B L A 



100 



H L A 



of two or three miles it rariea from twenty to thirty fathoms, 

 and in many places, at off the mouth of the Danuto, the 

 soundings decrease w gradually and exactly, that the dis- 

 tance from the ihore may be known by sounding! within 

 half a mile. It is remarkable, that ex.u-tly in this part of 

 the Black Sea a shoal is placed by Polybius, which, as he 

 says, extends for more than a thousand stadia in length, 

 and on winch vessels often ran aground by night. But 

 Arrian, in his 'Periplusof the Euxine,' does not mention u, 

 and we must, for this and other reasons, suppose that Poly- 

 bius was misinformed. 



Storms are not uncommon, but they arc never of long 

 duration. The sea is however short and troublesome, more 

 especially about the entrance of the channel of Constanti- 

 nople. In summer the prevailing winds blow from north- 

 east and north, but in the sea these winds are more vari- 

 able than in the channel itself, where they are almost con- 

 stant during the whole summer, and ships sometimes lie 

 here wind-bound for three months. These northern or 

 north-eastern winds extend as far as the island of Tenedos 

 in the Archipelago. In autumn, winter, and spring, the 

 winds are often southerly and various. 



Another disadvantage to navigation arises from some of 

 the northern ports being frozen up from the end of Decem- 

 ber or the beginning of January to the end of February or 

 the beginning of March. This is always the case with the 

 ports between the Crimea and Odessa. The harbour of 

 Odessa is not often frozen up, but the navigation is ren- 

 dered unsafe during a considerable time by drift ice. Kaifa 

 is open and safe all the year, though the straits of Yenikald 

 are completely frozen over, and the navigation of the sea of 

 Azof is impracticable during the whole winter. Sevastopol 

 and the other ports of the Crimea aro never frozen. 



By far the greatest quantity of water is received by the 

 Blaek Sea at its north-western corner, where the Dnieper, 

 Bog, Dniester, and Danube fall into it. Most of the coun- 

 tries through which these rivers run are covered for three 

 or four months of the year with snow ; and in spring-time 

 all the moisture which has descended on them durins: the 

 winter, and has been preserved in a solid state, sudilenly 

 dissolves and descends in the channels of the rivers with 

 great velocity and in an immense volume. It then produces 

 a very rapid current along the western shores from the 

 mouth of the Dnieper to the channel of Constantinople : 

 this current always exists, and is strong, especially in 

 summer, during the prevalence of the northern and north- 

 eastern winds. The accumulation of the waters towards 

 the straits of Constantinople is so great, that the Bosporus 

 is not able to carry off all of it, and a portion is pressed 

 against the coast of Anatolia, where it gives rise to another 

 nrrent running eastwards, as to which however it is not cer- 

 tain whether it is constant or not. llennell recognizes the 

 s of this current in the alluvions between the mouths 

 of the rivers Kizil Ermak, Casalmak, and Tharmch, and 

 again in the peculiar form of the island of Tainan. He is 

 inclined tu think that a current runs round the whole of 

 the Black Sea with varying degree of velocity, and at no 

 izr.-at distance from the shore. 



Harbours are numerous, and many of them good. The 

 principal arc Burgas and Varna, south of the mouth of the 

 Dumb*: Kilia, on the northern arm of that river ; Akhier- 

 raan or Akerman, on the icstuaiy or Liraan of the Dn 

 Odessa, Oc-zakow, Nicolaief, Chcrson, and Kinburn, on the 

 Bog and Dnieper, and their common ncstuary : in the 

 Crimea, Eupatoria or Koslow, Sevastopol, Balaclava, and 

 Cafla. The harbours round the eastern shore, as Anakria, 

 Kpi, Poti, Batumi, are not known because they arc not 

 visited. On the coast of Anatolia arc the harbours of Rizo, 

 Trebizond, Tcreboli, Kerasun, Satusun, Sinup, Ineboli, 

 Erekli, and Kerpen. 



