sent military establishment is only ten thou- 
 sand. 
 
 Of the military force in 1767, under the Khans 
 Maksood Gueray, and his successor Krim Gueray, 
 Baron de Tott thus writes : " The best calculation 
 we can make is from a view of the military forces 
 which the Cham is able to assemble. We shall 
 soon see this prince raising three armies at the 
 same time ; one of a hundred thousand men, 
 which he commanded in person ; another of sixty 
 thousand, commanded by the Calga; and a third 
 of forty thousand, by the Nooradin. He had the 
 power of raising double the number, without 
 prejudice to the necessary labours of the state." 
 
 Although during my residence there, I once 
 or twice heard of projected insurrections, I could 
 
 o 
 
194 FELT-YAGERS. 
 
 not, from what I saw, or what I heard upon 
 good authority, find that any spirit of the kind 
 existed: much too powerless are these people 
 now, to rise up against the still increasing 
 and giant strength of their master ; and if, with 
 the disuse of their warlike weapons, the dispo- 
 sition to use them be not fled, the bold spirit 
 which distinguished them under the reigns of 
 their Khans, seems now confined to the worst 
 part of their community, who are ferocious and 
 daring in evil alone, Yie Yie Murza, a Tatar 
 nobleman living in the neighbourhood of Port 
 Patch, (the village to which the Tatars belonged 
 whose execution I described), was suspected 
 upon very strong grounds, of being a sharer in 
 the plunder of these marauders. To answer this, 
 he was summoned to the tribunal at Akmetchet, 
 whither it is said, he took and distributed at his 
 first visit, twenty thousand rubles. And eventu- 
 ally to raise the sums necessary to save himself 
 from personal punishment, he first sold his sheep 
 and his stud of mares, and lastly an estate. 
 
 As I have more than once mentioned felt- 
 yagers, it may be proper to explain what is the 
 
FORMER TRAVELLERS. 195 
 
 particular department of these officers : they are 
 exclusively employed upon the Civil Service, and 
 are more peculiarly destined to that part of it 
 which has reference to the secret execution of the 
 orders of administration in the different provinces; 
 such as the sudden removal of governors of pro- 
 vinces, or their principal agents, or other obnoxi- 
 ous characters suspected by government. These 
 felt-yagers are universally selected for strength 
 of body, personal courage, and prudence. They 
 usually conduct their prisoner, bound hand and 
 foot, to Siberia, or occasionally to the prisons of 
 the metropolis. They travel with their charge 
 with the greatest rapidity, and are not only 
 officers of rank, but armed with the most absolute 
 authority, to obtain all they require on the road, 
 to expedite their passage through the country. 
 
 A few closing remarks only remain to be made. 
 Lady Craven has been strangely mistaken, in 
 speaking of rice growing in the Crimea; they 
 have no land that is at all adapted for the cul- 
 tivation of rice. Her description of the Russian 
 singing is very correct; its effect is singular 
 and pleasing ; and particularly so, when, in the 
 
 o2 
 
196 HEMP, AND BEES. 
 
 stillness of the early morn, or evening, it is heard 
 at a distance, from the peasants going to, or 
 returning from labour, or the soldiers assembled 
 in the guard-room. 
 
 The building spoken of by Mr. Heber, to the 
 left of the road leading from Staria Crim to 
 Sudac, is a priory, with a few Armenian monks 
 resident there, and a very fine estate of three 
 thousand desaiteens attached to it. The situa- 
 tion of this monastery is most romantic and 
 beautiful, but excepting the scenery around, it 
 has nothing worthy of remark. 
 
 Bachtcheserai is said to have contained, in 
 1803, thirty-one mosques, and seventy-five foun- 
 tains : except Dr. Clarke, no late travellers have 
 noticed the fine fountains which are still preserved 
 here, though those of almost every other town 
 have been destroyed. 
 
 Alushta has been remarked, as furnishing from 
 its neighbourhood the best hemp in the Crimea; 
 and at Ourzoff we saw a piece of ground which 
 had been cultivated for upwards of a century for 
 flax alone. As this crop is generally considered of 
 the most exhausting nature, such a circumstance 
 
MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 197 
 
 is very remarkable, and will perhaps be consi- 
 dered a lusus naturae in the agricultural world. 
 
 Karasubazar holds, according to the last 
 revision, nine thousand souls, exclusive of the 
 barracks, which are a considerable distance out 
 of the town ; these, in time of peace, do not 
 contain above fifteen hundred men, including 
 artillery. 
 
 Perhaps the management of bees, amongst a 
 few intelligent people in England, is supe- 
 rior to all that the Tatars can boast ; yet un- 
 doubtedly their superiority over all other classes 
 in the Crimea is clear and decided ; to which 
 their fine climate, and the great profits attending 
 the concern, contribute most essentially. The 
 Tatars are said to possess such discriminating 
 knowledge, that some of them, on seeing the 
 bees at work on the flowers of the field, will 
 directly tell to what village they belong, and 
 some, it is affirmed, will know of what proprietor 
 they are the property. 
 
 The wages of a bee-gardener vary according 
 to the number of which he has the charge ; but at 
 Karagoss he received three hundred rubles from 
 
198 PRODUCE OF BEE-HIVES. 
 
 Easter to Michaelmas, twelve bushels (English) 
 of wheat, and some coarse linen for trowsers 
 and shirting, besides skin shoes. The largest 
 hive at Karagoss, from its pre-eminence in size, 
 was called the Espravnek; exclusive of this, the 
 largest, when full, yielded from sixty to eighty 
 pounds weight of honey and wax ; moderate 
 sized ones, from thirty to sixty pounds ; the least 
 from ten to thirty pounds. This was the pro- 
 duce of good years, and when the hollowed trunks 
 of trees (which are most commonly used for hives), 
 were full. Many of these hives, to remove from 
 their summer to their winter quarters, required 
 two stout Greeks to carry them. 
 
CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 Of Estates in the Crimea, and those in Poland, 
 or Russia Proper Profit resulting to the 
 Proprietor of the Soil from his Boors, or 
 Peasants Comparison of the leading Cha- 
 racters of Crimean Settlers Moral Charac- 
 ter of the Peasantry, evinced in their Fare- 
 well at my Departure from Karagoss. 
 
 THE estates in the Crimea have no slaves 
 attached to them ; those, however, of the other 
 districts of South Russia, that are in the hands 
 of private proprietors, are sold as the great Rus- 
 sian estates, with slaves ; though I believe in all 
 cases having a much smaller number than either 
 those of Poland or Russia Proper, and never 
 exceeding, or seldom attaining 500. When these 
 estates were sold, or granted to the proprietors, 
 they were purchased at very low rates, from five 
 to ten kopeeks per desaiteen, with the proviso, 
 
200 PEASANTRY SOLD WITH THE ESTATES. 
 
 that one male soul, or one ox, cow, horse, mare, 
 or two sheep per desaiteen, were put upon them, 
 to stock the property. 
 
 Boors, or peasants, can scarcely be said to form 
 so much a part of the property, as that they are 
 the property itself; as when estates of this sort 
 are sold, the boors, their families, wives, and 
 children, and the respective ages of all, are 
 regularly stated. Of course land, live-stock, and 
 implements, are included; but all these are 
 considered as objects of inferior importance, and 
 frequently are not so much as mentioned in the 
 " particular of an estate." 
 
 There are two ways by which the proprietor of 
 the soil receives a profit out of his land. The one 
 is by the hard labour of his boors, in which case 
 the village is divided into two parts, one to work 
 for the maintenance of the boors, their families, 
 live stock, &c. and the other half are compelled 
 to labour for their lord ; and it is at his option 
 either to draw out half the gang of a village, to 
 work regularly every day from year's end to year's 
 end, or to call out its entire population; in which 
 case they work every other day for him, and the 
 
CAPITATION TAX. 201 
 
 alternate one for themselves ; but this is seldom 
 practised. 
 
 The second mode by which the master derives 
 a profit from his boors, is by a capitation tax. 
 This is far the most advantageous for the boors 
 themselves, but the worse practice for the in- 
 terests of the lord; yet it obtains almost uni- 
 versally among the great and wealthy pro- 
 prietors. 
 
 The sameness of life in the Crimea, more 
 especially to the proprietor resident in the coun- 
 try, is like the profound stillness of a lake, which 
 is seldom interrupted, except by some passing 
 bird, which may delight the solitary observer on 
 its shores, but little affects its peaceful inhabi- 
 tants. The rejoicing of a festival among the 
 villagers, or the accidental visit of some officer of 
 the government, (who, finding it convenient to 
 have a night's lodging on a couch, rather than 
 in his calesk on the Stepp, therefore pays an oc- 
 casional visit to the proprietor), are events of the 
 greatest magnitude, and produce as much bustle 
 in the family where they occur, as for the time 
 may lessen the enjoyment of those members of it, 
 
202 CONTRAST OF CHARACTERS. 
 
 who by long habitude are disposed to the con- 
 tinuance of inanity. 
 
 The Tatar, for reanimation, has recourse to 
 his pipe; his wife to her holiday clothes, and a 
 visit; the Russian to a drinking frolic, which 
 once begun, may last for a week or two ; there is 
 no telling how long, or guessing how soon the 
 fascination of the cup may cease, or reason be 
 restored to her throne; but when she has re- 
 gained her seat, he returns submissive, and with 
 increased alacrity, to his duty, and will kiss the 
 feet of his offended master. The German takes 
 the same course, but not with equal success, for 
 the electrical power has much less influence over 
 him ; he is naturally too stupid to be elicited, 
 even by such means. The Greek, too, takes the 
 cordial cup with almost as much zest as though 
 it were the one which the fair Helen prepared 
 for Telemachus ; he drinks till he is merry, and 
 then dances till he thirsts again. The Russian 
 drinks brandy; the Greek, wine: the Russian 
 drinks till he is senseless he sleeps, recovers, 
 and returns to drink again. The Greek drinks 
 till his spirits are elated, and all around him 
 
COUNTRY ENJOYMEiNTS. 203 
 
 seems gay ; he takes his balalaika, the dancers 
 assemble around him, quick as his spirits, pass 
 his fingers over the strings, and the dancers' feet 
 keep time to its simple tones. 
 
 The Russian proprietor will sometimes con- 
 descend to join the carousal of his vassals and 
 tenantry ; and his wife, with her female attend- 
 ants, may be seen playing at blindman's-buff, 
 or moving about in masquerade, either in Greek 
 or Tatar attire. The Greek merchant makes it 
 holiday around him whenever he visits his estate, 
 taking with him friends, to divest the country 
 of its loneliness, and solitude of its terrors. 
 His tenantry celebrate his arrival by bringing 
 him presents of eggs, fruit, pastry, &c. The 
 Tatar proprietor, accustomed to reside in the 
 country, shuns with equal care a sojourn in the 
 town, where his expences so much exceed his 
 customary frugality, and his intermixture with 
 society is so much, and unavoidably greater, 
 than his peaceful habits are disposed to accord 
 with. The English proprietor, in the midst of 
 neighbours and dependants, yet feels a lonely 
 sojourner there : his habits, totally different to 
 
204 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 all by which he is surrounded, he joins the fes- 
 tive group but as an observer ; his heart par- 
 takes not in the church festival, nor in that out- 
 ward pomp, which ill accords with the pure and 
 simple worship of that Spirit who requires to be 
 worshipped in spirit and in truth : he sees with 
 pain how much time is wasted without any 
 laudable pursuit, or any object that can invigo- 
 rate either mind or body ; and he cannot fail to 
 feel regret at observing the strictness which 
 marks the refraining from work on the birth- 
 day of some inconsiderable saint, while that 
 which God so mercifully has appointed as a 
 day of universal rest, is in every sense abused. 
 Throughout the continent of Russia, so far from 
 the Sabbath being considered as a day peculi- 
 arly set apart for religious worship, it is one of 
 , more than usual bustle : in all the large towns 
 the Sunday market is much the largest; and 
 the early part of the day is therefore occupied by 
 family arrangements, and the evening devoted 
 to balls or the theatre. Thus the Englishman, 
 whose character is perhaps composed of mate- 
 rials that do not easily assimilate with foreign 
 
MORAL CHARACTER OF THfe PEASANTRY. 205 
 
 matter, finds, whatever be the number of his 
 acquaintance, that he has few friends. 
 
 From what has been premised, it will readily 
 be seen, that the routine of a country life amidst 
 such a primitive race as the Tatars, though it 
 was occasionally enlivened by visits to the towns, 
 or neighbouring proprietors, or made interesting 
 by the means of serving our poorer neighbours, 
 yet could have little of anecdote, while it afforded 
 much of observation, and abundance of employ- 
 ment. 
 
 The moral character of the peasantry of the 
 Crimea is exceedingly depraved and vicious ; 
 and, excepting the Tatars, I never found it pos- 
 sible, by any good offices or kindness, to excite 
 any attachment in them, that the sight of a glass 
 of brandy would not instantly surmount; and 
 amongst the servants we have had, from nearly 
 every nation, there, a gross immorality and in- 
 veterate love of drunkenness, were almost inva- 
 riably the leading traits. 
 
 The different modes by which they manifested 
 their regret at the time of my leaving Karagoss, 
 were thus evinced : my Tatar neighbours were 
 
206 DEPARTURE FROM KARAGOSS. 
 
 with me throughout the day previous to my de- 
 parture, either sitting silent in my room, or 
 assisting in the arrangement for the journey ; 
 but on the day of my departure few could see me; 
 and when the children went to bid good bye to 
 the women, they found them shut up, and really 
 grieving. My two servants, one a Pole, the 
 other a German, busily and attentively assisted 
 me throughout the preceding day ; but when 
 their duty was done, they took care to drown 
 their sorrow in large libations of wine and 
 brandy, which they had previously promised me 
 they would not do. On the morning of my de- 
 parture, they felt still more strongly the neces- 
 sity of repeating that, which the preceding night 
 had produced exhilaration ; and I fear, if not 
 the ostensible, I was at least the nominal cause 
 of a repetition of the same offence the following 
 evening: and well was it if the evil stopped 
 here. 
 
 I conclude with noticing, that on being seated 
 in the carnage, and ready to depart, I was pre- 
 sented by the Polish woman with a small loaf of 
 bread and some cheese, which she had sent to 
 
PARTING PRESENT. 207 
 
 the market town to purchase for me ; she gave 
 it with a particular injunction, that I should eat 
 it my self, and then I should not want bread upon 
 the road. That I did not feel this want, how- 
 ever, I certainly owed to a more powerful charm 
 than her little loaf, though I received it with a 
 ready promise to purchase my good fortune by 
 so accommodating a price. 
 

NOTE S 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 THE CRIM TATARS. 
 

 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 HAVING resided from the beginning of the year 
 1816 until the month of March 1820, at the village 
 of Karagoss, in the Crimea, I had daily opportuni- 
 ties of becoming acquainted with the manners of 
 the Tatar inhabitants of that neighbourhood. Such 
 of these as appeared to me most remarkable, I 
 occasionally noted for the amusement of a friend 
 in England, carefully committing to paper my ob- 
 servations as they successively arose. 
 
 The little collection thus made I now venture to 
 offer to the public, nearly in the form in which it 
 was originally composed. 
 
 Among numberless deficiencies and disqualifica- 
 tions of which I am conscious, I am induced to 
 think that, as a resident and a female, I possessed 
 advantages for acquiring information, superior to 
 those of the passing traveller. Of these I have 
 endeavoured to avail myself, and by confining my 
 remarks as much as possible to subjects consistent 
 with my own knowledge, and of which I may be 
 considered a competent witness, I am willing to 
 hope that I have secured to my unconnected 
 sketches the only merit to which they pretend 
 the recommendation of truth. 
 
 M. H, 
 
 p 2 
 
CHAP. XIX. 
 
 Population of the principal Towns Law re* 
 specting Property Primitive Manners of the 
 Tatars Classes, according to the present 
 State Dress Management of their Children 
 Tatar Wives Their Acquirements Oc- 
 cupations, and Amusements. 
 
 THE male population of the Tatars* inha- 
 biting the Crimea amounts, according to the last 
 revision, to one hundred and eighty-six thousand 
 souls ; of these about six hundred only are 
 Murzas (noblemen), the number of noble fami- 
 lies being so materially reduced, that they are 
 not supposed to exceed sixty. 
 
 The whole population of the Crimea, includ- 
 
 * I received these statements from a Tatar sacerdatal, or 
 secretary of the Land Tribunal, and am therefore disposed 
 to believe them correct. 
 
214 POPULATION. 
 
 ing all descriptions of people, is estimated at 
 two hundred and sixty thousand. 
 
 Akmetchet, and Theodosia or Kaffa, contain 
 each of them about three thousand inhabitants. 
 Sevastopol, or Aktiar, does not surpass that 
 amount in stationary residents ; but as this port 
 is the rendezvous of the Russian fleet in the 
 Black Sea, its population, including sailors, 
 soldiers, shipwrights, &c. is computed at from 
 fourteen to fifteen thousand. According to the 
 revision of 1820, the population of Akmetchet 
 was estimated at upwards of six thousand, ex- 
 clusive of the military stationed there. Aktiar 
 is stated to have nine thousand inhabitants ; and 
 including all that are attached to the navy, with 
 their families, the amount is supposed to be 
 little short of twenty thousand. 
 
 Karasubazar is larger than any of these towns, 
 and its inhabitants are almost entirely Tatars. 
 It possesses the cheapest and most abundant 
 market for provisions, and indeed for every 
 article which is usually sold in the Crimea. 
 
 The old town of Starai Krim, once the capital 
 of the peninsula, is now little better than a heap 
 
TRADE OP KAFFA. 215 
 
 of ruins*. Its few inhabitants are Armenian 
 shopkeepers, who are said to occupy not less 
 than two hundred shops : a number apparently 
 equal to that of all the houses in the place. 
 These gain a scanty subsistence from the neigh- 
 bouring villages, and chiefly from those which 
 are too distant to have frequent intercourse with 
 the larger towns. 
 
 The trade of Kaffa is at present very incon- 
 siderable, having two formidable rivals in 
 Odessa and Taganrog, which are both more 
 conveniently situated for inland communication. 
 The Kaffa merchants, however, anticipate the 
 time when the sea of Azoff will be no longer 
 navigable, and the commerce now enjoyed by 
 Taganrog be driven back into its former channel. 
 
 Besides the Tatar population, the Crimea 
 contains large colonies of Germans, who have 
 been greatly favoured by government, and owe it 
 to their own idleness and drunkenness, that they 
 
 * These ruins are very extensive, and we know that at the 
 first conquest of the country by the Russians, it was a flou- 
 rishing town, though not to be compared to what it was when 
 held by the Genoese. 
 
216 LAW RESPECTING PROPERTY. 
 
 are not in the most flourishing circumstances ; 
 colonies of Bulgarians, who are the best farmers 
 and most industrious inhabitants of the peninsula ; 
 Jews in abundance, many of whom are of the 
 Karaite sect, and are every where much re- 
 spected ; Armenian shopkeepers in every town ; 
 and Greeks both in the towns and villages. 
 
 Some large villages of Russian crown pea- 
 sants, in addition to the Tatars, form the prin- 
 cipal population of the Stepp ; but in the towns, 
 particularly Kaffa, may be found the descendants 
 of more than fifteen different nations. 
 
 The law respecting property in the Crimea 
 remains precisely, or with little variation, the 
 same as originally established by the Russians 
 at the time of the subjugation. Every male soul 
 settling on an estate, is bound to give to the 
 proprietor of it eight days' labour in the year ; 
 in return for this he has the privilege of grazing 
 all his horses, cattle, &c. For whatsoever land 
 he may plough, he gives one-tenth of the pro- 
 duce to the proprietor of the soil ; and for hay, 
 according to the abundance of the season, from 
 one-third to one-half. Both hay and corn must 
 
PRIMITIVE LIFE OF THE TATARS. 217 
 
 be carried home to the yard of the proprietor, 
 who goes himself into the field to see them^sent. 
 
