THE CRIMEAN CORNICHE. 489 



water's edge, 1,500 feet below, a long slope of garden, wood, 

 and vineyard, dotted with, villas, runs up to the foot of a 

 tall range of grey limestone cliffs. The Russian Corniche, 

 as the post-road from this point to Alushta (a distance 

 of sixty miles) has been aptly called, need not shrink from 

 comparison with its more famous rival. Few will be 

 found to depreciate the beauty of a series of landscapes 

 which unite, in constantly- shifting proportions, the charms 

 of bold rock-scenery and rich vegetation, enhanced, as far 

 as such scenery can be, by human aid, and set in a frame of 

 blue sky and still bluer sea. No one who is fortunate 

 enough to travel here in the vintage-season will despise 

 the merits of the grapes, which are sold at a few copecks 

 the poimd. 



Yalta is tbe Mentone of the coast. Here however, as 

 is generally the case in Eussia, the English rather than 

 the Italian style has been adopted, and the little town, 

 seen from the sea, with its prim houses and square- 

 towered church, reminded us more of the Isle of Wight 

 than of anything on Mediterranean shores. The three 

 principal estates are all near Yalta. At Alupka, Prince 

 Woronzoff 's seat, the house is an odd mixture of the feudal 

 and Saracenic styles, while the grounds are laid out entirely 

 in the English manner. Orianda, the property of the 

 Grand Duke Constantine, occupies the finest position, but 

 is the least interesting ; Livadia, the Emperor's villa, is 

 more in the chalet style, and has attached to it a chapel, 

 small, but exquisitely decorated. We remarked that the 

 Czar has some fine watercolour drawings of the Caucasus 

 in his study, the general fittings of which, as of the rest 

 of the house, are very plain, and, with the photographs of 

 the Imperial Family hanging on the walls, give an un- 

 expected but pleasant impression of homeliness, and 

 absence of court restraint. 



