598 



CASPIAN SEA. 



Caspian four species of cockle, the common muscle, some 

 Sea. species of snails, and one or two others. This sea 



V *" "V"*"' / is much frequented by birds of various kinds. Those 

 most commonly seen in its vicinity are storks, herons, 

 bitterns, spoonbills, red geese, red ducks, and the 

 like. The most beautiful of these is what is called 

 the red goose, which, however, contrary to what is 

 suggested by the name, is for the greater part white, 

 having only the tips of the wings, the orbits of the 

 eyes, the beak, and the feet of a scarlet colour. It 

 is about the size of a stork, with long neck and legs, 

 and, though it lives on fish, is very savoury to the 

 taste. The same in this respect is the character of a 

 species of wild ducks, which is also frequent in these 

 parts, and which is noted for the sort of noisy con- 

 cert that they perform in the evenings, on the tops 

 of the trees or the roofs of houses. Other birds, 

 properly aquatic, that occur here, are tb<* grebe, the 

 crested diver, the pelican, the cormorant, and almost 

 every species uf gull. Two kinds of leeches are 

 found in this sea, the hog-leech and the dog-leech. 

 The lurking places of those creatures have two aper- 

 tures, one towards the south, the other towards the 

 north, which they open and shut according to the 

 changes of the wind. 



Commerce. Alexander the Great, with that attention which 

 he was ever so ready to bestow upon whatever 

 might be useful to commerce, gave, a short time 

 before his death, directions to fit out a squadron 

 in this sea, in order to survey it, and to discover 

 whether it was connected either with the Euxine, 

 or with the Indian Ocean. Seleucus Nicator, also, 

 the first and most sagacious of the Syrian kings, 

 / at the time when he was assassinated, entertained 

 thoughts of forming a junction between the Caspian 

 and the Euxine seas by a canal, and of thus extend- 

 ing the trade of his subjects in Europe, and supply- 

 ing all the countries in the north of Asia, on the 

 coast of the Euxine Sea, as well as many of those 

 which stretch eastward from the Caspian, with the 

 productions of India. And many ages afterwards, 

 under the auspices of Peter the Great of Russia, a 

 canal was made at Vishnei-Volotshok, by means of 

 which a passage is had from the Caspian into the 

 Volga, and thence, in conjunction with some rivers 

 and lakes, into the Neva, and so into the Baltic. As 

 to the actual commerce of this sea, ancient or mo- 

 dern, it is to be observed, that the maritime trade 

 between the east and the west, which in every age 

 has contributed so much to the opulence and power 

 of the nations that have been fortunate enough to 

 obtain the possession of it, was, in ancient times, long 

 monopolized by Egypt, a country which, from its 

 early and continued attention to naval affairs, had 

 formed a powerful fleet, and obtained such a decided 

 command of the sea, that it would have been vain 

 for any other state to attempt to rival it in this trade. 

 The Persians, in the mean time, though they had no 

 intercourse by sea with India, yet being desirous to 

 acquire a share in the valuable productions and ele- 

 gant manufactures of that country, had them con- 

 veyed to all parts of their dominion by land-carriage. 

 The part of these commodities destined for the sup- 

 ply of the northern provinces was transported on ca- 

 mels, from the banks of the Indus to those of the 



Oxus, down the stream of which they were forward- 

 ed to the Caspian Sea, and distributed through vari- 

 ous channels over the different districts, bounded on 

 one hand by that sea, on the other by the Euxine. 

 The part of them intended for the southern and in- 

 terior provinces, proceeded by land from the Caspian 

 gates to some of the great rivers, by which they 

 were circulated through every part of the country. 

 While thus, however, in the several channels which 

 they had respectively appropriated, the sovereigns 

 and subjects of different states laboured with ardour 

 and emulation to secure as far as possible to them- 

 selves the advantages of the trade with India, the 

 power and consequence of them all was eventually- 

 swallowed up and lost under the devouring ambition 

 and rapidly extending dominion of the Romans. 



From that period, we hear little for many ages oi 

 any commerce, or other proceedings upon the Cas- 

 pian. But in modern times, the Venetians and Ge- 

 noese, as early as the 14th century, had begun to 

 transport, by way of this sea, the Indian, Persian, and 

 Arabian commodities with which they supplied the 

 southern parts of Europe, through Astracan, to their 

 magazines at Azof and CafFa. From Astracan, the 

 goods were conveyed up the Volga, then by land to 

 the Don, and afterwards forwarded down that river 

 to Azof. The northern part of the European con- 

 tinent was, during the same period, likewise sup- 

 plied with those Asiatic goods, which were sent by 

 the Russian traders over Astracan, to their principal 

 magazine at Wisby, a Hanseatic town in the isle of 

 Gothland. Towards the end of the century, in con- 

 sequence of the devastations produced by the wars of 

 Timur, a transfer took place of this trade from As- 

 tracan to Smyrna and Aleppo ; and the Arabian 

 commerce, for which, in fact, these places lay more 

 convenient, never returned thither, though a part of 

 the Persian traffic was afterwards restored to its old 

 channel. While the provinces of Casan and Astra- 

 can remained under the government of the Tartars, 

 the camp of the khan was a mart for the Russian and 

 Persian merchants ; and as, agreeably to the customs 

 of that people, the site of their camp was often chan- 

 ged, Astracan and Terek became at length two prin- 

 cipal places of resort. This commerce, frequently 

 obstructed and interrupted by numerous banditti, 

 was, however, precarious until the conquest of Casan 

 and Astracan by the Russians, opened a ready com- 

 munication between Moscow and the Caspian Sea ; 

 and then Ivan Vassilievitch II. having garrisoned As- 

 tracan with troops, rendered it the chief emporium 

 of the eastern trade. This conquest having been ef- 

 fected previously to the end of the year 1554-, soon 

 after the discovery of Archangel, the English about 

 that period obtained the czar's permission to pass 

 through his dominions into Persia, and to carry on an 

 exclusive trade over the Caspian. In 1558, Jenkinson 

 accordingly, the first Englishman who navigated that 

 sea, landed at Mangushlak upon the eastern shore, pas- 

 sed by land through the country of the Turcoman Tar- 

 tars to Bokhara, capitalof Great Bucharia, and return- 

 ed to Moscow in the following year. In 156'l, he again 

 sailed over the Caspian, and proceeding to the coast 

 of Shirvan, went by land to Casbin, and obtained 

 from the Sophi permission to trade into Persia. Si- 



Caspian 

 Sea. 