 Notwithstanding the Tatars of the different 
 villages in the Crimea plough, in fact, where- 
 ever they please, and as much as they like, upon 
 payment of the aforesaid tithe, and are liable to 
 very few out-goings (labour excepted), yet so 
 great is their natural aversion to industry, that 
 multitudes of them, rather than plough and 
 sow, will buy corn to feed their families; others 
 grow enough only for a part of the year, and 
 exchange the rest for wool, sheep, &c. 
 
 In the simple life of the Tatars, much may be 
 traced of similarity with those recorded in the 
 earliest ages of Scripture history. Their riches 
 consist now, as was usual then, in flocks and 
 herds, and in the number of their families. 
 Many also of their domestic habits are the same : 
 nor is it so much a matter of wonder, that, in 
 lives so simple, so much accordance should be 
 found, as that any people, having had for some 
 centuries past an intercourse with more civilized 
 nations, should still retain those manners which 
 characterized mankind before learning had 
 
218 SOCIETY CLASSED. 
 
 enlightened and commerce enriched the world. 
 Here, the former is still unknown, and the latter 
 scarcely ventures a step beyond the neighbour- 
 hood of the seaport whither navigation tempts 
 her. Exchange is still the medium of purchase, 
 and money is but seldom required or produced 
 in bargains made between one Tatar and 
 another, since they look with far more anxious 
 eyes at the expenditure of a single petack (about 
 a halfpenny), than at the cost of ten or twenty 
 rubles, if negociated by the way of exchange. 
 Poor Tatars, like Jacob, serve an apprentice- 
 ship for their wives, and are then admitted as 
 part of the family. 
 
 The Tatars of the Crimea may be divided 
 into three classes : the Murzas, or noblemen ; 
 the Mullas, or priests; and the peasantry; the 
 latter paying great deference to both the former. 
 The Mull a is considered the head of every 
 parish, and nothing of consequence to the com- 
 munity is undertaken without his counsel. His 
 land is ploughed for him, his corn sown, reaped, 
 and carried home, and it is seldom that the pro- 
 prietor of the soil takes tithe of the priest. 
 
DRESS OP A TATAR GENTLEMAN. 219 
 
 The language used in the mosques is the Ara- 
 bic, which the clergy learn to read without 
 being able to translate, only having a general 
 idea as to the tendency of each prayer. The 
 Effendis ( a higher class of the priesthood ) are 
 doubtless more learned, but it is considered 
 sufficient for a Mullaof the smaller villages to be 
 able to read, and to understand a few of the mys- 
 teries of their religion. Not even the smallest 
 village is without a minister; and mistaken as 
 these poor people are in the objects of their be- 
 lief, and in the observance of senseless laws, at 
 least they are entitled to the merit of sincerity 
 in their devotions, and a strict adherence to 
 those duties which their religion enjoins. 
 
 The dress of a Tatar gentleman is of cloth, 
 trimmed with gold or silver lace, or in the heat 
 of summer, of Turkish silk, or of silk mixed with 
 stuff, and in winter his coat is lined with fur. 
 His trowsers are worn tight, and low at the 
 ancles, and are made of some bright coloured 
 linen, frequently blue. He wears upper and 
 under slippers, and no stockings. He has ge- 
 nerally a large high cap of broad cloth (which 
 
220 DRESS OF TATAR GIRLS. 
 
 distinguishes him from the peasantry), and a 
 coloured linen shirt. The priests and old men 
 wear their beards, but the young shave them. 
 All shave the head ; and the Mullas are known 
 by a white linen cloth which they bind round 
 the outside of their caps. 
 
 The dress of the women consists of a pair of 
 trowsers tied at the ancle, and falling loose to 
 the heel, a shift, and a quilted robe, made either 
 of Turkish silk or cotton, or of gold or silver bro- 
 cade, according to the rank and condition of the 
 wearer. The cap worn by the girls is of red 
 cloth trimmed round with gold fringe, or 
 (amongst the peasantry) with their small gold 
 money, of which they also make necklaces; 
 these latter are likewise sometimes of silver, in 
 form somewhat resembling a collar, being tight 
 round the neck, with silver pendants hung close 
 around it. Their bracelets occasionally consist 
 of three or four silver chains affixed to a broad 
 clasp, but are most commonly rings of coloured 
 glass, of which they often wear two or three on 
 each arm. Every finger is loaded with a mul- 
 titude of rings of brass, lead, silver, and some 
 
DRESS OF MARRIED WOMEN. 221 
 
 few of gold, generally with coloured stones in 
 them. A broad belt is worn around the waist, 
 hanging very loose, and as low as the hips : its 
 materials vary according to the taste of the 
 owner, but it is generally worked with gold or 
 silver thread on black velvet, and fastened with 
 a clasp as big as the palms of both hands; these 
 are sometimes of gold or silver, richly embossed, 
 and occasionally of brass or lead. A pair of 
 silver clasps costs from one hundred and twenty 
 to one hundred and seventy rubles. 
 
 The married women wear on their heads a 
 large thin Turkish muslin handkerchief, the 
 ends of which hang down behind, and over 
 this a white veil, without which it is a shame 
 for them to be seen. When they go out to 
 walk they wear a large coat made of a very 
 thin kind of woollen stuff, very white, which 
 they spin and weave themselves ; this is thrown 
 over the head, and hangs down almost to the 
 ancles. The few seen walking in towns are 
 generally thus habited. The hair is plaited in 
 innumerable small braids, which fall down the 
 back, and usually descend below the girdle ; 
 
222 PAINTING THE FACE. 
 
 for the greater number of them have a profusion 
 of very long hair. They dye it of a deep ches- 
 nut, which, if the operation be well performed, 
 is a beautiful colour. The married women 
 paint their faces both white and red, and pencil 
 their eyebrows and eyelashes ; but as this is 
 done with bad materials and bad taste (the 
 ground-work, moreover, being seldom pretty), 
 they mar rather than mend, or improve their 
 features. The privilege of painting the face is 
 not allowed to the girls, who, however, parti- 
 cipate in that of staining the hair and nails, 
 both of which they dye of the same colour. 
 
 The Tatar women spin and weave all their 
 own linen and that of their husbands, using not 
 the wheel but the distaff. The Murzas' ladies 
 sometimes spin the silk of the country, which 
 (though coarse and rough), is a much more 
 costly material, as a shift of it will cost about 
 fifty rubles. Their linen is, for the most part, 
 soft in its texture, and open, though not very 
 fine. The summer dresses of the men (I mean 
 of the peasants), are entirely of white linen or 
 calico, in which they look very neat and clean ; 
 
SCORBUTIC DISORDERS. 228 
 
 but the women, generally speaking, are not so; 
 and few, if any of them, escape the itch, which, 
 as well as all scorbutic disorders, seems to be 
 hereditary, and exists here with a virulence of 
 which I had no idea, the hands, feet, and an- 
 cles being often covered with one entire sore. 
 
 They never wear stockings, but generally 
 two pairs of shoes or slippers, the inner ones 
 being made without stiff soles, and the upper 
 assumed when they go out of the house. Be- 
 sides these, they wear large high wooden clogs 
 when the weather is dirty. Their slippers are 
 very expensive when embroidered with silver 
 thread ; some which I have seen, were so finely 
 worked as to cost twenty-five rubles the pair. 
 Their gowns, when intended to be handsome, 
 are lined throughout the skirt, and covered en- 
 tirely over the body with some sort of fur, which 
 reaches down the sleeves to the elbow. 
 
 The bottom of their trowsers is generally 
 made of some fine Turkish chintz. They are 
 very fond of shewy colours and gilding, in 
 their dress as well as in the decorations of their 
 apartments ; but a Tatar woman, in all her 
 
224 TREATMENT OF CHILDREN. 
 
 brocade, is a most ungraceful and stiff-looking 
 figure. The peasants are very swarthy in their 
 complexions ; and though the Murza ladies are 
 fair, being never exposed to the heat of the 
 sun, yet personal beauty is rare amongst them. 
 
 The Tatar women suckle their children from 
 two to three years, and think us barbarous for 
 weaning ours so early. For the first half year 
 they are seldom carried in the arms, but are 
 commonly laid on their backs in a kind of cradle, 
 in which they are bound so as not to roll out. 
 To the top of this, immediately over their 
 heads, are attached coloured beads, bits of 
 glass, or money, in order to attract their notice. 
 This, to an English mother, appears a most 
 promising plan for making the infants cross-eyed, 
 but it rarely happens that they are so. A Tatar 
 child is swathed from head to foot with no other 
 clothes than a few rags for the first two or three 
 months, but after that it is habited in the same 
 stiff and formal manner as the mother ; and its 
 dress, the ugliness of its features, and, more 
 than all, the scorbutic humours which almost 
 invariably cover it from a very short time after 
 
SUBMISSION OF A WIFE. 225 
 
 its birth, make it, of all the infants I ever saw, 
 the most disgusting and uninteresting. Rarely 
 indeed is one seen which we may venture to 
 take in our arms*. 
 
 A Tatar wife is most completely the slave of 
 her husband, and that the men consider her 
 such, I had from the mouth of one of the most 
 respectable of them. Thus she is only desirable 
 as she serves to gratify his passions, or to con- 
 nect him with some Tatar of better family or 
 greater riches than himself. Among the pea- 
 santry, however, who are less bound by rigid 
 forms, or less observant of them than their su- 
 periors, I have often seen sincere affection dis- 
 played ; but their religious tenets, as well as 
 long established customs, teach them to sup- 
 press and subdue feeling rather than to indulge 
 it. When a Murza visits the apartments of 
 his women, they all rise on his entrance, and 
 again when he leaves it, although he comes and 
 goes very frequently. This ceremonious mark 
 
 * The Greeks in the Crimea preserve the custom of 
 sprinkling a new-born infant with salt, alluded to by the 
 prophet Ezekiel, c. xvi. v. 4. 
 
 Q 
 
226 FEMALE OCCUPATION. 
 
 of respect is never omitted, even by tne wife or 
 by any other of the females, except they be very 
 old women, who on account of their age are 
 excused from this form. 
 
 A Tatar woman can rarely read, and the 
 whole of the instruction thought requisite for 
 the girls, is that of embroidery, which is the 
 chief and almost only occupation of those above 
 the rank of peasantry. Spinning and weaving, 
 which they also sometimes perform, are more 
 generally the work of their servants. This em- 
 ployment, and some small share in the domestic 
 concerns, ( the more important of which devolve 
 on the elders of the family), fill up the dull and 
 monotonous round of a Tatar life. 
 
 In the villages of the plain, the priest is the 
 parish schoolmaster ; and it sometimes happens 
 that his wife can also read. In this case, while 
 the husband superintends the boys, she teaches 
 the girls of the village, or rather the very small 
 number of them who are desirous of learning. 
 
 The dancing of the women is very ridiculous; 
 two only dance at a time, extending the hands, 
 turning the head towards one shoulder, and 
 
FEMALE AMUSEMENTS. 227 
 
 bending the eyes continually on the ground with 
 affected bashfulness. The step is somewhat 
 like the slow movements of the English horn- 
 pipe, and the dance finishes at the option of the 
 performers. That of the men is to quicker time, 
 more animated, and, though not more pleasing, 
 is perfectly the reverse of the other. The musi- 
 cians are usually gipsies, and wherever they 
 appear, they are sure to find dancers ready. 
 The men are allowed to dance in the court-yard 
 of the women's apartments, who look at them 
 from their latticed gallery. 
 
 Swinging is a favourite amusement with them, 
 and the love of it by no means confined to chil- 
 dren. The ladies seemed surprised when I told 
 them that I had for some time left off this diver- 
 sion, though I liked it much when a child. I 
 cannot wonder, however, that they continue to 
 be fond of the pastimes of early life, since they 
 continue always to be children in understand- 
 ing ; and there is something reasonable in their 
 love of this exercise, since it is the only one 
 which they are permitted to take, and that only 
 at the seasons of their two great holidays. 
 
 Q2 
 
CHAP. XX. 
 
 Tatar Carriage Homes Furniture Stoves 
 Women's Apartments Construction of a 
 Tatar Cottage Marriages Wedding of a 
 Son ofAtti Bey Murza Plurality of Wives 
 Runaway Matches Priority in Marriage 
 determined by Seniority, and not by Choice 
 Share of Property inherited by a Widow 
 Guardianship Tatar Character. 
 
 THE common Tatar carriage is a long 
 covered cart or waggon, some of two, and others 
 of four wheels, called a madjaar. Few, even 
 of the richest among them, have any better vehi- 
 cle than this to take out their wives and families 
 in. When a Tatar lady goes to visit her mother, 
 or other friends, all her attendants go with her, 
 and she expects to be met at her carriage with 
 as much ceremony as if she came in a state 
 coach. 
 
 The embellishments of a Tatar room are 
 few; it is however warm, clean, and comfort- 
 
FURNITURE OF HOUSES. 229 
 
 able. The floors, which are always formed of 
 mud, are covered over, even in the poorest houses, 
 with coarse grey blanketing; in the best, with 
 Turkish matting or carpets. Cushions are 
 ranged for seats, and also for the back to lean 
 against, along two sides of the room. Around 
 the white-washed walls of die female apart- 
 ments, hang the specimens of the industry of 
 its inhabitants, viz. embroidered napkins, hand- 
 kerchiefs, &c. and on the shelves are seen va- 
 rious articles of dress, the robes and kaftans of 
 the ladies. Besides this display, there is always 
 a pile of coverlids, mattresses, and cushions for 
 their beds, over which is thrown a fine covering, 
 often of thin muslin, to give a glimpse of the rich 
 silks and satins of which they generally are 
 made. The other articles of furniture are, a 
 small Turkish table, and a large chest, which 
 is painted red, green, and half a dozen other 
 colours. 
 
 On one side of the room, a shelf supports 
 their dishes, glasses, cups, &c. The last they 
 pride themselves on having handsome; and 
 always give coffee, as in Turkey, with a double 
 
230 FEMALE APARTMENTS. 
 
 cup. Sherbet is commonly offered in a China 
 basin. 
 
 Their windows are not glazed, but latticed, 
 and in winter are closely papered, leaving only 
 a small space in each for a piece of glass. In 
 summer they are fancifully decorated with slips 
 of paper placed across the lattice- work. 
 
 The Tatar stoves are excellently adapted for 
 retaining and diffusing heat: when they have 
 been made very hot, and the embers are in a fit 
 state to be shut up, the door is affixed to the 
 mouth of the oven, and a stiff mortar is put all 
 round, to prevent the heat from escaping. This 
 door is always in the entrance room, but the 
 stove projects into the sitting-room. 
 
 The women's apartments of the richer Tatars 
 are situated within an inclosure, through the 
 gates of which none but servants of the family, 
 and female visitors, are admitted. Of the former, 
 only one or two have the privilege of entering 
 the rooms themselves. The master has another 
 house, distinct from this building, in which he 
 receives his guests. 
 
 The peasant has almost always two rooms, 
 
TATAR COTTAGES. 231 
 
 of which the inner serves for his wife's apart- 
 ment, and the outer is used as a kitchen. 
 
 The cottages of the Tatar peasants, for cheap- 
 ness of construction, rapidity of building, and 
 simplicity of materials, are perhaps unrivalled ; 
 and the inside is generally kept cleanly, espe- 
 cially those of the mountain Tatars. They are 
 constructed of oaken stakes, whose ends are 
 driven perpendicularly into the ground, and 
 stand above it seven or eight feet, and from one 
 to one foot and a half distant from each other ; 
 into these, liggers are entwined, and the whole 
 are well plastered within and without, and 
 white-washed when dry. The roof has rafters, 
 crossed with liggers, upon which ashes, marl, 
 or earth are heaped ; but all the more wealthy 
 boors tile their houses. The sheds, cow-houses, 
 stables, and all that belongs to a Tatar farm-yard, 
 is equally composed of stakes and liggers, and 
 made warm by being plastered with cow-dung. 
 When a Tatar desires to marry, and has fixed 
 upon the family from which he intends to choose 
 his wife, ( in which determination he must for 
 the most part be influenced by interest, although 
 
232 MODE OF COURTSHIP. 
 
 the reputed beauty or good qualities of his bride 
 may perhaps have been described to him by 
 her attendants), his first step is to obtain the 
 consent of the father. This being accomplished, 
 presents are sent, according to the circumstances 
 of the suitor, who now visits in the family on a 
 footing of increased familiarity. None of the 
 female part of it, however, are on any occasion 
 visible to him, unless he can by stealth obtain 
 a glance of his fair one, who possesses the supe- 
 rior advantage of seeing him whenever he comes 
 to the house, through the lattice- work which in- 
 closes the apartments of the women. 
 
 At the period fixed for the wedding, a Tatar 
 Murza sends to all the neighbouring villages an 
 invitation to come and partake of his festivity 
 and good cheer. Two, three, or more villages 
 in a day are thus feasted, and this lasts a week, 
 ten days, or a fortnight, according to the wealth 
 of the bridegroom. Each guest takes with him 
 some present, which is as handsome as his means 
 will allow : a horse, a sheep, a lamb, various arti- 
 cles of dress, nay, even money, are presented on 
 this occasion. 
 
PREPARATION OF THE BRIDE. 233 
 
 Much ceremony takes place in preparing the 
 intended bride on the evening before the wed- 
 ding, of which I have been a witness. The poor 
 girl either was, or appeared to be, a most un- 
 willing victim. She was lying on cushions when 
 I first entered, covered so as not to be seen, and 
 surrounded by the girls who were her particular 
 friends, the rest of the women attending less 
 closely. The girls, at intervals, loudly lamented 
 the loss of their companion, and she joined in 
 the voice of woe. At length the women told her 
 that it was time to commence the preparations. 
 In an instant the girls all seized her, and uttering 
 loud cries, attempted to withhold her from the 
 women, who, struggling against them, endea- 
 voured to force her away. This scene lasted till 
 the bride was near suffering seriously from their 
 folly, for she fainted from continued exertion, 
 and the heat of the crowd ; but this may be said 
 to have ended the contest, for they were obliged 
 to give room and air for her to revive, and some 
 little time after she had recovered, the women 
 took formal possession of their new associate. 
 They then began to dye her fingers, her toe- 
 
234 THE PRIEST'S BLESSING. 
 
 nails, and afterwards her hair, which being tied 
 up, she at last was left to repose. During the 
 whole time I was there, she would not shew her 
 face; and in general I have observed, that if one 
 tells a Tatar girl that it is said she is about to be 
 married, she runs immediately out of the room, 
 and will never speak to a stranger on that subject. 
 The share which the priest has in the cere- 
 mony, is, I believe, very slight : he attends the 
 house of the bride's father, and asks at her win- 
 dow, whether she consents to the marriage. If 
 she answers in the affirmative, he says some 
 short ejaculatory prayer, blesses the couple in 
 the name of the prophet, and retires. For this 
 he receives a present of considerable value ; a 
 horse, or a sheep, or money. 
 
 The principal ceremony takes place on the day 
 when the bride is brought home to her hus- 
 band's house ; and the chief visitors are then in- 
 vited. Eating, drinking, and dancing to the 
 music of a drum and bagpipes, form the greatest 
 part of the entertainment, till the cavalcade sets 
 out to meet the bride. She is always met at the 
 frontiers of the estate on which the bridegroom 
 
MATRIMONIAL CEREMONIES. 235 
 
 resides, all the guests attending, and conducting 
 the lady to her future dwelling. 
 
 The party, when on the road, forms a gay and 
 lively concourse, in which he, who in England 
 would be called the happy man, is the only 
 person who has not the appearance of being 
 cheerful. Apparelled in his worst suit of clothes, 
 with unshaven face, and perhaps badly mounted, 
 he rides where he is least conspicuous, while a 
 friend has the charge of leading another horse* 
 for him, which is always richly caparisoned. 
 When the party attending the bride is arrived 
 at the place of meeting, the mother, or some 
 duenna who has the superintendance of the busi- 
 ness, first makes a present of value to the person 
 who leads the horse, which, if it be a shawl, ,as 
 is generally the case, is tied round the neck of 
 the animal. Afterwards, many small handker- 
 chiefs coarsely embroidered, and little pieces of 
 linen, or of coarse printed cotton, are distributed, 
 for which the guests contend in horse-races. 
 