The Black Sea was navigated at an early period by the 

 Greeks. The discovery of the channel which leads to it 

 from the Arrhipclago is probably indicated by the fable of 

 He41e and I'limus ; and the first voyage to it, in the expe- 

 dition of Jason. It is not unlikely that some dispute ru- 

 ng the free navigation of the Black Si i;a\e rise to 

 the Trojan war, because Ilium was so situated that it could 

 hinder vessels from entering the straits of the Dardanelles, 

 At a later period the Greeks, and m-irc especially the 

 Ionian Greeks of Miletus, formed numerous establishment! 

 along its shores from which they e.\p>rte,l slaves, 

 and corn in great quantities. T the Crimea and 



the region near the Borysthenes exported large quantities 



of jrrnin to Athens and the Peloponnesus, which trade wo 

 find mentioned in Herodotus (vii. 1-1") us existing :it tho 

 time of the invasion of Xerxes, B.C. 480. Under the Ro- 

 mans the shores of the Euxine became pretty well known, 

 and a ' Periplus,' or Kind of survey, of this sea U among 

 tho works attributed to Arrian. In the times of the H\ - 

 zantine emperors, Constantinople drew from it a consider- 

 able part of its provision; and in the twelfth century 

 the Genoese formed some establishments on its north- 

 eastern coast, and carried on a very active comin 

 land with India. But when Constantinople wa taken by 

 the Turks, the commerce and navigation of the Black 

 Sea were nearly annihilated, their ]whcy being aver 

 permitting foreign vessels to pass the straits of Constanti- 

 nople. Thus the Black Sea remained closed to the 

 taring nations for two centuries. But when the northern 

 shores had fallen into the hands of the Russians, they 

 wished to procure a free trade to the ports of the Mediter- 

 ranean, and they obtained their object in the peace of 

 Kontshak Kainardge. Though the Russians then: 

 were not ablu to derive any great advantages from the 

 free commerce, the inhabitants of the Greek islands 1 

 to navigate the Black Sea under Russian colours: and 

 from that date the Greeks began to acquire wealth and a 

 desire for liberty. Up to the present time the number of 

 ! Greek vessels is by far the greatest in this sea. Tl.i 



port the corn, hides, timber, iron, and furs of Russia, and 

 I import wine, fruits, and the manufactures of England and 

 France. Between the northern and southern shores of the 

 Black Sea the commercial intercourse is not great : the pro- 

 duce of the Anatolian shores, which consists of grain, timber, 

 and copper, not being in demand in Russia, which ex 

 the same commodities. 



We do not find any notice of any considerable fishery 

 being now carried on in the Black Sea, except at the entrance 

 of the straits of Yenikalc, where a considerable number 

 of sturgeons are taken. The great depth of the sea and 

 the want of sand-hanks and shoals account for the absence 

 of fisheries. Slrabo (p. 320, Casaub.) describes the pclanns 

 nig from the Mtcotis, the sea of Azof, in shoals, and 

 following the coast of Asia to Pharnacea and Traj 

 (Trebizond). The chief fishery was about Sinope (Sinup) 

 and Byzantium, which latter town derived considerable 

 wealth from tho fishery. [See AZOF.] 



Some modern geographers have supposed, that at a very 

 remote period the desert country which cMen !> between 

 the Sea of Azof and the northern part of the Caspian 

 was covered with water, at which time the Black .Sea and 

 tho Caspian were united. As this hypothesis is sup- 

 ported by very strong arguments, we shall examine it 

 under the head of CASPIAN SKA. 



(Strabo. p. 124, &c., Casaub. ; Rennell On tjn < 

 live Geography of Western Asia; A Co" // f 



the Commerce and Navigation of the Rlttck 6 

 1805; and Captain Jones's Travel s through Russia.) 



BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM, an English judge, 

 is best known as the author of ' Commentaries i>n the ' 

 of England.' He was born in London, July 10th, 1723, a 

 few months after the death of his father, who was i 

 mercer; he had also tho misfortune to lose his mother at 

 an early age. His education was carefully superintended 

 by an uncle, who sent him, when about seven years old, 

 to the Charter-house, where at the end of five years he 

 was placed on the foundation. At the age of fifteen he 

 was at the head of tho school; and in his sixteenth year 

 he removed to Pembroke College, Oxford. Havin- 

 i the law as his profession, he entered the ,V 

 Temple, on which occasion he wrote the verses entitled 

 ' the Lawyer's Farewell to his Muse,' which were printed in 



y's Miscellany. He had displayed some abilil) 

 writer of small pieces, and also bad obtained a gold ; 



for verses on Milton. In 1743 he was rle, t, a fellow 

 of All Souls College, Oxford, and three years afterwards 

 was called to the bar. After an experience of seven yarn 

 in the Courts at Westminster, during which he discovered 

 that his talents were not calculated to ensure him any very 

 eminent professional rank, he withdrew to his fellowship 

 at Oxford, intcndinu ' ^ academic life. In 17'1'J 



order of Wallingford, Berks, on the 

 resignation of his uncle. 



A tho University of Oxford did not afford fueilitie, for 

 studying the principles of the English constitution and 

 laws, he resolved upon supplying the deficiency by a course 



