NATURAL HISTORY. 



369 



the actual position of places, on the 

 currents, nor e%'en on the coasts and 

 their soundings. They have never 

 given particulars of that nature ; 

 they scarcely ever improve by prac- 

 tice : and their vessels are also 

 very ill constructed and badly pro- 

 vided. 



The five principal rivers which 

 pour their waters into the Euxine 

 must necessarily produce currents, 

 the force and direction of which 

 it would be highly advantageous 

 to know. These rivers convey into 

 it a prodigious quantity of sand; 

 which, being diffused in all the 

 creeks and bites of the shores that 

 are most distant from their mouths, 

 is drifted by the winds so as some- 

 times to form a sort of downs. It 

 has already been remarked that the 

 coast of the Euxine is generally 

 steep, and formed of layers of rock 

 frequently inclined, and intermixed 

 with strata of clay or gravel, co- 

 vered at top by a good black mould, 

 sometimes stoney, but extremely 

 well adapted to cultivation. No 

 sand is found any where but at the 

 mouths of the rivers; and the shores 

 even of the Dnieper and of the 

 Dniester, on the margin of the sea, 

 are composed of strong land which 

 resists the pickaxe : whence it may 

 be inferred that the sands which 

 they convey come from a greater 

 distance, and that those which are 

 lodged in the creeks are carried 

 thither by force of the currents. 

 It has likewise been observed that 

 the steep shores being incessantly 

 worn by the violence of the waves, 

 the winds, and the currents, the 

 figure of the coast is changed ; 

 which also produces an alteration 

 in the sand-banks. The destruc- 

 tion of a cape is sometimes suffi- 

 cient to choak up a creek, which 



Vol. XLII. 



before afforded a safe anchorage for 

 ships. 



The commerce of the Euxine is 

 capable of being rendered more 

 beneficial both to Turkey and to 

 European nations, if it were carried 

 on by more able mariners and more 

 intelligent merchants : but the slow- 

 ness of the navigation causes the 

 expense of freight to be excessive ; 

 and the unskilfulness of the mer- 

 chants, who are also destitute of 

 spacious warehouses for their goods, 

 still farther enhances the price by 

 retarding the departure of the ves- 

 sels. It is partly for this reason 

 that the Turks prefer small craft 

 to larger ships for coasting this sea; 

 loading them indifferently with all 

 goods which offer, without any re- 

 gard to their stowage. No public 

 work is executed for the benefit of 

 commerce; and the bad condition 

 of the roads contiguous to the several 

 maritime towns, with the want of 

 commodious quays or wharfs for 

 shipping or unshipping the cargoes, 

 always occasion additional expenses 

 and prejudicial delays. 



The principal exports from this 

 country are, grain (usually restrict- 

 ed to Constantinople), wool, tim- 

 ber, tar, hemp, wax, honey, lea- 

 ther, cotton, and copper. The 

 articles which might be carried 

 thither are cloths, coffee, sugar, and 

 gold and silver lace: but for this 

 purpose factories should be establish- 

 ed at all the sea-ports, protected by 

 the Turkish government, to secure 

 them from the plunder of the pashas 

 and other subaltern authorities. 



State of Agriculture in the Canary 

 Islands. From the Memoirs of 

 the National Institute of France. 



Bb 