 * At the wedding of Afsoot Tchelebi this was a handsome 
 Circassian horse, for which he gave five hundred rubles; the 
 saddle and trappings cost three hundred more. 
 
236 CARRYING THE BRIDE HOME. 
 
 This occupies much time, and during the whole 
 of it, the carriage which contains the bride waits 
 at the distance of nearly half a mile. It is 
 never brought nearer to the party, but the lady's 
 father, or one of her brothers, attends it, in 
 order to see the charge safely executed of deliver- 
 ing her unseen into the house of her husband. 
 The better to effect this, the carriage is hung 
 round with curtains inside, and if the party 
 arrive somewhat early at the village, the vehicle 
 is detained at the entrance of it till near the close 
 of day, and till it is supposed that all are occu- 
 pied in eating. 
 
 When she reaches the door of her new prison, 
 sherbet is brought her to drink, and some kind 
 of sweetmeat is given with it. She is next pre- 
 sented with a lamb, which is actually put into 
 the carriage with her, and afterwards transferred 
 to one of her attendants. At length, after much 
 bustle and preparation, the court being previously 
 cleared of all spectators, large coarse blanketing 
 is fixed up, so as to prevent all possibility of her 
 being seen, and then, wrapped in a sheet, she 
 is carried by her brother into the house. Here 
 
DECORATING THE BRIDE. 237 
 
 fresh forms and ceremonies await her. Being 
 received into one of the most private rooms, a 
 curtain is fixed up so as entirely to cover one 
 corner of it. Behind this the poor girl is placed, 
 who, after the annoyance and fatigue she has un- 
 dergone, is glad to rest as much as she is able in 
 this nook of her cage. Decorated now in all her 
 gayest attire, and glittering with gold and bro- 
 cade, she is still not permitted to be seen, except 
 by her mother and female friends, who busy 
 themselves in arranging her clothes in proper 
 order, and in adorning the room with a profu- 
 sion of gay dresses, embroidered handkerchiefs 
 and towels, rich coverlids, and cushions of cotton 
 or Turkish silk. All these are distributed around 
 the room ; even the shifts, being new for the 
 occasion, are hung up with the rest, along the 
 walls of the apartment, forming an extraordinary 
 sort of tapestry. 
 
 While this arrangement is taking place, the 
 bridegroom, having parted with most of his 
 guests, begins to prepare for a visit to his bride. 
 Being now washed, shaven, and gaily drest, he 
 is allowed about midnight to see his wife for an 
 
238 INVITATION TO A WEDDING. 
 
 hour, at the expiration of which, he is summoned 
 to retire. Throughout the whole of the next day, 
 she is destined to be fixed in a corner of the room, 
 and to remain standing during the visits of as 
 many strangers as curiosity may bring to see 
 her. The men employ themselves in horse- 
 racing ; and three or four articles of some value 
 are given for the winners. The bridegroom 
 makes a point of paying an early visit to those 
 whom he considers his friends, taking with him 
 some little present of his wife's embroidery. 
 
 Whenever a wedding took place among the 
 Tatars of our own village, they always invited 
 me to attend, and if by any cause I was pre- 
 vented from going, they would send me some 
 of every sort of pastry which they had prepared 
 for the occasion. If I went, a party came to 
 escort me, and a band of music either accom- 
 panied them, or met me at the entrance of 
 the village. It likewise attended me when I 
 returned home. 
 
 December 21st, O. S. 1819. The wedding 
 of one of the sons of Atti Bey Murza is now 
 going on in this neighbourhood, where it is 
 
RUIN BY MARRIAGE. 239 
 
 supposed that the persons who will assemble on 
 the last day of the ceremony will not be fewer 
 than a thousand, and that the money expended 
 will not be less than seven or eight thousand 
 rubles. The receiving of guests will have lasted 
 eight days, and on each day from four to five 
 hundred persons have attended. 
 
 It is by no means rare for a Tatar peasant to 
 expend from one thousand to two thousand rubles 
 at his wedding, though there are many who are 
 compelled by poverty to more frugality. 
 
 The excess to which this custom is carried 
 amongst the Tatar peasantry, exceeds credibility, 
 In fact, a marriage amongst them is said to be 
 frequently the ruin of the party. For the purchase 
 of his wife, and the presents he gives her in 
 clothes, and the distribution of other presents 
 amongst whole villages who are invited to the 
 ceremony, oblige him to sell a great part of his 
 live-stock, and notaeldom the whole of it: oxen, 
 horses, cows and sheep, are sold without mercy ; 
 his magazines under ground are emptied ; and 
 besides all this, he has been known to borrow 
 money at an interest of never less than from two 
 
240 PLURALITY OF WIVES. 
 
 to three per cent, per month. An incumbrance 
 such as this, Tatar industry does not soon sur- 
 mount, and long continued poverty is the conse- 
 quence of indulging this ambition. 
 
 It is well known that the Mahometan law 
 admits of a plurality of wives. Four are allowed; 
 but few Tatars are found to have more than one. 
 As long as they continue to live in unity with 
 the first it very seldom happens that they take a 
 second; for the women, though brought up in 
 such perfect subservience and submission, have 
 still the same passions and feelings as ourselves, 
 and can as ill brook to share with another the 
 affections of their husbands. Whether or not 
 the existence of the law, and the knowledge of 
 the right which it confers, may stimulate them 
 to a more attentive observance of their duties, 
 and more constant endeavours to maintain undi- 
 vided the regard of their lords, I will not ven- 
 ture to say, but I think it by no means an im- 
 probable effect ; certain it is, that though a 
 Tatar husband is supreme and absolute, and 
 though he considers his wife most perfectly 
 his slave, still is he affectionate and kind to 
 
RUNAWAY MATCHES. 241 
 
 her, and instances of unhappy marriages are 
 rare. 
 
 In cases where husbands have two or more 
 wives, separate apartments and separate esta- 
 blishments must be given them ; they will never 
 consent to live together, and always regard each 
 other with feelings of hatred, jealousy and pride. 
 
 The priest possesses the power of giving a di- 
 vorce under particular circumstances. If the 
 husband beat or ill use his wife, she may com- 
 plain to the Mulla, who, attended by the com- 
 munity of the village, comes to the house, and 
 pronounces a formal separation between the 
 parties. The woman goes back to her own re- 
 lations. 
 
 Runaway matches, though not common, some- 
 times happen, and appear to be as valid as those 
 which are sanctified by the priest. No other 
 shame attaches to them, than that which results 
 from the omission of their proud ceremonials and 
 festivities. The woman considers herself as 
 effectually bound to the man, and he as faith- 
 fully attaches himself to her, as if they had passed 
 through the long ordeal of a Tatar marriage. An 
 
 R 
 
242 HARDSHIP ON YOUNGER DAUGHTERS. 
 
 instance of this happened in the village of Kara- 
 goss, amongst our own labourers. 
 
 A Tatar having more than one daughter, will 
 not give the younger in marriage before the 
 elder, even though a higher price be offered for 
 her; therefore, be her beauty or disposition ever 
 so much commended and extolled by her atten- 
 dants, the girl has no chance of being married 
 sooner than her sisters, or perhaps, if there be 
 many of them, of getting a husband at all. 
 Among the peasantry, however, this rule is pos- 
 sibly dispensed with. The daughter of a Murza 
 may not marry a peasant, and the number of her 
 own rank is now diminished to a small one. 
 
 By law, a man may marry the widow of his 
 brother. At the death of the husband the wife 
 inherits one-third of his personal property, and 
 the children divide the remainder. 
 
 Guardianship of children is vested in the bro- 
 thers of the deceased, and widows also become 
 their wards. 
 
 In case of landed property, the tribunals of 
 the Russian government have power over the 
 guardians of estates, and a yearly account of 
 
PUNISHMENT FOR INFIDELITY. 243 
 
 income and disbursement must be given, and 
 attested in the provincial courts, in order to pre- 
 vent the person in trust from appropriating to his 
 own use, that of which he has the charge. 
 
 The landed estate descends to the male heir, 
 subject, however, to the maintenance of the 
 family. 
 
 The highest points of excellence in the Tatar 
 character are their sobriety and chastity, for 
 both of which they are universally remarkable 
 and praiseworthy. The Tatar law, I have been 
 told, in cases of infidelity, sentences the offen- 
 der to be placed in a grave dug for the purpose, 
 when, the whole neighbourhood being assem- 
 bled from many versts round, each person pre- 
 sent flings a stone, and the delinquent is thus 
 sacrificed to the rage of offended feelings. 
 
 The Crim Tatars, however, now living under 
 the Russian government, and subject to Russian 
 laws, are no longer able to exercise their own 
 customs, and this, among the rest, has fallen 
 into disuse. 
 
CHAP. XXI. 
 
 Funerals Anniversary of the Death of Rela- 
 tives Fasts and Feasts Charms and Amu- 
 lets Mendicants Presents to Lying-in Wo- 
 men Houses of the Stepp Tatars Small- 
 Pox Vapour Baths. 
 
 I WAS present at the burial of an old woman 
 who died in the village of Karagoss. This 
 ceremony usually takes place about twelve hours 
 after death. When the persons appointed to 
 attend the funeral were assembled, the body 
 was brought out of the house and laid upon a 
 hurdle. Having first been well washed, some 
 coarse new linen, sewn together in proper lengths 
 for the purpose, was folded round it, and it was 
 finally covered with the best kaftan and pelisse 
 of the deceased. The corpse was next brought 
 out by the bearers, from the shed in which 
 these preparations had been made, and placed 
 
FUNERAL CEREMONY. 245 
 
 upon the ground at some little distance. The 
 Mulla, and some men hired to sing, then assem- 
 bled round it, and some short ej acu I atory prayers 
 were offered, during which the women stood 
 attentive, a few paces from the spot. After the 
 prayers and singing were ended, the bearers 
 raised the hurdle ( which was affixed to very 
 long poles, so as to allow four or five men to 
 carry it, both before and behind), and set off at 
 a very quick pace, almost running. The women 
 instantly began crying and howling, and fol- 
 lowed the corpse with loud lamentations to the 
 extremity of the village. 
 
 As the rapidity with which the bearers pro- 
 ceeded soon heated and tired them, they were 
 relieved by others of the villagers, who all kept 
 pace, and did not interrupt the procession for 
 an instant by their changes. The priest, and 
 some men from another village, attended on 
 horseback. Arrived at the grave, which was 
 prepared on the open Stepp, the body was 
 placed on the ground, and the men gathered 
 round it, praying as before. In the act of 
 praying they hold up the hand, as if reading 
 
246 PURCHASE OF PRAYERS. 
 
 from it, and at the close of the prayer pass one 
 hand over the forehead, or both down either 
 side of the face. This part of the ceremony 
 being over, they all went to a short distance, 
 and seating themselves in a ring, were read to 
 by the Mulla, and by some other persons. 
 While this was going on, the son of the de- 
 ceased distributed a small sum of money among 
 those who were present, sending it round by 
 one of his friends. My little boy being with 
 me, he, among the rest, was offered a few 
 kopeeks. These I at first was unwilling to let 
 him take, but the man who brought them in- 
 sisted on his accepting them ; and when I asked 
 him for what purpose they were given, he re- 
 plied, " to procure the prayers of those present 
 for the deceased, that she may be received into 
 Heaven." 
 
 Having mixed a portion of quick-lime with 
 the earth, they now prepared to put the corpse 
 into the grave. This was dug perpendicularly 
 for about four feet, at which depth an excava- 
 tion was made on one side, nearly large enough 
 to admit the width of the body. In this exca- 
 
CEREMONY OF INTERMENT. 247 
 
 vated niche it was laid, and some papers* writ- 
 ten by theMulla were disposed about it; one 
 being placed on the breast, expressive of the 
 character of the deceased ; another in the hand, 
 intended likewise as a sort of passport at the 
 gates of Heaven ; and a third above the head, 
 which is said to be an intimation to the Evil 
 One to refrain from disturbing the bones of a 
 true believer. These papers having been pro- 
 perly arranged, stakes were fixed obliquely 
 across the grave, from the upper to the lower 
 side, opposite the body. They were placed 
 very close to each other, and a quantity of hay 
 being put over them, the earth was thrown in, 
 and large stones collected to cover the whole. 
 
 The final ceremony at the grave is a repe- 
 tition of prayers and singing; the party then 
 adjourn to the house of the deceased, where 
 
 * I persuaded the Mulla to give me copies of these papers, 
 but as they were written in Arabic, I found difficulty in 
 getting them translated. Having given them to a Tatar Sa- 
 cerdatal for that purpose, I never received them again. I 
 have little doubt that he handed them over to the Effendi, 
 who prevented their being returned to me. 
 
248 PASSPORTS TO THE DEAD. 
 
 they and others, including all relations and 
 friends, are feasted for one, two, or three suc- 
 cessive days, according to the power and pos- 
 sessions of the mourners. After the dispersion 
 of the other attendants, theMulla remains alone, 
 and reads by the grave. 
 
 The Tatars believe that the spirits of the bad 
 walk for forty days after death. In this case, 
 they say, it is requisite to uncover the grave, 
 and either shoot the dead body, cut off its head, 
 or take out its heart. 
 
 I once inquired of a Tatar, if the passports 
 given to the dead were indiscriminately granted 
 to all ; and when he answered in the affirmative, 
 I further asked him, horV a favourable character 
 could be conscientiously given to such persons 
 as a known robber or murderer? " We believe," 
 said he, " that none are so bad as that some 
 good may not be found in them, and that the 
 soul will only remain in Hell till it has expiated 
 the sins committed in this life, or until Ma- 
 homet has made sufficient intercession for it." 
 
 The Tatars commemorate the anniversary of 
 the death of their relatives, on which occasion 
 
ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEAD. 249 
 
 all the women and girls of the village visit the 
 grave. The nearest relations remain reading 
 and praying around it for about an hour, and 
 the other women arrange themselves at some 
 distance. The prayers being finished, all seat 
 themselves together within sight of the grave, 
 when pancakes, and a finer sort of bread, are 
 distributed amongst the party. I was present at 
 one of these ceremonies : the woman deceased 
 had left five children, the two eldest of whom 
 (girls of fourteen and sixteen years of age) 
 evinced much real sorrow for her loss. In the 
 interval of twelve months their father had mar- 
 ried again, and his second wife made one of 
 the party. Soon after he divorced this woman, 
 on account of the badness of her temper, and he 
 is since married to a third. 
 
 The fast of the Oroza is a very severe one, 
 and kept with equal strictness by rich and poor. 
 It consists, as is well known, in abstinence 
 from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. 
 When it falls in harvest time, the men are fre- 
 quently unable to work, in consequence of its 
 debilitating effects. They wash their faces, 
 
250 FASTING AND FEASTING. 
 
 and even rinse their mouths with water, but 
 though parched with thirst, and fainting with 
 fatigue, never venture to swallow a drop. 
 Their favourite recreation of smoking is also 
 denied them, and it is not till they are abso- 
 lutely reduced to the bed of sickness, that 
 they can obtain any remission of these observ- 
 ances. 
 
 At their two Byrams, one of which follows 
 this fast, they enjoy all the gaiety of which a 
 Tatar life is capable. On these occasions, the 
 peasantry of most of the surrounding villages 
 visit their Murza. Much ceremony appears on 
 their first meeting, each person approaching 
 him in order, kneeling on one knee, kissing his 
 hand, and putting it to his forehead. They 
 then seat themselves indiscriminately, and little 
 consciousness is seen of any difference of rank 
 between them. He regales them with coffee and 
 sherbet, which latter is a very favourite drink 
 with them, and is simply coarse honey mixed 
 with water. Another, and I believe the only 
 strong liquor which they are allowed, is called 
 booza: it is made either from rice or millet. 
 
SOULS IN WOMEN. 251 
 
 and with this, it is said, they occasionally get 
 much intoxicated ; but the vice of drunkenness 
 is very rare among the Tatars in the Crimea, 
 and I believe is never an habitual one. 
 
 Wine they universally refuse, and even in 
 cases of sickness, require the consent of their 
 priest before they will drink it. This, in some 
 instances within my own knowledge, has not 
 been granted when it might have been of essen- 
 tial service. 
 
 Many of them drink brandy without scruple, 
 alleging that Mahomet only forbad the use of 
 fermented liquors. This is, however, only the 
 plea of the most ignorant or the most wilful. I 
 have seen them drink beer, which must be just 
 as objectionable, under this view of the law, as 
 wine, but they were not informed how it was 
 made. 
 
 I once inquired of a Tatar gentleman, if it 
 were true that the Mahometans believe w r omen 
 to have no souls : " certainly not," replied he, 
 "but the perfect seclusion in which they live 
 makes it impossible to admit of their praying in 
 public, and it is contrary to our law that they 
 
252 CHARMS AND AMULETS. 
 
 should do so." For ray own part, I have seen 
 the Tatar women pray, both at the stated hours, 
 and also in an ejaculatory manner, with a zeal 
 and devotion which left me no doubt of their 
 faith and hope. 
 
 The old men are generally very strict attend- 
 ants at mosque, but the young seem to go sel- 
 dom. I was once a secret witness of their cere- 
 monies in a village metchet*, but observed no- 
 thing remarkable. The most religious of them 
 place their ambition in acquiring a sufficient 
 fund to carry them to Mecca ; a visit to which, 
 procures for them the title of Hadgee, or Pilgrim. 
 
 The Tatars wear a great number of charms 
 and amulets, as preservatives from sickness and 
 other dangers. They commonly consist of some 
 written paper, purchased from the Mulla, and 
 carefully sewn up in a piece of cotton or silk. 
 These hang in strings about the neck, are sus- 
 pended by the women to the hair, and are worn 
 by the men in the centre of the back, stitched to 
 the outer garment. They use this remedy for 
 
 * Mosque, or place of worship. 
 
SUPERSTITION. 253 
 
 the sickness of their horses as well as for their 
 own, and one of them lending my son a bridle, 
 begged him to take care of the amulet attached 
 to it, " for which," said he, " I paid five rubles." 
 Another of their favourite specifics is a bag of 
 millet tied round a horse's neck, which, as it is 
 applied either for a lame foot or a sore back, 
 is, I suppose, equally efficacious for each. They 
 likewise throw an egg, or eggs, into the face of 
 a horse which is ill ; but that this charm is not 
 always effective, I can answer from my own 
 experience. These superstitions, gross as they 
 may appear, are by no means confined to the 
 lower class. During the illness of one of my 
 children, the steward of a neighbouring Murza, 
 who accidentally came to the house, informed 
 me that his master had the power of curing it. 
 " He will write a paper for you," said the man,. 
 " which you must burn, and hold the child over 
 the smoke of it: this done, she will recover; or 
 perhaps he will direct you to sew up the paper 
 without looking at it, and let her constantly 
 wear it. Do not hesitate to send to him, if you 
 desire it." I had no occasion to try the strength 
 
254 SUPERSTITION. 
 
 of this charm, as my child recovered without its 
 assistance. 
 
 In common with many other nations of the 
 East, they retain the superstition of the evil eye, 
 which is too well known to require description ; 
 connected with this, is the belief, that the ad- 
 miration of a stranger is liable to bring bad 
 luck upon their children, cattle, &c. ; and the 
 very ancient method of averting its ill conse- 
 quences, by spitting on the object supposed to 
 be affected. 
 
 Another, and more singular prejudice, which 
 pervades the better informed as well as the 
 lower class of people, is that respecting bees. 
 They suppose, that if any robbery be committed 
 where a number of hives is kept, the whole 
 stock will gradually diminish, and in a short 
 time die ; "for bees" say they, " ivill not suffer 
 thieving" This remark has been more than 
 once made to me by respectable, and, on other 
 subjects, apparently sensible persons. 
 
