328 ODESSA. 



&c. &c. Italy supplies wines, liqueurs, oil, vermicelli, sulphur, articles of 

 taste, such as sculpture, &c. Spain sends wines of different sorts, lead, 

 cochineal, indigo, drugs, coarse cloths, and mats : Port and Madeira wines 

 are brought from Portugal and, though last, not least, England sends her 

 innumerable manufactures, and the produce of her colonies, as well as of the 

 places to which she trades. 



" The exports of corn are chiefly for the Archipelago, the Ionian Islands, 

 Trieste, Venice, Malta, the different ports of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and 

 France. The bulk of this corn is grown in the Ukraine, Podolia, and Wol- 

 hynia. The other principal exports are wool, furs, Astracan lambs-skins, 

 wax, barilla, Russia leather (called jouftis) hides, tallow, butter (for Con- 

 stantinople,) honey, linseed, cordage ; and many other articles. 



" There is a good deal of coasting trade to Tagaurog, and to all the 

 Crimea. 



" The harbour of Odessa is sometimes blocked up by ice in December and 

 January ; therefore the navigation is not to be depended on in those months, 

 though it is frequently open for the whole winter. In summer, north winds 

 are prevalent; the passage from Constantinople, therefore, is variable in 

 point of time : with a fair wind, vessels frequently arrive in two days and a 

 half, sometimes in four but, as a general rule, ten days should be calcu- 

 lated on. A hundred and fifty vessels have been known to arrive in the 

 course of one day, having made the passage from Constantinople in forty- 

 eight hours. 



" The cargoes of vessels that have passed by the Turkish capital are 

 landed at the quarantine establishment, where they are subjected to the 

 needful examination and purification. Convicts are employed in the perilous 

 duty of performing this process with regard to the most suspected merchan- 

 dize : if any fall sacrifices to this exposure, tant pis pour eux, is, I suppose, 

 the idea of the authorities ; the galley-slaves being only looked upon as 

 living tongs with which to catch hold of infected articles ! The vessels are 

 re-laden without taking pratique : the lighters, or barges, used for conveying 

 the cargoes to and from these vessels, are not allowed to have any sails, lest 

 the canvass should imbibe and impart contagion : on their return from deli- 

 vering their lading, these barges are carefully washed and inspected by pro- 

 per officers. The ships are thus speedily dispatched with their return 

 freights ; but this arrangement renders Odessa a dull and dead sea-port : 

 there are no sailing-boats, no bustling quays, none of the life of a great ma- 

 ritime city, and, in a place which gives employment to so much shipping, 

 you see no sailors about the streets ! To me, with my innate affection for 

 the blue jacket and trowsers, it seems quite out of character to have the sea 

 open to the view, and no honest tars ' capering on the shore/ " 



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