BEETLES. 31 



those carabs. No persuasion could induce any one of 

 these Mohammedans to accept the least recompense for 

 any service or for my board ; and in all their villages 

 and towns I was exceedingly annoyed by the inhabit- 

 ants, for every one offered his house as my residence, 

 from the tolerant Mullah, or Mohammedan priest, to 

 the unsophisticated country peasant of Jenicale and 

 Kertsch ; the industrious manufacturers in the cities of 

 Baktschiseray or Achmetschat, as well as the opulent 

 merchant of Kosloff. All* vied with each other in 

 showing hospitality and munificence to the stranger. 

 Would that stranger could repay them ! 



It may seem a long digression, but the lovely insects 

 of that place, as they appear in my cabinet, or are pic- 

 tured forth on canvass for the inspection of my readers, 

 excite in me a thousand grateful emotions, that " come 

 crowding thickly up for utterance." It is worth a visit 

 to the Peninsula of the Crimea, to behold these beauti- 

 ful insects ; it ten times repays one to make the ac- 

 quaintance of its lovely inhabitants. The climate there 

 is an eternal spring. The undulating soil is rich in all 

 kinds of delicious fruits and vegetables — the scenery 

 highly romantic, consisting of ancient castles in ruins, at 

 the foot of which are seen domestic camels, and on the 

 open fields before them, herds of four-horned sheep. 



Here is " the land of the cedar and vine, 



Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine ; 