 In cases of epidemic disease amongst cattle, 
 a Tatar expects to cure it by cutting off the 
 head of one of them, and burying it in a hole, 
 
SUPERSTITIOUS PREJUDICES. 255 
 
 This I believe is a sacrifice to the devil, or evil 
 spirit, who has sent the contagion. 
 
 It is a very common custom in the Crimea, 
 with the Tatars as well as the Bulgarian settlers, 
 to stick up a horse's skull near their houses, in 
 order to preserve them from witchcraft. It ap- 
 pears, I am told, from ancient authority, that a 
 somewhat similar superstition prevailed among 
 the earliest known inhabitants of this country, 
 (the Taurians), who however made use of a 
 human skull for this purpose. 
 
 A Tatar, who was hired to go from Karagoss 
 to Odessa, refused to set out on a Tuesday, con- 
 sidering it an unlucky day ; " for," said he, " I 
 once began a journey on that day, and lost two 
 horses by it, so that I would not again run the 
 risk for one thousand rubles." He added, that it 
 was against the law; which I cannot believe, 
 since it is not probable that Mahomet, who 
 allows his followers to work on their Sabbath, 
 should prohibit them from doing so on any other 
 day. 
 
 Mendicants are very rare among the Tatars ; 
 their mode of life is so simple, and the few wants 
 
256 LYING-IN PRESENTS. 
 
 they have beyond what their own labour gives 
 them, are supplied at so little cost, that the son 
 finds the maintenance of his parents, when ad- . 
 vanced in life, no burden to him ; and his chil- 
 dren are an addition of wealth to his store. In 
 the few cases which occur of the old being re- 
 duced to beg, I am told that they never enter a 
 Tatar cottage to ask charity, and meet with a 
 denial; money, clothes, bread, or some sort of 
 food, is given to them, and a Tatar would be 
 ashamed who would refuse to listen to this call 
 upon his humanity. 
 
 At the birth of a child, it is universally the 
 custom for the other females of the village to 
 visit the lying-in woman, each bringing some 
 present, either of food, clothes, or money. How- 
 ever trifling their gifts may be, they are accepted, 
 while the not giving would be considered a dis- 
 grace. How far this custom extends among the 
 rich Tatars, I cannot say, but among the poor it 
 is very general. 
 
 It is rare to see either lame or blind people 
 among them, and they are remarkable for hav- 
 ing fine dark eyes, and teeth of extreme white- 
 
THE SMALL-POX. 257 
 
 ness. These latter they frequently employ in 
 chewing a sort of gum, or paste, prepared by 
 themselves from the root of a plant, and called 
 sahkuz. Their ears are singularly large, and 
 they never attempt to cover them, but constantly 
 wear their caps low, on purpose to make them 
 stick out. How variable a form has beauty ! 
 
 The houses of the Stepp Tatars are often dug 
 in the ground, to such a depth as to require only 
 roofing to complete them. These being imper- 
 vious to the air, are warmer in winter, and 
 cooler in summer, than the usual huts, which 
 are built of wood and plastered. 
 
 It is singular that, during the whole of my 
 residence at Karagoss, 1 have never seen or 
 heard of the small-pox among the Tatars, though 
 the Greeks in the immediate neighbourhood have 
 had it with great virulence. Vaccination is 
 practised in the towns, but in the villages it is 
 received slowly and unwillingly. 
 
 The use of vapour baths is very general, both 
 among the Tatars and Russians, who heat them, 
 however, in a different manner. The Tatar bath 
 generally consists of three rooms, the innermost 
 
 s 
 
258 VAPOUR BATHS. 
 
 of which is heated by the steam from a copper of 
 boiling water : this is admitted into the apart- 
 ment by a door, and the heat is regulated by 
 numerous small windows in a dome above, which 
 are removed and replaced at pleasure. 
 
 The outer room is used for dressing, and the 
 second contains two or three water-baths, for 
 those who prefer that mode of bathing. 
 
 The Russian bath is heated by a trench full of 
 stones, which are rendered red-hot by a furnace 
 below. From water thrown upon these, the ne- 
 cessary vapour is created; and as the heat is 
 greater the nearer one approaches to the roof, 
 there is always a flight of steps in the room, by 
 ascending which, any requisite degree may be 
 obtained. 
 
CHAP. XXII. 
 
 Tatar Food Instruments Games Horse- 
 Racing Appearance of the Tatar on Horse- 
 back Shoes Agirnish Execution of Con- 
 victs Agriculture Manner of Threshing 
 Threshing -Floor Method of Stacking Hay 
 on the South Coast. 
 
 THE food of the Tatars consists chiefly of 
 sour milk, or paste. From childhood they are 
 so accustomed to the use of sour food, that they 
 eat every sort of acid with extreme avidity. They 
 devour unripe fruit with greats greediness, and 
 suck lemons in preference to oranges. They sel- 
 dom eat fresh milk, but immediately it comes 
 from the cow, it is first boiled, and afterwards 
 churned. The butter is then melted, and poured 
 into a skin. The buttermilk is put into a cask, 
 which stands ready to receive the overplus of 
 every day's consumption, and which, thus be- 
 coming sour, is saved until the time when their 
 
 s2 
 
260 SAVOURY PREPARATIONS. 
 
 cows are dry. A very small jug of it will at 
 that time sell for a petack. They also make 
 cheese, which is not dried, but salted and pressed 
 in small thin pieces. These are afterwards put 
 down into an earthen pot, or small tub, with a 
 sufficient quantity of salt to keep them. They 
 prepare paste for eating in a great variety of 
 ways, making it in different shapes, and frying 
 or boiling it with butter. Sometimes it is served 
 up in the form of pancakes, sometimes of patties, 
 containing a small portion of meat and onion. 
 One of their favourite dishes consists of small 
 balls of paste sent up in sour cream. Another, 
 which is by far the most conformable to a 
 stranger's taste, is made of minced meat, sea- 
 soned and rolled in vine leaves, which they put 
 into a saucepan with butter, and stew over a 
 slow fire. They eat rice, as the Turks do in 
 Pillau, with boiled raisins, and make a cold 
 soup of these latter, as well as of figs, which is 
 in fact no more than the water in which they 
 have been boiled. When melons and cucum- 
 bers are ripe, they live almost entirely upon 
 them, devouring them unpeeled, and requiring 
 
THE DINNER TABLE. 261 
 
 only the addition of bread to complete their 
 meal. 
 
 The Russians, Greeks, and Bulgarians eat 
 frogs, land tortoises, and snails, which last they 
 boil, and having taken from them the shell, dish 
 them up with flour, salt, and oil. Snails are, 
 however, only considered good and eatable at 
 two seasons of the year, viz. in the autumn, and 
 very early in the spring, just before the frost 
 goes, at which time they are found about the 
 roots of trees. As soon as they begin to crawl 
 they become slimy, and are no longer palatable. 
 
 At their dinners they sit in a circle around a 
 small table about a foot from the ground, over 
 which is thrown a large table-cloth, or more 
 commonly a very long napkin, covering the knees 
 of all the party. The first dish, which generally 
 consists of soup, is then brought in, with slices 
 of bread, and a spoon for each person. All eat 
 out of the same dish, and the use of forks is un- 
 known. When roast or boiled meat is sent to 
 table, the master of the house cuts it into slices, 
 and helps his guests with his fingers, placing 
 every one's portion upon his bread, or upon the 
 
262 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 tray. At their parties they serve up ten or fifteen 
 dishes, one at a time ; and at a friendly dinner I 
 have never seen less than six. Water is commonly 
 drank at table, and when that is removed, ex- 
 cellent coffee, often without sugar or cream, is 
 handed round. An ewer and basin are brought 
 to each person, before and after the meal. It 
 is not their custom to say grace aloud, but I 
 have remarked the elder women of the family 
 repeating some sort of prayer before they begin 
 to eat. 
 
 The musical instruments of the Tatars are the 
 most unmusical of their kind. They consist of 
 the pipe, bagpipe, and drum ; the former of which 
 is the companion of the shepherd boy, and the 
 two latter the constant accompaniments of their 
 wedding feasts. I have often enquired for na- 
 tional songs, but could never hear of any that 
 were worth, or indeed would bear translating : 
 those which my boys learnt among the Tatar 
 lads, were generally founded on some village 
 anecdote. I cannot find that they have the usual 
 oriental taste for tales of necromancy and en- 
 cjiantment ; but they are fond of ghost stories, 
 
GAMES. 263 
 
 and the fact of the devil walking in the garden 
 at Karagoss, is not doubted by any one of them. 
 
 The boys have many very active games, some 
 of which resemble those of our English children. 
 Among those peculiar to themselves, are several 
 played with bones, which they throw from the 
 back of the hand, and catch again very expertly. 
 In one of their games, the bones are placed at a 
 short distance, and then projected forward by a 
 stick thrown at them. This last is the amuse- 
 ment of men as well as of boys. Wrestling is 
 performed much in the same manner as in Eng- 
 land, excepting that they grasp each other by the 
 sash, so that the position of the body is less up- 
 right. Kicking, I am told, is not allowed, and 
 the only exertion of the wrestlers is an endeavour 
 to throw each other by tripping up the heels. 
 
 Horse-racing is a most favourite amusement 
 with the Tatars, at all their weddings, and on 
 every holiday. They have no stated course, 
 however, and run to no stated distance. The 
 manner in which the race is conducted is as 
 follows : one of the party holding a handker- 
 chief (the prize contended for) in his mouth, 
 
264 HORSE-RACING. 
 
 sets off at full speed, followed by one, two, or 
 perhaps ten or twenty others. He who over- 
 takes the first, snatches the prize, and is in like 
 manner pursued by the rest, who all endeavour 
 to get possession of the handkerchief, or at any 
 rate to prevent the rider who bears it from effect- 
 ing his return to the spectators. It becomes the 
 property of him who retains it, till he can con- 
 trive to reach the horses of those who are en- 
 gaged in observing the contest. Thus the race 
 is shorter or longer, according to the number 
 and success of the competitors. There is sure 
 to be a full attendance at this amusement, when- 
 ever it may occur, but chiefly at their weddings, 
 when every Tatar who possesses a tolerably 
 good horse, considers himself called upon to 
 display the skill of the animal and his own, in 
 this popular and national diversion. 
 
 The Tatars ride well, and in their holiday 
 clothes look very graceful on horseback ; but 
 when they wear the large cloak called a bourka, it 
 gives a ferocity to their appearance which is almost 
 alarming to those not accustomed to see them. 
 These mantles are of felt, and resist the rain. 
 
WINTER DRESS OF A TATAR. 265 
 
 They are manufactured in the Crimea from 
 wool, and are either naturally of a rusty brown 
 colour, or are dyed black. The Circassian 
 bourkas are made of camel's or goat's hair, and 
 are more expensive. The sheep-skin pelisses 
 and lamb's-wool caps, which are assumed by 
 the Tatars in winter, increase not a little their 
 savage looks. Around the waist they wear 
 either a long girdle, of white or coloured linen, 
 or else a broad belt, very tightly fastened. On 
 one side hangs a knife, and a tobacco bag and 
 pipe are commonly slung behind. Thus ac- 
 coutred, and having with him his flint, steel, 
 and morsel of amadou*, the Tatar is ready for 
 all expeditions. The use of fire-arms is not 
 allowed them, and few remain possessed of the 
 bows and arrows which were the national wea- 
 pons of their forefathers. Maksout Murza has a 
 
 bow which is formed entirely of bone. 
 
 \ 
 
 * Amadou is a spungy substance used by the Tatars instead 
 of tinder, and with which they light their pipes : it is prepared 
 from a fungus, growing on trees, which is boiled, and then 
 beaten till it becomes tender, and afterwards dried. There 
 is also a lighter kind, the excrescence of a plant. 
 
266 MOUNTAIN OF AGIRMISH. 
 
 The common shoes of the Tatar peasants are 
 of cow or ox hide undressed, which is cut in the 
 form of a long oval, and sewn up at one end so 
 as to cover the toes. The shoe is then drawn 
 round the foot, and laced with string. In dry 
 weather the Russian bark shoes are occasionally 
 worn, and are considered very durable. The 
 art of tanning and dying leather, is confined, I 
 believe, to the towns of Baktcheserai and Kara- 
 subazar, at which places nearly all the shoes 
 used in the peninsula are made, and forwarded 
 to the other bazars. At the former place there 
 is also a manufactory for knives. 
 
 The remarkable mountain called Agirmish is 
 in sight of Karagoss, and partly included in the 
 estate on which I resided. It is conjectured by 
 Pallas to be the Cimmerian mountain of the 
 ancients, and certainly, from its detached and 
 prominent appearance, it seems well to deserve 
 a distinctive appellation. In the forest which 
 clothes its summit is a perpendicular cave, 
 which bears among the Tatars the name of the 
 Devil's Well. It is said that, under the govern- 
 ment of the Khans, criminals were sometimes 
 
PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER. 267 
 
 sentenced to be thrown into this abyss. There 
 is likewise a tradition, that on one occasion, 
 when some millet was cast down for the sake of 
 experiment, the seed made its re-appearance at 
 a spring which rises near the post-station of 
 Granitchkey. 
 
 In the spring of 1818 seven Tatars who had 
 been found guilty of various robberies and mur- 
 ders, in the districts of Akmetchet, Theodosia, 
 Kertch, and Port Patch, were sentenced by the 
 Russian law to receive the punishment of the 
 knout* in each of these towns. Having first 
 undergone this dreadful penalty at Akmetchet, 
 they were conducted to Theodosia, heavily 
 ironed, and lodged in the gaol there till the 
 hour appointed for the flogging. They were 
 then taken to the market-place, where hundreds 
 of spectators were assembled to witness the 
 scene ; and from an Englishman present on that 
 occasion, I received the following account of 
 the transaction. The culprits, each in his turn, 
 
 * The true pronunciation of this word would perhaps be 
 better represented, if it were spelt knoot . 
 
268 APPLICATION OF THE KNOUT. 
 
 were fastened to an inclined post, having a 
 ring at the top, to which the head was so 
 tightly fixed, by means of a rope, as to prevent 
 the sufferer from crying out. The hands were 
 closely tied on either side, and at the bottom 
 were two rings for the feet, which were in like 
 manner secured. The back was then bared, 
 and the plaster, or rag, which had been ap- 
 plied after the previous whipping, was torn 
 off. The Tatar sacerdatal, attended by a Tatar 
 priest, next advanced, and read aloud the 
 crimes for which the offenders were punished, 
 together with the sentence of the law. This 
 took up nearly half an hour. 
 
 The knout has a very heavy thong, as thick as 
 a man's wrist, and weighing from two to three 
 pounds. The lash is of leather, about the 
 breadth of a broad tape, and narrowing at the 
 end; the handle is about two feet long. With 
 this weapon the executioner now approached, 
 and giving one cut, walked back again to the 
 distance of about forty yards. He then re- 
 turned, flourishing his whip, and struck again, 
 till the appointed number of strokes was given. 
 
FLOGGING CRIMINALS. 269 
 
 and till it was certain that the poor wretch was 
 all but dead. At every blow the blood spirted 
 from the wound ; but the previous preparation 
 prevented the possibility of exclamation. Each 
 one, when his flogging was finished, was un- 
 bound, and having the rag replaced on his 
 back, was removed into a cart, till all had been 
 thus disposed of, having witnessed the sufferings 
 of their comrades, and endured their own. Be- 
 fore they left Theodosia, one of them died ; and 
 of the seven, I believe, not one lived to undergo 
 the whole of the sentence. 
 
 The executioner is a convict, who is suffered 
 to exist for the horrible purpose of inflicting on 
 others the punishment which he has escaped 
 himself; and after the fulfilment of his duty, is 
 reconducted to the prison, from which he is 
 brought for the occasion. 
 
 In the case of the murder of a Jew and his 
 family, which occurred in 1816, at the village 
 of Karagoss, a subscription was raised at Theo- 
 dosia, among persons of that nation, in order 
 to bribe the flogger to make sure of the death of 
 the criminal. 
 
270 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, 
 
 The habits and modes of agriculture of the 
 Tatars are rude and simple. They have not in- 
 dustry sufficient to induce them to labour hard 
 for the acquirement of wealth, and even wealth 
 itself, from the jealousy which it excites among 
 them, can scarcely be considered a desirable 
 possession. The enjoyment of ease and indo- 
 lence, on any terms, is the summit of their hap- 
 piness, and he who can command these bless- 
 ings has no further motive or stimulant to 
 exertion. 
 
 Their agricultural implements are as rude as 
 their method of using them. They are made 
 almost entirely of wood, and since iron causes 
 the heaviest part of the expence, they employ as 
 little as possible of that material in their con- 
 struction. They use a bush harrow to cover the 
 seed in the ground; and the creaking of the 
 wheels of their clumsy waggons may be heard 
 at the distance of one or two versts. When 
 asked why they do not prevent this annoyance 
 by the application of a little grease, their usual 
 answer is, that they are no thieves, and are not 
 ashamed that the world should hear their move- 
 
INDOLENT HUSBANDMEN. 
 
 ments. They sow the most inferior sorts of 
 grain, without any regard to the mixture of 
 other seeds which it may contain. This neglect 
 almost always gives them an abundant crop of 
 weeds with their corn, which they would rather 
 lose altogether than be at the trouble of cleaning. 
 
 They defer cutting their hay till very late, 
 and, as if determined that it shall have no good- 
 ness remaining, they commonly leave it until 
 after harvest before they carry it home. This 
 double delay, which is wholly without proper 
 cause, where the weather is always so favour- 
 able, arises in some measure, I believe, from 
 their native indolence, which makes them wish 
 to postpone the most laborious part of their year. 
 
 This custom, so universal among them, of de- 
 laying to cart home both their hay and corn, 
 where in so hot a country the one is half burnt 
 up, and the other sheds out so much of its seed 
 on the ground, arises from the singular practice 
 of waiting until the entire village be ready to 
 begin this operation together : so that if ninety- 
 nine out of an hundred be prepared, and one, 
 from accident or idleness, has not finished his 
 
272 THRESHING-FLOOR. 
 
 mowing or reaping, the others (regardless of 
 their interest, and consulting their ease) quietly 
 sleep out the time at home, until the idler is 
 ready. The consequences of this inconceivable 
 folly are such as might be expected ; the hay- 
 cocks in the meadows are stolen without mercy 
 by the Cossack of the neighbourhood during the 
 night : their oats are threshed out in the field, 
 and fill the panniers of the same banditti, who 
 also turn their horses among the shocks of corn 
 to feast at discretion. Sometimes, though not 
 frequently, unexpected and sudden torrents from 
 the mountains overflow the meadows, and the 
 hay is swept away, or spoiled in a single night. 
 The corn is almost all fit to carry as soon as it 
 is cut, and is then threshed out upon the Stepp, 
 where every man prepares his threshing-floor 
 with great care, in the following manner: the 
 ground being first pared, so that the grass is cut 
 finely off, it is next well watered until it be- 
 comes almost a pool ; when the water has soaked 
 in, a layer of clean short straw, chaff, &c. 
 about two inches in thickness, is thrown upon 
 it, in order to preserve it from the sun, which 
 
THRESHING. 273 
 
 would otherwise crack and spoil it. As soon as 
 it is somewhat more than half dry, horses are 
 driven round it until it acquires the proper de- 
 gree of firmness and solidity. 
 
 The size of the floor depends upon the number 
 of horses to be used in threshing. When this 
 operation is to be performed, they are fast- 
 ened abreast by a rope, to a post which stands 
 in the centre. As the horses move round, the 
 rope wraps round the post, and when they have 
 worked up close to it, this rope is expeditiously 
 removed from the neck of the near to that of the 
 off-horse, and they go round once more in an 
 opposite direction, until it is unwound and 
 wound again. If it be expected that the grain 
 will thresh well, the sheaves (which are arranged 
 in close and regular circles) are laid on the 
 floor in the proportion of one hundred to each 
 horse. 
 
 The Bulgarians have a curious implement, 
 made with flints fixed in a frame of wood, which 
 they employ in threshing, by driving it over the 
 corn ; but it is not so expeditious a method as 
 that of the Tatars. 
 
274 PROPENSITY TO THEFT. 
 
 It is customary with these latter, both in hay 
 time and harvest, to wait until all in the village 
 shall have finished cutting before any one begins 
 to carry home his share : thus the more active 
 and industrious often suffer for the idle. This 
 period of the year is the most toilsome and un- 
 pleasant for the proprietors of estates on which 
 these villagers reside. They are obliged to be 
 constantly on the alert, to secure their stipulated 
 proportion of the produce, since the Tatars have 
 in, this much trick and chicanery, and take 
 every possible means to deceive. Though in 
 general a quiet and harmless race, not given to 
 violence or open plunder, they cannot resist any 
 promising temptation to theft. It results from 
 the extreme laziness of their character, that they 
 always value an acquisition more which only 
 costs them a little cunning, than one which 
 makes them pay in bodily labour. Thus, rob- 
 bing a neighbouring garden of its fruit or fire- 
 wood, is much more agreeable to a Tatar's 
 taste than going to hew wood in a forest a few 
 miles off, though the permission to do so costs 
 him a mere trifle, the stated price being fifty 
 
INDUSTRY OF THE TATARS. 275 
 
 kopeeks (about fivepe'rice) for as timch as a pair 
 of oxen can draw. 
 
 This wood is brought to Kaffa, frotn the dis- 
 tance of about twenty miles, and there sold for 
 four or five rubles the load. I believe the latter 
 to be about the average price, but in the severest 
 part of the winter it is sold as high as eight 
 rubles, and I have even heard of ten, but very 
 rarely. The prime cost always remains fixed at 
 fifty kopeeks. 
 
 From this character of them, it may be in- 
 ferred that they are the very worst labourers 
 in the world; and indeed an English master 
 views with an impatient eye the slow, unwill- 
 ing, uninterested manner in which the genera- 
 lity of them set about their work. The act of 
 digging in a sitting posture is perhaps as good 
 a specimen as can be given of Tatar industry. 
 It is very usual to see them hewing wood with a 
 pipe in their mouths, and performing this double 
 operation, even in moderate weather, with the 
 additional incumbrance of a heavy pelisse. A 
 Tatar, however, makes very few holidays. He 
 never refuses to work on his own Sabbath, and it 
 
 T2 
 
276 STACKING OF HAY. 
 
 rests with the conscience of his Christian master 
 to enforce, or not, his employment on Sunday. 
 
 The method of stacking hay which is used on 
 the south coast is quite peculiar to that part of 
 the Crimea. It is raised upon poles or low trees, 
 five or six feet from the ground. This is pro- 
 bably done to preserve it from wet, in places 
 where the constant descent of water from the 
 mountains would otherwise render it liable to 
 spoil. 
 
CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 Tatar Mill Soil Coarse of Crops Fogs 
 Prevalent Complaints Estates Vineyards 
 Gardens Fruit Trees Kitchen Gardens 
 Quinces Onions Granaries Herbs 
 Grasses Gypsies. 
 
 A TATAR mill is the most simple piece of 
 mechanism that can be conceived. Few wind- 
 mills are employed. The water-mills are all 
 undershot, and being worked by very small 
 streams, seldom move above half the year: for 
 in the height of summer they frequently stand 
 still from drought, and in winter from frost. 
 At these times, it is often necessary to send corn 
 to be ground to .the distance of forty or fifty 
 versts. These mills perform their office so badly, 
 that the best wheat which can be procured will 
 not give a fine flour. The only mode of dressing 
 it known here is by sieves at home, and all the 
 fine flour in use throughout the southern govern- 
 
278 SOIL OF THE CRIMEA. 
 
 ments of Russia is brought from Moscow (dis- 
 tant from Akmetchet 1397 versts). It sells at 
 from seven to ten rubles per pood, or thirty-six 
 pounds English, white the best home flour, un- 
 dressed, is bought at from twelve to twenty-five 
 kopeeks the oka. 
 
 Rye-flour is universally used by the Tatars in 
 the manufacture of bread, and wheat-flour in 
 that of pastry. The small quantity of good 
 wheat which they rear is almost all sold to pur- 
 chase the few necessaries which they have occa- 
 sion to buy. 
 
 The soil of the Crimea is various. In some 
 places it is a rich loamy clay, but I believe far 
 the greater part is shallow, rocky, or gravelly ; 
 and from the heat of the sun, the grass is burnt 
 up very early in the season. Of corn the average 
 crop is said to be eight for one ; I cannot, how- 
 ever, think that, even in favourable years, it 
 exceeds this amount, and I fear that deficient 
 crops are more frequent than abundant ones. 
 The harvest takes place as early as the end of 
 June or beginning of July, and since the rapi- 
 dity with which the corn is ripened renders it 
 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 279 
 
 extremely dry and brittle, it is customary to sow 
 bearded wheat, which is less liable to shake. 
 Much of what is called Arnoot, or spring wheat, 
 is sown by the Russians, Bulgarians, &c. ; but 
 for the most part winter wheat of a very inferior 
 quality, rye, some barley, a few oats, or a little 
 hemp, flax, or millet, form the extent of Tatar 
 cultivation. 
 
 It is remarkable that barley and oats, which 
 in English husbandry follow in the succession 
 of crops, never prosper so well in the Crimea as 
 when sown on the same land, year after year, 
 for eight, nine, or even ten years, unintermit- 
 tingly. Arnoot is never sown on fresh land, 
 unless it be ploughed in autumn, the spring 
 rains being, in the most favourable seasons, in- 
 sufficient to supply the requisite quantity of 
 moisture. 
 
 The climate is not so temperate as that of 
 England, the heat in summer being much 
 greater, and the cold in winter infinitely more 
 severe. 
 
 These observations having been written on 
 the northern side of the ridge of mountains which 
 
280 TRANSITION OF WEATHER. 
 
 skirt the coast of the Crimea, are not intended 
 to apply to the" small, but beautiful tract, which 
 slopes to the sea on their southern exposure. 
 
 The winter, however, is of short duration, and 
 frequently breaks up as early as February, so as 
 to admit of ploughing. In the month of March 
 I have know r n the weather not only mild but 
 warm. The cold, while it lasts, is much in- 
 creased by the prevalence of north and north- 
 easterly winds, which, moreover, render the 
 heat of summer more dangerous, by subjecting 
 the body to contrary extremes at the same mo- 
 ment. In the finest weather, it is considered 
 unsafe to go out after sun-set without warm 
 clothing. 
 
 Sudden fogs prevail in spring, but rains, on 
 which the hopes of the farmer depend, are very 
 uncertain at that season. These fogs are ex- 
 tremely prejudicial to the fruit crop in the 
 Crimea, for even after it is set, and before it 
 has attained half its growth, they very frequently 
 destroy the whole. 
 
 Throughout the summer there are heavy dews 
 at night, but, from the remarkable beauty of the 
 
PREVALENT COMPLAINTS. 281 
 
 sky and serenity of the air, the evenings for about 
 an hour before sun-set are peculiarly delightful. 
 The autumns are short, the frosts setting in very 
 early, and the leaves falling almost as soon as 
 they change. A fair estimate of the general 
 clearness of the climate may be formed, from an 
 account which we kept of the weather during the 
 first year of our residence at Karagoss ; by this 
 it appears, that from February 3d, 1816, to Fe- 
 bruary 3d, 1817, there were only four days on 
 which we did not see the sun. . 
 
 The prevalent complaints are intermittent 
 fevers and dysenteries, against which, however, 
 a little precaution is a sufficient guard. The 
 latter disease often proves fatal to children in 
 the autumn, in consequence of the inordinate 
 quantity of fruit and raw vegetables which are 
 eaten throughout the whole summer. We have 
 found by experience, that wounds are more 
 difficult to heal than in England, being affected 
 by extremes either of heat or of cold. 
 
 Proprietors of estates in the Crimea are, for 
 the most part, very poor, and non-residents re- 
 ceive no interest upon their landed capital. 
 
282 FAITHLESS STEWARDS. 
 
 Those, however, who are resident, may con- 
 trive, with industry and assiduity, to make their 
 estates yield them from five to eight, and some- 
 times as much as ten per cent, annual income, 
 according to the circumstances of their situation 
 and climate. 
 
 It is a well known fact, that there are pro- 
 prietors of estates of one million of rubles in 
 value, who never receive a kopeek of revenue 
 from them. Residing at a distance, they entrust 
 them to stewards, who have neither knowledge 
 nor inclination to make more of them than 
 merely to keep themselves in ease and comfort; 
 and as they are never troubled by a visit from the 
 owner, they are able to carry on this system 
 with impunity. 
 
 Vineyards were once a very profitable culture 
 in the Crimea, but since the free and abundant 
 importation of the common wines of the Greek 
 Islands, those of home growth cannot be sold at 
 a price sufficient to defray the expence of labour : 
 many, therefore, of the vineyards at Sudac are, 
 for this reason, no longer managed with the 
 neatness and care which were formerly bestowed 
 
VINEYARDS. 288 
 
 upon them. It has hitherto been customary, at 
 that place, to confine the cultivation of vine- 
 yards to the valley; but a few attempts have 
 lately been made to raise the vine on the sides 
 of hills, which seem likely to succeed, and re- 
 pay the care of the planter. There are several 
 very good cellars attached to the large vine- 
 yards at Sudac; in particular, that of Admi- 
 ral Mordvinoff, which is excavated in the side 
 of a mountain, and is calculated to hold one 
 hundred thousand vedros* ; but I do not believe 
 that the wine is often kept for any length of time, 
 nor indeed that it is at all of a nature to admit 
 of keeping, I have, however, tasted three or 
 four very excellent sorts, which have been fabri- 
 cated by individuals for their private use. 
 
 The beautiful spots known by the name of 
 gardens in the Crimea, are very unlike what we 
 understand by the term. That at Karagoss, 
 which is the largest I have seen, comprises not 
 less than 360 English acres, and (with the ex- 
 ception of the very small portion devoted to the 
 
 * A vedro is ten quarts, wine measure. 
 
284 EXTENSIVE GARDENS: 
 
 cultivation of kitchen vegetables) is altogether 
 uninclosed. This extensive tract is in fact a com- 
 plete wilderness of fruit-trees, the thickets and 
 glades of which, occasionally present scenes of the 
 greatest beauty, and through which it requires a 
 little experience to be able to find one's way. 
 The village of Karagoss, at the time of the sub- 
 jugation, contained 1700 inhabitants, and it is 
 from the union of their deserted domains that 
 the present vast garden has been formed. Not a 
 single house now remains within its circuit, 
 though the foundations of them are to be found 
 in every part. There are likewise numerous 
 wells, some filled up, others overgrown with 
 grass, or thick creeping plants ; also the ruins 
 of a Tatar bath, and a Tatar metchet, or mosque, 
 the minaret of which, seen from all parts of the 
 estate, embowered in wood, has a remarkably 
 picturesque appearance, and, with the little 
 stream of the Serensu*, which winds through 
 the garden, forms the most striking ornament of 
 the place. 
 
 * In Tatar, " cold water." 
 
WALNUTS AND MULBERRIES. 285 
 
 Among the fruit-trees of the Crimea, the most 
 remarkable are the walnut trees, which, in the 
 vallies of the south coast, attain to a prodigious 
 size, and form a most delightful shade around 
 some of the Tatar villages. I have been con- 
 fidently assured, that a single tree has been 
 known to produce sixty thousand walnuts yearly; 
 and a respectable proprietor of Sudac told me, 
 that a tree in his possession bears annually as 
 many as forty thousand. 
 
 The mulberries grown at Karagoss, and in 
 the gardens of the Stepp, are of the white kind, 
 and are small and tasteless ; but on the south 
 coast the large black mulberry tree is cultivated, 
 and is remarkable for its luxuriance and the 
 perfection of its fruit. It is well known that the 
 olive, fig, and pomegranate, are likewise to be 
 found in the same favoured district ; but their 
 produce is too small in quantity to deserve much 
 notice. The beautiful apples, however, from 
 these vallies, are much esteemed at Moscow and 
 St. Petersburgh, whither they are sent in great 
 abundance. 
 
 The whole produce of the garden at Karagoss, 
 
286 KITCHEN GARDENS. 
 
 including plums, mulberries, &c. has of late 
 been entirely used for the purpose of distillation. 
 The Russians make an excellent kvas of these 
 fruits, and more particularly of the cornelian 
 cherry, which is very common here, and which, 
 as well as sloes, is dried by the Tatars, and pre- 
 served for some time. These latter, in their 
 love for acids, devour the wild apples which 
 abound in the garden with great eagerness, and 
 have a method of keeping them, by throwing' 
 them into water, and protecting them from the 
 air. 
 
 There is a standard apricot tree at Karagoss, 
 the girth of which is eighteen feet one inch. 
 
 The cultivation of kitchen gardens in the 
 Crimea depends much upon irrigation, and is 
 performed by setting out, or sowing plants, or 
 seeds, in small beds, so intersected by trenches, 
 that the water, when let in, runs to every 
 plant. The value of all garden ground is esti- 
 mated by the facility with which it may be 
 watered, and a handsome consideration is often 
 given by one proprietor to another, for the use 
 of water which flows through the land of the 
 
CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO. 287 
 
 one, from a spring on the other's estate. The 
 water is headed up for the purpose, and when 
 the plants are first raised, is distributed to them 
 twice a day, but afterwards, as they gain 
 strength, this labour is proportionably lessened. 
 The cabbages of the Crimea are remarkable 
 for their size, often weighing ten oka, or thirty 
 pounds Russian. These are chiefly cultivated 
 by the Greeks, who, with this intent, give a 
 very high rent for new ground, or eligible situa- 
 tions in the neighbourhood of water. They 
 bestow much care upon weeding and irrigation, 
 and the price of the cabbages thus raised, taken 
 promiscuously, is about twelve rubles per hun- 
 dred. There is land in the Crimea which has 
 let for cabbage gardens for more than a century, 
 and has never been manured. Tobacco, which 
 is grown in considerable quantities, is likewise 
 cultivated by the Greeks ; its quality is by no 
 means so fine and mild as that of the Turkish 
 tobacco, the use of which is very general in the 
 south of Russia, and which may be bought for 
 five rubles the oka. It is well known that, with 
 the Tatars, the custom of smoking is not confined 
 
288 PREVAILING VEGETABLES. 
 
 to the male sex ; but I have remarked that, 
 among the women, none but tne old ones prac- 
 tise it. 
 
 Of the pumpkin the Tatars make a very good 
 dish, by boiling it, and eating it with salt, 
 pepper, and butter. It is brought to the con- 
 sistency of gooseberry fool, and has a taste some- 
 what like that of boiled apples. 
 
 Potlejan* is another favourite food, being 
 boiled with meat, or fried in batter. The maize, 
 or Indian corn, is boiled when very young, and 
 eaten with cold butter. When ripe it is ground, 
 and its flour makes excellent puddings. 
 
 Capsicum is much cultivated in the Tatar 
 gardens, and is prepared and used as common 
 pepper. 
 
 A Tatar proverb of long standing, but still 
 very correct, commemorates the excellence of 
 " Perekop water-melons, Osmantchuke honey, 
 Haussanbey cabbages, and Karagoss quinces." 
 Perekop, as is well known, is situated on the 
 isthmus which joins the Crimea to the main-land. 
 
 * By Pallas, written patildshan; a sort of gourd, and 
 called by him the egg fruit, or mclongena. Vol. ii. x p, 391. 
 
GROWTH OF ONIONS. 289 
 
 The water-melons raised there, and at Cherson, 
 are remarkable for their size and flavour, and 
 are considered an acceptable present even at 
 Constantinople. Osmantchuke is a little Tatar 
 and Russian village, at the foot of Mount Agir- 
 rnish. Haussanbey is the property of a Greek 
 merchant at Kaffa, and adjoins the estate at 
 Karagoss, on which it is dependent for water. 
 The quinces of this latter place are still very 
 abundant in favourable years ; but the blossom, 
 of the quince tree, of all others the most delicate 
 in its appearance, is equally so in its formation, 
 and a heavy shower of rain during the time of 
 its flowering inevitably destroys the produce of 
 that season. 
 
 Shubash, and all the little villages which are 
 scattered thickly around it, are remarkable for 
 the growth of onions, which are very large and 
 excellent, and, if well got in and properly taken 
 care of, will keep through the severest and most 
 variable winters, a quality which those grown 
 on the south coast do not possess. In the autumn 
 of 1817 we purchased a quantity of these from 
 a Tatar of one of the villages, who grew that 
 
 u 
 
290 PITS FOR CORN. 
 
 year no less than 10.000 oka of onions. Their 
 price, according to the season, is from seven to 
 twelve kopeeks the oka. Such as are intended 
 to be kept, are preserved in sheds dug under 
 ground, and roofed so as to exclude, as carefully 
 as possible, the admission of frost or wet. The 
 roofs are covered with straw, reeds, or weeds, 
 and afterwards with a layer of earth, almost a 
 foot in thickness. The granaries in which the 
 Tatars deposit their corn are of a similar con- 
 struction, being dug nearly six feet in depth, and 
 then caved under. They are so formed as to 
 contain from fifteen or sixteen to fifty or sixty 
 tchetverts, according to the usual stock of the 
 persons to whom they belong. 
 
 The Tatars find uses for many herbs which 
 we denominate weeds. The young leaves of the 
 dock and sorrel, and the first shoots of nettles, 
 are put into soups, or eaten as spinach ; the leaf 
 of the dandelion makes a good salad ; wild aspa- 
 ragus is gathered in the gardens ; and the wild 
 carrot is in great estimation, and is even taken 
 to market for sale; it is cleaned, salted, and used 
 in soup, or sometimes eaten raw in great quan- 
 
USES OF HERBS. 
 
 291 
 
 tities. The wild mustard is here gathered, 
 dried, and powdered, and is not, I think, infe- 
 rior to the Russian mustard sold in the shops ; 
 but it has neither the pungency nor the flavour 
 of ours, for though the seed is fine, they have 
 not the proper method of preparing it. Infusion 
 of wormwood with brandy is the common remedy 
 for ague ; dried elder flowers and sweet chamo- 
 mile for coughs ; and the Materia Medica in the 
 Crimea consists much more of simples than of 
 any imported drugs, which are very dear. The 
 horse-radish grows to a prodigious size on the 
 Stepp, and flowers in large bushes. The root of 
 succory is prepared all over Russia to mix with 
 coffee, and its young leaves are gathered for 
 salad. Capers are collected in great abundance, 
 and sold at two rubles the oka. Wild vines, and 
 hops, ornament the extensive gardens in profu- 
 sion. The latter are used by the Russians and 
 Germans; and the gypsies make baskets, and 
 binds for various purposes, of the branches of the 
 beautiful white clematis*. 
 
 * The gypsies of the Crimea, called Tsigans, resemble in 
 habits and appearance those of England, and, like then), exist 
 
 u2 
 
292 GRASSES. 
 
 Nearly all the artificial grasses, &c. of Eng- 
 land grow spontaneously in the best meadow land 
 of the Crimea. At Karagoss we find clover 
 (both red and white), saintfoin, lentils, tares, 
 cow-grass, chicory, cock's-foot grass, rye-grass, 
 lamb's-tongue, and trefoil. 
 
 chiefly by plunder. They are commonly the musicians at 
 weddings, profess fortune-telling, and have all the tricks and 
 cant of begging. Some of them are tinkers, travelling with 
 a forge, &c.; others are basket-makers, or manufacture a 
 coarse sort of sieve, of horse-hair and dried skins. Sieves are 
 used for so many purposes here to which superior machinery 
 is applied in England, that this last is the most useful and pro- 
 fitable of their employments. 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 Horses Horses Shoeing Tatar Forge Oxen 
 Meat Camels Sheep Shepherds Shear- 
 ing Lamb- skins Goats Dogs Coursing 
 Jerboa Larger Animals Birds Locusts 
 Bees Salt Cursory Remarks Prices of 
 Produce, Labour, fyc. 
 
 THE horse is the constant companion of the 
 Grim Tatar, who will never walk two hundred 
 yards from his own door if he has a horse to ride 
 on. The accumulation of live stock seems to be 
 the universal system of those among them who can 
 afford it ; and accordingly the taboons, or studs, 
 possessed by some of the Murzas are very consi- 
 derable. That belonging to Yie Yie Murza, in 
 our immediate neighbourhood, consists of no 
 less than five hundred mares. They appear to 
 have no idea of deriving any fixed revenue from 
 breeding these animals, nor indeed any advan- 
 tage, that I could understand, from keeping so 
 many. Their pride is gratified by the number 
 
294 BREAKING-IN HORSES. 
 
 of their taboon, and they never part with any 
 till the want of a little money compels them ; 
 they then send them to the markets of Akmetchet 
 or Karasubazar, or privately dispose of them 
 either to Tatars or Russians. 
 
 I have known the loss of from forty to fifty 
 horses, in a taboon of three hundred. This was 
 in consequence of a disease, which probably 
 arose from the severity of the winter, and want 
 of food. I do not here speak of the heaviest 
 losses which have been sustained, but of those 
 which fell within my own knowledge. I have 
 heard of others infinitely more severe, but I am 
 not sufficiently acquainted with the particulars to 
 state them with accuracy. 
 
 The native horses of the country are small, and 
 ill-looking. The Tatars usually ride them in an 
 amble, and this is the only pace which they go 
 well. Nothing can be more slight and rapid 
 than their method of breaking them in. Having 
 ensnared the animal, by means of a rope fixed at 
 the end of a long light pole, they tie a halter 
 round his neck, so tight that there seems to be 
 danger of strangling him, and in this manner 
 
SHOEING HORSES. 295 
 
 they pull him about for some few minutes, till 
 they consider him subdued ; he is then mounted, 
 and soon becomes tractable. The custom of 
 eating horse-flesh is not in use among the Crim 
 Tatars of the present day, and they indeed deny 
 that it was ever their practice. 
 
 Some few Circassian horses are imported, but 
 there are not many proprietors in the Crimea who 
 will put themselves to the expence of buying them. 
 They are remarkably fine animals, and are sold 
 at from two to five hundred rubles, while those of 
 the country may generally be bought for forty 
 rubles, or about two pounds sterling. The most 
 valuable stud I have seen or heard of, is that of 
 General Bekerookoff, who has an estate near 
 Theodosia. This taboon is not large, but re- 
 markable for the size and beauty of the horses, 
 each of which is estimated at five hundred rubles. 
 All which we saw were grey. 
 
 The mountain Tatars always have their horses 
 shod, while those of the Stepp only incur that 
 expence when about to undertake long journies. 
 Their method of shoeing is very unlike ours, and 
 ( at least for the fore feet) requires, the co- opera- 
 
296 BLACKSMITH'S FORGE. 
 
 tion of two men. A rope is fastened round the 
 horse's fetlock, and brought over his back. One 
 of the men, by pulling this, holds up the leg, 
 while the other fixes the shoe. In order to raise 
 the hind feet, they are tied to the tail. Oxen 
 are always thrown down to be shod; this ope- 
 ration is generally performed by the Bulgarians, 
 but very seldom practised by the Tatars. 
 
 The interior of a Tatar blacksmith's forge by 
 no means presents that scene of activity which 
 we are accustomed to see in our own country. 
 The fire is made in a round hole, in the centre 
 of the shop, and the bellows are placed flat on the 
 ground, a vent being hollowed out underneath 
 for the admission of air. They are fashioned 
 with two handles, only one of which is generally 
 used, half the attention of the operator being 
 occupied by his pipe, which a Tatar considers 
 of too much importance to be relinquished 
 for ordinary business. The blacksmith, whose 
 stithy is arranged at a convenient height, .is 
 seated on the ground, as is likewise his assistant 
 who blows the bellows ; a third, who hammers 
 the iron, places himself in the same commodious 
 
OF OXEN. 297 
 
 position ; and thus, that work which in England 
 requires the exertions of the strongest and most 
 athletic, is effected by a Tatar without detriment 
 to his ease and comfort. Yet in all which regards 
 the mere strength of the manufacture, we find 
 the ploughshares thus hammered, exceedingly 
 well executed and durable. 
 
 All agricultural labours are performed by oxen, 
 except that of threshing, which is generally 
 done by horses. From the rude and barbarous 
 form in which their ploughs are constructed, 
 seven pairs of oxen are often required in break- 
 ing up old grass land. In ploughing a second 
 or third time, they use two, three, or four pairs 
 of oxen. They work these animals until they 
 are upwards of twenty years old, aijd consider it 
 wasteful to kill them while they are still able to 
 labour. In order that they may earn as soon as 
 possible the cost of their sustenance, they are 
 broken into the plough as early as at two years 
 old. The Tatar oxen are small and ugly, and 
 those more remarkable for size and beauty which 
 are often seen in the Crimea, are brought from 
 the southern provinces of Russia, particularly 
 
298 SLAUGHTERING OXEN. 
 
 from the Poltava government. The cows give 
 but a small quantity of milk, which is perhaps 
 attributable to the dryness of the soil. The best 
 are those of the German breed. 
 
 Meat in the Crimea, as in other warm cli- 
 mates, is eaten as soon as killed. The butcher 
 having slain the ox, does not wait until it be 
 cold before he divides it, but immediately skins 
 and cuts it into quarters, throwing it in heaps 
 upon a bench or table, where I have absolutely 
 seen the whole mass still heaving with muscular 
 motion. When it is afterwards cut into smaller 
 portions to be sold, it is not neatly divided into 
 joints, as with us, but every customer has a 
 piece cut off according to his own fancy, so that 
 it is hacked in all directions before the whole is 
 disposed of, which is commonly the case in the 
 course of the first day. 
 
 There are some few camels in the Crimea, 
 and many buffaloes. These latter are, of all do- 
 mestic animals, the most disagreeable and diffi- 
 cult to use, being totally unable to bear extremes 
 of temperature. In hot weather they become 
 altogether unmanageable, and towards noon will 
 
BUFFALOES. 299 
 
 desert their work, running furiously into the first 
 water, to refresh themselves by rolling in the 
 mud. When this fit takes them, they will fre- 
 quently run with a loaded waggon into the sea. 
 In winter they are almost equally troublesome, 
 since they require to be kept so warm, that huts 
 must be made for them below the surface of the 
 ground. They are extremely destructive among 
 trees, constantly breaking off all the lower 
 branches. The female gives a profusion of 
 milk, which is said to contain a large propor- 
 tion of cream ; but the butter is white, and not 
 so well flavoured as that of the cow. The skin 
 of the buffalo is very valuable, and the Tatars 
 make traces of it wherewith to draw their 
 ploughs and waggons. The strength of these 
 may be estimated, from their power of sustaining 
 the draught of seven pairs of oxen, in ploughing 
 a stiff clay. 
 
 The Tatars pride themselves more upon their 
 management of sheep ( which are of the broad- 
 tailed breed commonly met with in the East) 
 than of any other cattle ; and the listless life of a 
 shepherd seems better adapted than any other 
 
300 SALT TO SHEEP. 
 
 kind of employment to the taste and habits of 
 the nation. Boys intended for this occupation are 
 initiated very early; and by the system of re- 
 ceiving their wages in sheep, which they always 
 keep with their master's flock, very soon acquire 
 a flock of their own. I have known a shepherd 
 receive ten sheep, for taking care of five hundred 
 from the 23d of March to the 26th of October. 
 
 It is their custom to give salt in great quanti- 
 ties to their flocks, taking them in the spring to 
 hiils where the vegetable food is of a saline na- 
 ture, and after their return, giving them salt to 
 eat, twice or thrice a week, throughout the sum- 
 mer. In winter, those which are driven out upon 
 the open Stepp, are in great danger of being 
 lost by the drifting of the snow. On this account 
 it is usual to mix a number of goats with the 
 sheep, since the latter, during the violent snow 
 storms, always run before the wind, and would 
 be lost in the pits and holes of the Stepp, but the 
 goats are said to head them, and turn them from 
 the danger. All flocks for which pasturage can 
 be obtained among the mountains, are driven 
 thither during the winter months. Here, though 
 
SHEEP-SHEARING. 301 
 
 to the eye there appears little or no grass for 
 them to eat, they commonly do well, being pro- 
 tected from the cold winds. 
 
 During the seasons which they pass in the 
 
 mountains, they are twice a week driven to salt 
 
 water ; and as the herbage is not so succulent as 
 
 that of England, and in its greenest state of a 
 
 drying nature, it is found necessary to drive, the 
 
 flocks to fresh water twice a day throughout the 
 
 year. The wool which the common Tatar sheep 
 
 produce, after all this trouble and expence, is 
 
 worth from thirty to thirty-five kopeeks per oka, 
 
 or about a penny per pound. A sheep commonly 
 
 yields from two and a half to three and a half 
 
 pounds, much of which is in quality little better 
 
 than goat's hair. 
 
 When the operation of shearing is to be per- 
 formed, the legs of the animal are tied, as if it 
 were about to be killed. The shears are the most 
 awkward instruments imaginable, being as long 
 as our garden shears, and shaped like two knives 
 riveted together. The shearers squat on the 
 ground by the side of the sheep, and the more 
 expert among them profess to be able to clip 
 
302 SCAB IN SHEEP. 
 
 from three to four hundred in a day. On one 
 occasion which fell within my knowledge, three 
 Tatars clipped about two hundred sheep in a 
 space of time not exceeding three hours. They 
 were however waited on and assisted by several 
 others, and no boast could be made of the neat- 
 ness with which their work was done. 
 
 Few Spanish sheep are kept in the Crimea, 
 and of these the management is but little under- 
 stood, as they are generally infested with the 
 scab, which destroys the fine texture of the wool, 
 and causes heavy losses among them. I have 
 heard of five hundred lost in the course of a single 
 season, from flocks consisting of two or three 
 thousand. Poverty of keep throughout the winter 
 is often fatal to great numbers in the spring ; 
 for the Tatars, though they estimate their riches 
 by the quantity of their stock*, are frequently too 
 
 * A Tatar who resided in a village adjoining Karagoss, pos- 
 sessed one thousand seven hundred sheep, twelve oxen, thirty 
 cows, and fifteen horses, yet his hut, consisting only of one 
 room, was little superior to an Irish cabin, and worth about 
 ten or fifteen rubles. This man lately divided his property 
 between his wife arid children, and taking with him two thou- 
 
SUPERIORITY OF LAMB. 303 
 
 avaricious, or too idle, to prepare sufficient pro- 
 vender for them against v the inclement season. 
 As they have no idea of deriving a yearly reve- 
 nue from possessions of this nature, they seldom 
 sell any part of their flock, excepting a few 
 lambs in spring, so that, unless required for do- 
 mestic consumption, a sheep is in little danger 
 of the knife. The mutton and beef of the Crimea 
 are bad; but the lamb, which is fed on the moun- 
 tains of the coast, is the best which I have any 
 where tasted. 
 
 In speaking of the flocks of the Crimea, those 
 from which the grey lambs'-skins are obtained 
 must not be forgotten. These are only to be 
 found at the two extremities of the peninsula, in 
 the neighbourhoods of Kertch, and Kosloff. I 
 have been told that wheresoever else they have 
 been tried, they are found to degenerate ; but whe- 
 ther this circumstance be owing to peculiarity of 
 soil, or to want of care in the preservation of the 
 
 sand five hundred rubles for his journey, set out on a pilgri- 
 mage to Mecca, where he arrived in safety, but died at Con- 
 stantinople on his return. 
 
304 RATE OP PASTURING SHEEP. 
 
 breed, I am unable to say. The lambs are 
 killed very young, when the wool is finest, and 
 their skins are worth, according to their quality, 
 and other circumstances, from five to seven, or 
 even ten rubles each. These skins are all bought 
 up by the merchants, and sent to Moscow and 
 other places in the interior. The carcasses are 
 brought to market, and lamb is at that season so 
 plentiful and cheap, that a large one may be 
 purchased for three or four rubles. 
 
 The common price given to a proprietor by 
 those who pasture their sheep on his land, is an 
 ewe and a lamb per hundred, for three or four 
 months. The Tatars have an idea, that if their 
 sheep feed on the stipa pinnata, a plant which 
 grows upon the Stepp, it destroys them, by eat- 
 ing into their livers. 
 
 Goats are kept in great numbers with the 
 flocks of sheep. They are not handsome of their 
 kind, and as neither the carcass nor skin bear any 
 considerable value, they seem to be very unpro- 
 fitable stock. A Tatar, however, computes his 
 riches by the number rather than by the intrinsic 
 worth of his possessions. 
 
COURSING. #05 
 
 Some shawl goats were lately brought from 
 Bucharia to the Crimea, and were shipped for 
 France from the port of Kaffa. The fine wool 
 for which they are so famous, is concealed under a 
 coat of long coarse hair, and in appearance they 
 are very little superior to the native breed. 
 
 Every Tatar village is full of dogs, as there is 
 not a house which is not defended by two or 
 three of them. With the exception of a few 
 greyhounds, they are chiefly of a mongrel breed, 
 and somewhat resemble our shepherds' dogs. The 
 Tatars scruple to take the lives of these animals, as 
 well as cats, but sometimes destroy their offspring, 
 by conveying them to a distance on the Stepp, and 
 there abandoning them to their fate. 
 
 Coursing is a favourite amusement with the 
 Tatars, who, contrary to our practice, take out for 
 this purpose as many dogs as they can muster, and 
 ensure the destruction of poor puss, by surround- 
 ing and besetting her on all sides, like some fero- 
 cious animal, until she is hunted by one greyhound 
 into the mouth of another. As soon as they 
 have picked up their prize they immediately cut 
 its throat, as they are forbidden to eat "flesh 
 
 x 
 
306 THE JERBOA. 
 
 with the blood thereof/" I have seen them refuse 
 to partake of game at our table, because they 
 suspected that it had not undergone this opera- 
 tion. The hares of the Crimea are very large, 
 generally weighing nine or ten, and often thir- 
 teen or fourteen pounds. Their fur becomes 
 somewhat more grey in winter, but never white, 
 as in the north of Russia, and Poland. The 
 wild rabbit does not exist in the peninsula. 
 
 The most remarkable animal of the Crimea is 
 the jerboa, which is an inhabitant of the open 
 plains. During my residence at Karagoss, two 
 English gentlemen observed one of these little 
 creatures running and jumping on the Stepp, near 
 our garden. They followed with a determination 
 to catch it ; but after chasing it in many direc- 
 tions for about an hour, one of them returned 
 home for a dog to assist them, while the other re- 
 mained in order to keep the jerboa in sight. Even 
 with this additional force, they renewed the chase 
 without success ; for after keeping both man and 
 dog at a distance for half an hour longer, it at last 
 ran into cover, among the stacks and straw on the 
 toke, or threshing-floor. Whenever pressed, it 
 
VARIETY OF GAME. 307 
 
 sprang, by the help of its tail, to the distance of 
 five or six yards. My son once brought one 
 home which had been caught by a greyhound, but 
 he believes that the dog had surprised it while 
 sleeping. 
 
 Of the larger animals, the wild boar, and a 
 small species of deer, are found on the wooded 
 mountains, and are sometimes brought to market 
 by the Bulgarian settlers. Wolves also are oc- 
 casionally heard of, and do considerable mischief 
 among the flocks of sheep, but they are by no 
 means so numerous as on the northern Stepps. 
 
 Notwithstanding our vicinity to the spot 
 from which the pheasant is said to have derived 
 its origin and its name, that bird is never seen 
 in the Crimea. Partridges and quails are 
 sufficiently plentiful, and the bustard is not un- 
 common on the Stepp. There are also said to 
 be five distinct species of snipes. Three birds, 
 remarkable for their beautiful plumage, but all, 
 I believe, occasionally found in England, fre- 
 quent the garden at Karagoss : the hoopoe, the 
 roller, and the bee-eater. The latter appears to 
 be a bird of passage, arriving early in the spring, 
 
 x2 
 
308 FLIGHTS OF LOCUSTS. 
 
 and committing great depredations among the 
 hives, if not well watched and destroyed. 
 
 The Tatars and Greeks have no knowledge 
 of the art of shooting flying, and always express 
 the greatest wonder when they see it practised. 
 
 The Tatars make considerable exertions to 
 destroy the locusts, when a flight of those crea- 
 tures, as sometimes happens, visits the Crimea. 
 The villagers are called out by districts, and 
 from five hundred to one thousand men are en- 
 camped upon the parts of the Stepp which are 
 infested by them. In the instance which oc- 
 curred during my residence, this system conti- 
 nued for several weeks, and much hay, which 
 lay ready to be carried home, was used for the 
 purpose of burning the locusts. This was done 
 by making trenches, depositing the hay therein, 
 setting fire to it, and sweeping the locusts into 
 destruction. 
 
 The annoyance of flies and fleas begins with 
 the first mild weather, and does not cease till 
 the recurrence of frost. The usual method of 
 destroying the latter, is by setting a dish full of 
 water by the side of a lighted candle. In this 
 
BEE-HIVES. 309 
 
 manner we have sometimes caught three, four, 
 and five hundred in the course of a single night. 
 
 There are several beautiful species of insects 
 which my children have collected in the garden 
 and fields, particularly a large blue beetle, the 
 covering of which possesses the brightest pos- 
 sible hue and polish. The fire-fly also enlivens 
 the darkness of our summer nights. 
 
 Many bees are kept in the Crimea, and the 
 honey of the peninsula is in considerable re- 
 pute, being much preferred to that of Russia. 
 No less than five hundred hives were formerly 
 kept by one individual at Karagoss, and during 
 my residence, a Greek of Imarette was possessed 
 of three hundred. The Tatars are extremely 
 fond of honey, which they eat, when they can 
 obtain it, in great quantities with their pastry, 
 but they are not themselves permitted to keep 
 bees, when the proprietor of the estate on which 
 they live has a bee garden. 
 
 Nearly all the salt used in the Crimea is ob- 
 tained from the lakes in the neighbourhood of 
 Perekop*, where but little art is required for 
 
 * There are other salt lakes, but not so considerable, near 
 the sea of Azoff. They belong to the town of Theodosia. 
 
310 SALT LAKES. 
 
 the collection of it. A cart is driven into the 
 water, and the salt is shovelled into it from the 
 bottom with a spade. This operation takes 
 place in the month of September, after the heats 
 of summer have produced the necessary evapo- 
 ration, and before the commencement of the 
 autumnal rains. The salt is sold to the con- 
 sumer in the state in which it comes from the 
 lake, and is afterwards purified by him, if he 
 think proper, at his own house. Starch is 
 likewise an object of domestic manufacture. 
 
 In the summer of 1817, I performed a jour- 
 ney on horseback round the mountains which 
 border the south coast of the peninsula, and 
 which have been often and accurately described. 
 The most beautiful spots in that delightful dis- 
 trict appeared to me to be Kutchuk Lambat, (at 
 the edge of a small bay, and opposite to the 
 lofty mountain Ayou-dagh), Nikita, and Aloupka. 
 The descriptions of these places may be found in 
 the works of the numerous travellers who have 
 borne testimony to their beauties. 
 
 The bay trees of Aloupka are much celebrated, 
 but those of the adjoining village of Simeus are 
 scarcely less remarkable, one which we mea- 
 
CULTIVATION OF FRUIT-TREES. 311 
 
 sured being upwards of thirteen feet in circum- 
 ference. The lower part of the large and open 
 valley of Nikita is now covered by a government 
 nursery garden, which has been formed within 
 the last few years, for the purpose of encourag- 
 ing and extending the cultivation of fruit trees 
 in the peninsula. We saw large beds of seedling 
 olives, and of the Spanish chesnut tree, of which 
 latter, till lately, only two specimens were to be 
 found in the Crimea. Apple, pear, peach and 
 almond trees are sold at Nikita, at the price of 
 from thirty to fifty kopeeks the plant, during 
 the first year after grafting; and in 1815, six 
 thousand plants were thus disposed of. At the 
 season of our visit, which took place about the 
 end of June, the fig trees were covered with un- 
 ripe fruit, and the olives and pomegranates were 
 still in blossom. This establishment is under the 
 care of German directors. 
 
 The scenery of Alushta, which is one of the 
 most celebrated points within the compass of our 
 tour, is inferior, I think, to that of the three spots 
 which I have mentioned, and somewhat disap- 
 points expectation; though the broad valley, 
 
312 REMARKABLE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 stretching inland from the sea to the roots of 
 Tchatyr Dagh, possesses, without question, 
 considerable beauty. With what different eyes 
 has this singularly shaped mountain been viewed 
 by different nations ; and how plainly have they 
 betokened their several habits in the names which 
 they have chosen to affix to it! The Greeks 
 called it Table Mountain; the Tatars, Tent 
 Mountain ; the Cossacks, Saddle Mountain ; 
 but an Englishman at Sevastopol told a friend of 
 mine, that he considered it as resembling nothing 
 so much as a sirloin of beef. 
 
 On that part of the coast which lies between 
 Kaffa and Sudac, some ruins have lately been dis- 
 covered, at a spot called Koktabell, which are 
 believed by some to denote the site of the ancient 
 Theodosia. Its distance from the Cimmerian 
 Bosphorus is said to coincide exactly with Strabo's 
 account, and an artificial as well as a natural 
 harbour is still discernible ; the sea now break- 
 ing over the mole which formerly protected it, 
 and running smoothly through the entrance of 
 the haven. A vast number of ruins bespeak it to 
 have been a place of large extent ; but those 
 
OFFERS OF ESCORT. 313 
 
 which I observed consisted merely of foundations, 
 constructed of rough stones and cement. We 
 ascended a mountain to the ruins of a Genoese 
 castle, the pathway on the summit of which is 
 singularly narrow and tremendous. A small 
 tongue of land near this port, commanding an 
 extensive view of the Euxine, is now occupied 
 by a Cossack guard. 
 
 During the last summer of my residence in the 
 Crimea, a circumstance occurred, with the men- 
 tion of which I will conclude these Notes. When 
 the time for my departure approached, and it 
 became generally known that I was going, I was 
 surprised one morning by a visit from a Tatar 
 Murza with whom I was previously unacquaint- 
 ed. After much ceremony, he informed me, 
 that having heard of my projected return to 
 England > and supposing that 1 would not venture 
 unprotected upon so long and perilous a jour- 
 ney, he waited upon me for the purpose of recom- 
 mending to me two men, to act as an escort or 
 guard. One of these was an old Tatar who was 
 with him, and the other was his own brother. 
 He ended by referring me to a common friend 
 
 Y 
 
314 GRATEFUL RECOLLECTION. 
 
 for further information, and gave me his address. 
 Upon my asking him how far these men were 
 willing to go, if I should require their attend- 
 ance? " As far as your own frontiers," said he, 
 " or even to England, if you wish it." I informed 
 him of the uncertainty of the time and mode of 
 my journey, and that I possibly might return by 
 sea from Theodosia ; but I assured him, that if I 
 should stand in need of such attendants, I should 
 not forget his reccommendation. 
 
 After this many other Tatars came on the same 
 errand ; and though the expectation of a hand- 
 some remuneration was undoubtedly the motive 
 which induced these persons to make so extraor- 
 dinary an application, from others of their nation 
 with whom I had more intercourse, and particu- 
 larly from some of our own villagers, I experi- 
 enced at the eve of my departure, and indeed 
 during the whole of my stay, so many instances 
 of kindness and attachment, that I shall never 
 cease to derive sincere gratification from the re- 
 collection of their disinterested good will. 
 
TRICES OF PRODUCE, LABOUR, &c. 
 IN THE CRIMEA. 
 
 Rubles. 
 W. Wheat, ten years back, four rubles to twenty, 
 
 but the average price 10 
 
 Arnoot ditto (eight to forty), average 15 
 
 Rye -(two to twelve), average .................. 5 
 
 Barley generally about the same price 
 
 Oats (two to eight), average 4 
 
 In transporting corn to the distance of twenty ver&ts, I 
 have known two rubles paid for a cart which carried four 
 and a half or five tchetverts. 
 
 Hay is sold at from fifty kopeeks to one ruble and 
 twenty kopeeks per pood, in scaree winters, art Theo- 
 dosia. 
 
 Oxen cost, on an average, one hundred rubles per 
 pair. 
 
 Cows, about thirty-five rubles each, and some few sixty 
 rubles. 
 
 Horses, from twenty to one hundred and twenty rubles ; 
 some few, one hundred and fifty to two hundred rubles; 
 the general price about forty rubles. 
 
 Sheep and ewes, ten rubles ; lambs, five rubles ; rams, 
 fifteen rubles ; two year wethers, seven to ten rubles. 
 
316 HIRE OF LABOURERS. 
 
 Implements : a plough, twenty to thirty rubles, a cart, 
 twenty to twenty-five rubles. 
 
 To hire a plough ten rubles a day are given, for which 
 three men and six pair of oxen are furnished, who plough 
 as much as four measures will sow. 
 
 Labourers are hired from St. George's to St. Demetrius's 
 day, or vice versa. Wages are about two hundred rubles 
 .per annum, and two suits of clothes, comprising shube, 
 tchekmen, two pair of trowsers, two shirts, and shoes of 
 ox-hide; also an allowance of two or two and a half mea- 
 sures of corn per month. 
 
 Russian tchetvert = 5 bushels English. 
 
 Ditto pound =12 ounces do. 
 
 8 Ib. Russian = 4 Ib. Tatar = 1 oka. 
 
 36 Ib. English = 40 Ib. Russian = 1 pood. 
 
 MONEY. 
 
 1 ruble = 100 kopeeks. 5 kopeeks = 1 petack. 
 The value of the ruble during my stay may be stated t 
 tenpence. . . . 
 
 THE END. 
 
 L. M'MiDan. Frioter. 
 Bow Street, CortQt-Ganku. 
 
U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARY 
 
CRITICAL NOTICES, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NOTES RELATIVE TO THE CRIM TATARS." 
 
 "Mils. HOLDERNESS, the author of this unassuming 
 volume, resided at the village of Karagoss, in the Crimea, 
 from 1816 to 1820, and had consequently sufficient time and 
 opportunity to observe the characters and customs of her 
 neighbours. What appeared remarkable to her, she noted 
 down ; and the result is here presented, in the most modest 
 form, to the public. She has made us familiar with many 
 particulars with which we were previously unacquainted ; and 
 to the praise of being an unpretending, has earned that of 
 being a meritorious candidate for favourable reception." 
 Literary Gazette, July 14, 1821. 
 
 " This little work, with its modest title, contains much inte- 
 resting information respecting a people of whom we have 
 hitherto known little. The sketches, though in the form of 
 notes, are not altogether unconnected ; and although the 
 author claims no other merit than their fidelity, yet we may 
 assign them, not a higher praise certainly, but an additional 
 one that they are written in a very pleasing and familiar 
 manner." Literary Chronicle, July 28, 1821. 
 
 " The people, whose manners and customs form the subject 
 of this modest little volume, are so imperfectly known, and 
 what is known of them, is so well calculated to create a de- 
 sire for further information, that we took up Mrs. Holder- 
 derness's work with considerable curiosity, and laid it down 
 with no little regret, at rinding it so short and compendious. 
 The authoress appears to be a very intelligent person, and 
 the means which she possessed of making herself acquainted 
 with the subject, are such as seldom fall to the lot of travel- 
 lers, either male or female. She resided four years in the 
 Crimea, in what capacity does not appear, but obviously in 
 
viii 
 
 a situation which must have given her access to the best 
 information: under these circumstances, that she should 
 have produced so small and cheap a book as this before us, 
 is both mortifying and surprising. However, we are thankful 
 for the boon, scanty as it is, and are willing to confess, that 
 the quantity of facts which she has collected, are in a much 
 greater proportion than the size or number of her pages 
 would have warranted us in expecting/' British Critic, 
 August, 1821. 
 
 " Some interesting information will be found in Notes relat- 
 ing to the Manners and Customs of the Crim Tatars, by 
 Mary Holderness, which are written with simplicity and 
 spirit. The author resided in the Crimea four years, and 
 has collected in this little work the result of her observations, 
 from which a competent idea may be formed of the habits 
 of the people, and the state of the country. The volume 
 forms altogether a pleasing and instructive publication." 
 Monthly Magazine, October I, 1821. 
 
 From a much longer critique, it may be sufficient to 
 extract the following : 
 
 *' This volume was first intended, we are told, for the 
 amusement of a friend in England, and is now given to the 
 public nearly in the form in which it was originally composed. 
 The author frankly acknowledges her deficiencies and disqua- 
 lifications, but is nevertheless of opinion, that, as a resident 
 and a female, she possessed advantages for acquiring infor- 
 mation superior to those of a passing traveller a sort of 
 modest assumption, or assuming modesty, which at once 
 craves mercy and provokes criticism. For our own part, 
 however we are disposed to wave any right to the exercise 
 of the latter, and that not merely from gallantry, but be- 
 cause the lady seems to confine herself almost entirely to 
 subjects of which she may be considered a competent wit- 
 ness, and because, notwithstanding such an implied con- 
 sciousness of superiority, she really every where discloses 
 what she knows, in the most unpretending and unaffected 
 manner." New Edinburgh Review, January, 1822. 
 
April 1, 1828. 
 
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 PER'S POEMS. Is. 
 
 5. LOCKE'S CONDUCT of the UN- 
 DERSTANDING, with a Sketch of the 
 Life of the Author. Is. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS for the BIBLE, or 
 the BOOK of COMMON PRAYER, con- 
 sisting of twenty Plates, elegantly engraved 
 by Freeman, from esteemed Pictures. 6s. 
 The following are the Subjects of the above 
 ILLUSTRATIONS, and will bind with the 8vo. 
 or 12mo. Bibles and Prayers. 
 
 Madona. 
 
 The Angel Gabriel. 
 Shnnamite's Son. 
 Eli and Samuel. 
 Good Samaritan. 
 Elijah in a Chariot. 
 Jacob's Blessing. 
 Moses in the Bulrushes. 
 Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 Abraham offering up his 
 Son. 
 
 Annunciation. 
 
 The Nativity. 
 
 Resurrection of Christ. 
 
 Crucifixion. 
 
 Cain and Abel. 
 
 Noah's Sacrifice. 
 
 Conversion of St. Paul. 
 
 Adam and Eve. 
 
 Jonah. 
 
 Shipwreck of St. Paul. 
 
 Daniel in the Lions' Den. 
 
 THE NEW POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA ; 
 
 or, Elements of Useful Knowledge, methodi- 
 cally arranged : with Lists of Select Books 
 on every Branch of Learning and Science : 
 desgined for the higher Classes in Schools 
 and for Young Persons in general. By JOHN 
 MILLARD, Assistant Librarian of the Surry 
 Institution: Second Edition, with many 
 important Additions and Corrections. In 
 one large Volume, 12mo. Price 9s. boards 
 or 11s. bound, Calf Gilt and Lettered. 
 
 " Of all the books lately published, under titles simi- 
 lar to the above, this is, in our estimation, by far the 
 best. We can scarcely point to any book of equal size 
 into which so great a variety of useful and entertaining 
 matter is compressed." Eclectic Review, December 
 1811. See also Monthly Review, and British Critic, for 
 December, 1811; Universal Magazine for June, 'and 
 Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1812. 
 
 COTTAGE MAGAZINE; or, Plain 
 Christian's Library. 
 
 *** This Magazine is published in Monthly Numbers 
 of Three Pence each, containing Thirty-six Pages. Its 
 style and consents are adapted to the moral and religions 
 improvement of Cottager's, Mechanics, Farmers, Trades- 
 men, Sunday Scholars, Apprentices, Servants, and Per- 
 sons of every Class and Age, who may be appropriately 
 denominated " Plain Christians." In times like the 
 present it appears particularly important that a little 
 Work of this kind should be extensively recommended 
 By Parents to their Children, 
 By Masters to their Servants, 
 By Teachers to their Scholars, 
 By Ministers to their People. 
 
 The extensive patronage which this Publication has 
 received, during the last Eleven Years, is a satisfactory 
 proof (it is presumed) of its being well calculated to pro- 
 mote the objects for which it is designed. The whole 
 of its prorifsare applied to charitable purposes. 
 
Printed for Sherwood, Jones, and Co. Paternoster-Row. 
 
 BIBLICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, 
 
 OR 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE INFORMATION. 
 
 PROSPECTUS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FOURTH EDITION OF 
 
 PART I. Price Six SHILLINGS, on Fine Paper, IN QUARTO, 
 Containing Six PLATES, and a FKONTISFIECE to the Volume, 
 
 CALMET'S 
 ^Dictionary of tfte f&olg ISifclc : 
 
 EXPLAINING 
 
 THE NAMES, HISTORIES, &c. OF PERSONS, PLACES, & NATURAL PRODUCTIONS, 
 MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE; 
 
 THE 
 
 ANTIQUITIES, BUILDINGS, COINS, HABITS, LAWS, CUSTOMS, 
 AND PECULIARITIES OF THE JEWS, Sfc. $c. #e. 
 
 WITH 
 
 THE FRAGMENTS, 
 
 CONTAINING ENTIRELY NEW 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE INCIDENTS AND EXPRESSIONS, 
 
 Selected from the. most authentic Historians, Travellers, fyc. containing many 
 
 Occurrences and Observations extremely interesting, and highly entertaining ; 
 
 brought down to the latest possible Period : 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 SEVERAL HUNDRED PLATES, 
 OF VIEWS, MAPS, PLANS, DRESSES, &c. FROM GENUINE AUTHORITY. 
 
 This Work is now complete in THIRTY-FOUR PARTS, 
 acli containing Six Sheets of the DICTIONARY; 
 Six Sheets of FRAGMENTS, illustrating Scripture 
 
 Incidents ; and at least Six Plates : a single Part, any 
 proportion of a Set, or the whole complete, may he 
 procured at the option of the purchaser. 
 
 THIS DICTIONARY, in its original form, was the result of more than thirty 
 years professedly devoted to it, with every advantage which literary assistance 
 could^ furnish ; and the revised, improved, and greatly enlarged edition now 
 introduced to the notice of the Public, has received the incessant labour of nearly 
 an equal period : the Work, at its first appearance, was translated into most 
 languages, Spanish, German, Dutch, English, &c. and its authority has always 
 maintained its pre-eminence : no Commentator of repute has appeared since its 
 publication, who has not either quoted from it, or appealed to it: no Library has 
 been deemed complete without it : its usefulness is calculated for the service of 
 ALL who wish to " give a reason for the hope that is iu them/' or to understand 
 truly the Sacred Volume, 
 
ijLO Printed for {Sherwood, Joms, and Co. Paternoster- Row. 
 
 The ADDITIONS made, under the title of FRAGMENTS, comprise an assem- 
 blage of many hundred extracts of the most curious and illustrative descriptions, 
 explanatory of Scripture incidents, customs, and manners, that could not possibly 
 be explained by any other medium. They are taken from the most rare and 
 authentic Voyages and Travels into Judea, and other Eastern Countries, &c.&c. 
 
 In soliciting the attention of the Public to a FOURTH EDITION of a Work of 
 such intrinsic value, it cannot be necessary to expatiate on its merit or import, 
 ance. That has been strongly felt, and decisively pronounced, or tbere could 
 be no occasion for this renewed solicitation. Nor can any Work less need suchij 
 recommendation than CALMET'S DICTIONARY OF THE HOLY BIBLE: 
 It is, unquestionably, the most complete work of its kind. It has been the object t 
 of Emulation to others; but its imitators have either failed in their imitation, 
 or have depended for their merit on the labours of CALMET, or have sunk 
 into disesteem, and never have obtained authority. The necessary accompani- 
 ment of Plates has been too expensive for the means of plagiarists : they have 
 copied, but they could not rival ; and original information they had none. 
 
 The approbation of the British Public has been felt beyond the limits of the 
 British Empire ; and the American press has reprinted verbatim from our former 
 Editions ; it is now, therefore, necessary to maintain the superiority of the London 
 Copy, by combining numerous improvements suggested by the long and anxious 
 experience which has accrued since the former edition. 
 
 The nature of these Improvements may be expressed in a few words : 
 
 In the first place, the DFCTIONARY is now complete in ONE ALPHABETICAL 
 SERIES, the words contained in the former SUPPLEMENT being incorporated in 
 their proper places. The whole of the GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX,, originally a 
 distinct part of the SACRED GEOGRAPHY, forming the fifth volume, consisting 
 entirely of new matter, is also included ; so that, it is presumed, the additions 
 of various kinds will form nearly, if not altogether, one third of the present 
 Edition ; distinguished from the original, by being inclosed in brackets [ ]. 
 
 The approbation bestowed on the ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE, by 
 means of local information derived from the East, has been too general and too 
 lively to be misunderstood. These FRAGMENTS have been the source and the 
 support of sundry similar undertakings : they have furnished extracts without 
 number to periodical publications, and have formed the basis and the body of 
 Volumes. They are now revised ; and many things are more clearly expressed, 
 in consequence of more effectual information, with considerable additions ; but, 
 it has been thought advisable to retain their former order, not to disturb the 
 numerous references made to them, as well in the work itself, as by late writers. 
 In consequence, this Division will be enlarged from one Volume, inconveniently 
 thick, to two Volumes. The Additional Parts may be had separately, for the 
 accommodation of original subscribers. 
 
 The PLATES will also form an Atlas, or Volume, by themselves, arranged 
 alphabetically : each subject will be particularly explained; and their utility will 
 be increased by a great addition of references. Such Plates as have been injured 
 in working (for several have printed no less than four or five thousand impres- 
 sions) are cancelled ; and new plates are engraved in their stead : others are care- 
 fully revised, and corrections and additions are inserted throughout. 
 
 The whole is uniformly printed on Paper of the best quality ; and, in short, 
 the Work is placed in that state which the Editor presumes will be most satis- 
 factory to the Public, most honourable to the parties engaged in it, and will 
 characterize it as the STANDARD EDITION of a STANDARD WORK. 
 
 The present is taken as a proper opportunity to remind gentlemen possessed 
 of the former Edition of the DICTIONARY, in three Volumes, that there are yet 
 
Printed for Sherwood, Jones, and Co. Paternoster- Row. 11 
 
 remaining a few Copies (under fifty) of the works forming the FOURTH and 
 VOLUMES, but sold separately; viz. 
 
 SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATED, 
 
 Principally on subjects of Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Geology, 
 (Botany, &c.* including a SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT of the Mosaic System 
 Jof Natural History ; the principles of which are the same as the Linnaean. With 
 lany Plates. Complete in Eight Parts, 5s. each. Also, 
 
 [| SACRED GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 With Forty-four Plates, Maps, &c. Complete in Six Parts, price Ss^eaeh. 
 
 CHARACTER OF THIS WORK. 
 
 From the Monthly Review, Vol. XXIII. N. S. p. 
 
 " This Work is much celebrated for the many admirable elucidations which it contains of 
 difficult passages in the Holy Scriptures, for beautiful delineations of Oriental manners, 
 anil for lively and entertaining histories extracted from authors little known even among 
 the learned. 
 
 The Christian world is much obliged to the present Editor: whose object is not only 
 to give a Translation of CALMET'S DICTIONARY, but to make those additions which may be 
 necessary, from the new lights thrown on Oriental history and manners, by our late voyage- 
 writers, and above all, by Sir William Jones, and other gentlemen who have devoted them- 
 selves to that kind of learning ; omitting at the same time, passages which may be offensive 
 to Protestants, and retrenching some superfluities. The Introduction to the Work is, in 
 our opinion, sensible and judicious. 
 
 After TEN pages of extracts from the Work, the critic concludes thus: 
 " The Additions made by the Editor are placed at the end of the Numbers, under the 
 title of* FRAGMENTS ;' in which are many curious descriptions, remarks, observations, extracts 
 from the boohs of the most approved travellers, #c. 6fc. calculated for the entertainment as 
 well as the instruction of the reader. 
 
 We must not omit to observe, that this Work is illustrated with proper, useful, and 
 ornamental Engravings ; NOB. SHOULD WE DISCHARGE OUR DUTY TO THE PUBLIC, IF WE DIJ> 
 
 NOT RECOMMEND IT TO THE PERUSAL OF EVERY PERSON WHO WISHES TO UNDERSTAND A BOOK 
 
 WHICH CONTAINS THE DISPENSATIONS OF GOD TO MANKIND, at various times, and in divers 
 manners ; the knowledge of which opens to us the most glorious views, and which compre- 
 hends at once our comforts in this life and our hopes of happiness in the next." Vide also, 
 Vol. XXVI. N. S. p. 451. XXXVI. p. 308. 
 
 This is a very useful publication. The original is too well known to render any account 
 of it necessary in this place ; but it is proper to observe, that the alterations and improve- 
 ments of it are executed with judgment and spirit. Those Plates which illustrate the cus- 
 toms of the East are most pleasingly ornamental." Critical Review. 
 
 " CALMET'S DICTIONARY has always been in great and deserved estimation, and the 
 Public is much obliged to the Editor of the present publication for reprinting it, in a form 
 more convenient to general purchasers, and more useful in itself. The additional illustra- 
 tions to this edition appear to be INGENIOUS and IMPORTANT." British Critic. 
 
 A Very sensible, shrewd, and competent Editor, is re-publishing, at Mr. C. Taylor's, in 
 Monthly Numbers, l CALHET'S GREAT DICTIONARY OF THE HOLY BIBLE.' To this fund, 
 already vast, of learning and research, the Editor has made many valuable additions, under 
 the title of t FRAGMENTS,' which, as well as being instructive, arc extremely entertaining; 
 they are extracted from Oriental writers, and Travellers of approved authenticity and 
 merit." Supplement to Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV. 
 
 This valuable Work is well known to the learned and religious world; and its excel- 
 lence has been attested by the avidity with which it has been read, the many languages in 
 which it has been printed, and the frequency with which it is appealed to, as a decisive 
 authority upon many subjects of sacred literature. It is with pleasure, therefore, that we 
 announce, after a period of sixty years, a new edition of it, in a quarto size, with many im- 
 provements, and an entirely new set of plates. 
 
 " From the plan, it will be seen, that much labour has been bestowed, and much expence 
 actually incurred, by the Managers of this Publication ; it is but justice to say, that the types 
 employed, Roman, Hebrew, and Greek, are very good." Prot cstant Disffrnte r'$ Magazine. 
 
12 Printed for Sherwood, Jones, and Co. Paternoster-Roiv. 
 
 " Every attempt, in the fear of God, to shed a light upon those parts of the Holy Scrip- 
 lures which appear dark to us, because we are ignorant, and to cause the sentiment cou- 
 tained in them to beam upon the eye of the mind in all its radiance and lustre, is surely a 
 great and important design : and such is evidently the design df this NEW and MUCH 
 IMPROVED Edition of the very laborious and learned CALMET'S GREAT DICTIONARY OF THE 
 HOLY BIBLE. The immense store of ideas, the astonishing fund of learning, and the incal- 
 culable riches of illustration, contained iu this grand repository, can only be known by an 
 accurate and full investigation of the Work itself; which certainly cannot be done by any 
 but with unspeakable advantage as to intellectual improvement. Through this Work, \ve\ 
 hope, the Scriptures will appear still more excellent, their form lovely, their beauties 
 divine, and their treasures inexhaustible; a taste and relish for them will be revived, and 
 their infinitely superior excellence, above all other productions, be acknowledged with' 
 religious adoration, to the glory of their gracious Author. 
 
 " Besides many amendments, &c. in the body of the Work, the ingenious and learned 
 Editors have added many very interesting FRAGMENTS. The learned will determine, accord- 
 ing to their various modes of thinking, whether the Authors of them have always hit the 
 mark. They will all, however, doubtless agree, that they have successfully opened a NEW 
 track, both in the FRAGMENTS and PRINTS. We hesitate not to say, that the Religious 
 Public is much indebted to them, while we hope their example will stimulate others who 
 have ability and leisure, to dig in the field of wisdom for hidden treasures also." Gospel 
 Magazine. 
 
 " The most complete Work of the kind is CALMET'S DICTIONARY OF THE HOLY BIBLE, 
 4to. now publishing by C. Taylor, London. In this Work many difficult passages of Holy 
 Scripture are well explained; and it contains a continued Appendix [FRAGMENTS] eluci- 
 dating Scripture incidents, histories, and expressions, by similar incidents, &c. selected 
 from the most authentic voyages and travels, with remarks and illustrations." Dr. Wil- 
 liams's Christian Preacher. 
 
 " CALMET, as may easily be imagined, collected every thing which had any relation to 
 the subject he was upon ; and it must be owned, that many of his facts are curious and 
 interesting." .Bto#rap/itca7< Dictionary. 
 
 " Dictionnaire Historique, Chronologique, Geoyraphique, el Litttral de la Bible. Par 
 AUGUSTIN CALMET. Folio, 4 tomes, Paris, 1730. 
 
 " A translation of this truly valuable Work, with occasional remarks, was published in 
 1732, in three folio volumes; which having become extremely scarce, an edition was pub- 
 lished in 1801, in two thick quarto volumes, by Mr. Taylor, with a volume of Additions 
 from books of voyages and travels, &c. under the title of ' FRAGMENTS.' A new edition, 
 enlarged and greatly improved, is now publishing. The work is pleasingly illustrated will 
 numerous engravings, which convey an accurate idea of Oriental manners and customs. 
 CALMET'S DICTIONARY is THE BASIS OF ALL SIMILAR MODERN WORKS OF THE LIKE KIND."- 
 Home's Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. I 
 p. 555. 
 
 " SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATED, by Engravings : refering to Natural Science, Customs, Manner* 
 fyc. by the Editor of CalmeVs Dictionary of the Holy Iiible. 4to. 
 
 " Many otherwise obscure passages of the Bible are in this Work happily illustrated from 
 Natural Science. It is handsomely and ably executed ; and although it does not profess to 
 be a complete Natural History of the Scriptures, yet it illustrates that interesting subjcc 
 in so many instances, as to demand a place in every student's library." Horne's Introduc* 
 tion, Vol. I. p. 564. 
 
 The Eclectic Review, for September, 1818, speaking of another work, says incidentally 
 " CALMET'S DICTIONARY is a most valuable book." 
 
 See the Christian Reader's Guide, p. 151, Articles, CALMET'S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE 
 and SUPPLEMENT: SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATED: and WELLS'S GEOGRAPHY IMPROVED : witl 
 the characters there adduced. 
 
 DR. MANT has made great use of CALMET in the Notes to his Bible, published by th 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; and in his list of books to which he acknow 
 ledges obligations, particularly specifies the " FRAGMENTS" annexed to this Edition 
 CALMET. 
 
 It would be endless to quote, or to refer to, the numerous instances ofprivat 
 approbation conferred on this undertaking to illustrate HOLY SCRIPTURE ; 
 may be sufficient to say, that the former Editions were supported by a ver 
 numerous List of Subscriber s t among which were many of the leading Character* 
 both in Church, and State. 
 
'\\~\ 
 
 APRIL, 1823. 
 
 Now publishing in MONTHLY PARTS, Price 7. each, handsomely printed in 2uar<o, 
 wove Paper, and hot-pressed, 
 
 NEW AND COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM 
 
 MODERN GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 j-Hatfjrmatiral, Ufutftiral, Woltttcal, & Commercial; 
 
 BEING A 
 
 PERSPICUOUS DELINEATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRESENT STATE OF THE GLOBE, 
 
 INHABITANTS AND PRODUCTIONS; 
 
 Preceded by the History of the Science; interspersed with Statistical and Synoptical Tables; 
 and accompanied with a Series of correct coloured Maps, forming a complete Atlas, 
 a great Variety of appropriate Views, and numerous other Engravings, 
 ' illustrating the Manners, Customs, and Costumes of Nations. 
 
 BY THOMAS MYERS, A.M. 
 
 OF THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY, WOOLWICH. 
 
 Uo ulron : 
 
 PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, JONES, & Co. 
 
 PATERNOSTER- ROW. 
 
 THERE has never, perhaps, been a period in the modern history of Europe, when it 
 could be less necessary than at the present moment, to enforce reasons for publishing 
 a new System of Geography. The political events of the last seven years have, in fact, 
 so entirely changed the territorial relations of the different Continental States, that all 
 pre-exreting Geographical Works are, in a measure, obsolete. There is scarcely a 
 single country in Europe which, within the above period, has not experienced either an 
 increase or a diminution of its possessions. We do not mean simply a contiguous 
 increase or diminution; but such accessions or losses as have materially altered their 
 relative characters. 
 
 The various Acts and Treaties by which these mutations have been effected, are not 
 only difficult of access, but cumbrous memorials for common use. The man of science, 
 the statesman, the merchant, the student, and the traveller, would each gladly avail 
 himself of a more convenient exposition of the actual state of Europe. But where will 
 he find such a one ? We know not There are, indeed, detached works, relating to 
 detached countries ; but, from their very multiplicity, they tend rather to perplex than 
 facilitate inquiry. It is the object of the present undertaking to supply this deficiency 
 in our literature; and, if we perform it in a manner equal to our conception of what it 
 should be, we may rely securely upon its success. 
 
We place, in the very front of our motives for producing this New System of Geogri- 
 phy, these peculiar circumstances ; and we do so, because they supersede all those 
 customary persuasives, by which the patronage of the Public is usually solicited towards 
 such enterprises. Every man who takes the slightest interest in public affairs, every 
 one who feels a natural anxiety to know what Europe is, at the present moment, after 
 the terrible convulsions it has undergone, and who wishes to understand the political 
 connexion of the different States, is conscious that his means of doing so are extremely 
 imperfect. Our task will be, to remove that imperfection; and, by an accurate deve- 
 lopement of the final arrangements made at the Congress of Vienna, founded upon offi- 
 cial and authentic documents, to exhibit an exact delineation of the present condition, 
 of the civilized world. 
 
 This is our primary purpose ; but this is not all. With the restoration of the liberties 
 of Europe, arose also the recovered freedom of scientific research and literary inquiry.' 
 During the last four or five years, large accessions have been made to our general stock 
 of geographical knowledge. Enterprising travellers have spread themselves in every 
 direction, and communicated to the world the result of their observations. Many 
 doubtful points of science have thus been established; many unexpected facts have 
 been verified; the moral aspect of nations has been vividly portrayed ; the changes in 
 manners and customs, and in political influence, have been ascertained; venerable 
 errors have been corrected j important truths elucidated ; and, in short, the energies of 
 unimpeded intellect have been applied to the survey of the world in such a way, as 
 spreads an ample share of novelty before the industrious Compiler of a Geographical 
 System. These, we need hardly add, shall not be neglected. While, therefore, the 
 reader will find all that is unquestionable in preceding Works, he may expect to receive, 
 in addition, the concentrated information which subsequent researches have supplied. 
 There is a constant flux in the affairs of civilized man. Wherever his influence 
 extends, a change is visible. What may be called the permanent features of nature 
 eten are not protected from this influence. It is true, mountains and rivers do not 
 remove ; but the hand of man clothes the one with verdure, and covers the other with 
 traffic. Where forests stood, cities are reared ; where the stagnant morass exhaled its 
 baleful effluvia, plains smile with cultivation; where pathless tracts spread themselves 
 around, roads are formed, bridges constructed, and villages spring up. These ceaseless 
 mutations present a boundless variety to the Geographical Historian ; and they mark, at 
 the same time, the progressive advances of states and empires in the path of civilization. 
 We trust we have safd enough to prove, that the present period is one peculiarly tit 
 for the execution of a Work like this. W r e have shown that the entire face of Europe 
 has undergone a political revolution since the year 1814; and that a NEW SYSTEM OF 
 GEOGRAPHY, which should distinctly define all the effects of that revolution, particularly 
 as affecting territorial boundaries and dominion, would be a valuable accession to our 
 national literature. We have also shown, that the facilities of international communica- 
 tion, naturally arising from a general peace, have been employed by intelligent indivi- 
 duals in accumulating valuable stores of information with respect to the natural, the 
 moral, and the political condition of different countries. These, then, are the sources 
 whence we have derived our claims to public patronage. How far we may have made 
 a proper use of them, the reader will be enabled to judge, by the very flattering testimo- 
 nials hereunto annexed. 
 
 Ulan at tl)c &torft* 
 
 It is preceded by a copious INTRODUCTION, commencing with the History of Geo- 
 graphy; which is followed by a familiar explanation of its Scientific Principles, with 
 their application to finding the positions, bearings, and distances of places, and the 
 construction of Maps and Charts. A general delineation of the grand natural features 
 and the principal physical phenomena of the globe, with their influence on its inhabi- 
 tants and productions, are then given. The elements of Political Geography, also, are 
 briefly illustrated ; and, to render all reference to other Works unnecessary, a full expla- 
 nation of Scientific Terms, with a variety of appropriate Tables, are added. 
 
 The different Sections of the Work "itself, are necessarily devoted to subjects of a 
 less general nature. They contain clear and comprehensive views of the local circum- 
 stances and peculiar productions of each country ; its works of art and objects of 
 curiosity ; its political state and foreign connexions ; with the knowledge, manners, 
 and customs of its inhabitants. To these are added, such Statistical and Synoptical 
 Tables as exhibit the natural resources, military strength, and commercial importance 
 of each state. 
 
TonlHii0tt0 of 
 
 I . This Work will be handsomely printed 
 in Quarto, with a bold and elegant Type, 
 and on fine wove Paper. 
 
 II. It will be published in Monthly 
 Parts, (Twenty-five of which will complete 
 
 Work), Price 7s. each, forming TWO 
 
 IKY LARGE AND SPLENDID VOLUMES. 
 
 [IT. It will be accompanied with a valu- 
 
 able and correct .Set of Coloured Maps. 
 including the latest Arrangements and 
 Discoveries. 
 
 IV. It will be illustrated with a great 
 variety of appropriate Views, and numer- 
 ous other Engravings, representing the 
 Manners, Customs, and Costumes of dif- 
 ferent Nations. 
 
 # * The Approbation which has been generally bestowed on Mil. MYERS'S 
 IOGRAPHY, has afforded the Publishers very considerable gratification; but they 
 HI more peculiarly flattered by many TESTIMONIES in its favour, from Gentlemen 
 languished for Classical Learning and Scientific Attainments, among which are the 
 (lowing : 
 
 vrom the REV. W. B. COLLYER, B.D. LL.D. F.A.S. &c. CamberwelL 
 I have read Mr. Myers's " NEW AND COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF MODERN 
 
 so far as the Work has proceeded, with unqualified pleasure; and 
 hough my feeble testimony may be of little value to .so distinguished a Publication, 
 sannot withhold it, such as it is, from a production which promises to be no less 
 Ivantageous to the World, than honourable to the amiable and able Author. It 
 |pears to me, to combine every excellence that can be associated with that branch of 
 pence to which it relates. 
 
 March 14*/t, 1821. 
 
 II. 
 
 rom DR. O LIN THUS GREGORY, Professor of Mathematics at the ROYAL 
 MILITARY ACADEMY, Woolwich. 
 
 A System of " MODERN GEOGRAPHY," from the pen of my worthy Colleague, 
 r. Myers, can never stand in need of my recommendation. Being requested, how- 
 er, to express my opinion of it, I have no hesitation in saying, that I regard it as a 
 y valuable Treatise, on a subject of Universal Interest. The delineations of the 
 uliarities of the several parts of the Terraqueous Globe which come under review, 
 perspicuous, graphical, and correct ; the Remarks upon the characteristics of the 
 habitants, their Habits, Pursuits, and Governments, are candid and philosophical ; 
 Commercial and Statistical Information is well exhibited, and is generally drawn 
 m authentic and indubitable sources; and the express Articles of the Treaties of 
 NGRESS, and other social compacts relating to different Countries, are appropriately 
 troduced. The coloured Maps are very neatly, and, I believe, accurately executed ; 
 d the other Engravings, referring principally to interesting points of Scenery and 
 lostume, are real embellishments to the several ' Parts' as they issue successively 
 gom the press. The " General Introduction," which is indeed " copious/' and is 
 partly historical, partly philosophical, partly mathematical, partly moral and political, 
 Is in itself of high utility ; and, viewed in connexion with the system at large, will be 
 ;bund extremely judicious, comprehensive, and instructive. 
 June 12th, 1821. 
 
JENNINGS' FAMILY CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 Now publishing in MONTHLY PARTS, Price 2. 6d. each, to be completed in Thirteen Parts, 
 forming Two large Volumes, Octavo, 
 
 AN ORIGINAL WORK, ENTITLED, 
 THE 
 
 FAMILY CYCLOPAEDIA; 
 
 BEING 
 
 A MANUAL OF 
 USEFUL AND NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 IN 
 
 >owr0tir ISconomg, agriniltur*, fttymittvy, auto tyt 
 
 INCLUDING THE 
 
 MOST APPROVED MODES OF TREATMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 DISEASES, ACCIDENTS, AND CASUALTIES. 
 
 BY JAMES JENNINGS, ESQ. 
 
 Hoittron: 
 
 PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, JONES, & Co. 
 
 PATERNOSTER- ROW. 
 
 " This excellent Manual of Knowledge lias already been very favourably received 
 in families, as a book of daily reference in the common concerns of life. To such per- 
 sons as reside at a distance from great towns and from medical aid, or who are^i 
 inhabitants of the British Colonies, (particularly to all Settlers in new Countries), thei 
 FAMILY CYCLOPEDIA is really invaluable; as it forms a portable Library of Useful 
 Knowledge, of easy reference, and contains a great variety of information not to be 
 fount) in other works of similar pretensions, and of greater magnitude."- London 
 Journal of Arts and Sciences. 
 
 " The FAMILY CYCLOPAEDIA contains a large mass of information on subjects con- 
 nected with fhe Domestic Economy of Life. In matters of Science and the Arts, the" 
 Author has made his selections from sources of the besf authority. The original mate- 
 rials supplied by himself are creditable to his observation, good sense, and benevolence. 
 Almost every topic of general interest will be found, in this comprehensive and judicious 
 Compilation, treated in a clear and familiar manner. As a book of daily reference in 
 the common concerns of life, it affords important assistance ; and its great practical 
 utility will, no doubt, ensure it a ready introduction, and a favourable reception, 
 every intelligent family. In addition to the great heads of Domestic Economy, Agri- 
 culture, and Chemistry, this Work points out the best modes of curing Diseases, and 
 obviating the effects of sudden Accidents; it presents, also, an outline of the Mind and 
 Passions, with a view to the improvement of Morals and Education." Monthly 
 Magazine. 
 
GENERAL LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the 
 
 date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 Uun'5 
 
 FIB ? 1955 
 
 PEG 9 1954 
 
 IN STACKS 
 
 N1AR121958 
 
 If 
 
 05 
 
 REC'D LD 
 
 SEP 17 1956 
 
 >V 
 
 AUG 2 6 2006 
 
 LD 21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 
 
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