336 



CRIMEA. 



Crimea, tion ; and for this purpose the Tartars were at great 

 , T""'' pains to procure water from the distant heights, by 

 means of canals and tunnels of clay below ground, dis- 

 charging themselves into stone reservoirs, to serve the 

 inhabitants and their cattle, and to water their cultiva- 

 ted land, orchards, and gardens, during the dry sea- 

 son. Since the Russian conquest, the Tartar popula- 

 tion has greatly deserted the country, and the Russians 

 have unaccountably suffered the excellent system of ca- 

 nals, tunnels, and reservoirs to fall to ruin, by the most 

 culpable neglect. This comparatively level tract is said 

 to abound in petrifactions, and the remains of mai'ine 

 productions of various kinds ; and, though now consi- 

 derably elevated above the level of the Black Sea, is 

 said to afford strong indications of having once been 

 entirely covered over by the waves , in which case, the 

 Euxine must anciently have been of much greater ex- 

 tent, especially to the northwards. This was the opi- 

 nion of Pliny, founded upon the authority of more an- 

 cient writers, who, in his account of the Chersonesus, 

 has the following passage : " From Carcinitis begins 

 Taurica, once surrounded by the sea, which covered 

 all of its champaign part." 

 Muuiva.i.?. The mountainous southern portion of the Crimea 

 extends along the shore of the Black Sea, from Ak- 

 tiar, or Sevastopol, in the S. W. to Caffa, or Theodosia, 

 in the S. E. The principal ridges extend from east to 

 west, their southern declivities being much steeper 

 than their northern slopes. These hills are chiefly com- 

 posed of calcareous rocks, covered by a clay soil of 

 some depth and fertility, in some places mingled with 

 gravel and round stones, rendering it particularly suit- 

 able for cultivating the vine, while the other parts grow 

 wheat, rye, barley, millet, flax, hemp, and tobacco in 

 considerable luxuriance. Some of these hills are said 

 to have all the appearance of being formed by alluvion, 

 while others bear the marks of having been produced, 

 or altered at least, by the operation of fire ; especially 

 two in the subordinate peninsula of Kertsch, which are 

 denominated volcanoes. The most elevated of these 

 mountains are covered with snow till the end of May, 

 and their sides are clothed with extensive forests, 

 yielding excellent ship timber. Some of the summits 

 in this mountainous chain are estimated at 1200 feet 

 above the level of the Euxine, having plains on their 

 tops, partly composed of bare rock, and partly cover- 

 ed by a thick stratum of earth. From Tschadir-daghi, 

 or the Pavilion Mountain, the Trapezus Mons of the an- 

 cients, the prospect extends ahnost over the whole pe- 

 ninsula. Many petrifactions are found even on the 

 tops of the mountains, and numerous caverns pene- 

 trate their sides, as is usually the case in . calcareous 

 districts ; and in one of these of vast size ice remains 

 jmmelted during the whole year. No traces of metals 

 have hitherto been discovered ; but in several places 

 they dig up a species of marie, or rather a kind of ful- 

 lers earth, which is said to serve all the purposes of 

 soap. 

 Produc- The lower edges of the hills, and the intermediate 



tjons. vallies, are productive of all kinds of grain, together 



with flax, hemp, and tobacco, and are beautifully diver- 

 sified with gardens, orchards, and vineyards ; these 

 last more especially in the neighbourhood of Sudak, 

 where they make an excellent wine, resembling cham- 

 pagne in colour, strength, and flavour. In these places, 

 the cultivated soil consists of a thick bed of gray fertile 

 loam resembling potter's earth, mixed with small stones 

 and gravel. This southern tract is beautifully diversified 



among the mountains, with elevated plains and fine vallies, Crimea, 

 covered by the richest verdure, and interspersed with al- -~""Y"— " 

 most perpendicular calcareous rocks. Among these, 

 the valley of Baidari, which was given to Prince Po- 

 temkin at the Russian conquest, is extolled by all tra- 

 vellers as peculiarly interesting and beautiful. It abounds 

 in fine woods, especially composed of large oaks and 

 walnut trees, interspersed with open and well cultiva- 

 ted fields, gardens, and orchards. In one place, an oak 

 is mentioned as measuring thirty feet in circumference, 

 six feet from the ground. The celebrated professor 

 and traveller Pallas, who has enumerated a great num- 

 ber of plants indigenous in the Crimea, describes the 

 vegetation of this country as being extremely luxuriant. 

 The crambe orientalis, or wild horse radish, is peculiar- 

 ly abundant in that part of the country which lies be- 

 tween the rivers Salgir and Karasu, and is often thick- 

 er than a man's arm. This is extolled by Lady Craven, 

 as the strongest and best flavoured horse radish she ever 

 tasted. 



The Crimea, at certain seasons, is much infested by L 0C uats, 

 locusts of two species, the gryllus tartaricus andmigra- 

 torius, which often do much injury, by eating up the 

 whole vegetable productions wherever they settle. The 

 fields, the vineyards, gardens, and pastures, are all 

 laid waste ; and sometimes the only appearance left 

 upon the naked soil is their putrefying bodies, the stench 

 of which is enough to breed a pestilence. The large 

 black tarantula is found of a fearful size. The phalangi- 

 um arachnoides, also, an insect allied to the spider, 

 whose bite is said sometimes to prove fatal. Centipedes 

 likewise, the Scolopcndra morsitans of the naturalists, 

 are very common • and scorpions are found in the moun- 

 tains. 



The principal river in the Crimea is the Salgir, with Rfvere. 

 its feeders the Great and Little Karasu, or black-wa- 

 ters ; besides which it has many smaller streams, as the 

 Alma, Belbeck, or Kabarta, Byuk, or Kasikly-useen, 

 Aithoder, Balganack, Badraka, Katsha, Dasta-su, Bu- 

 rultsha, &c. all rapid and dangerous torrents after heavy 

 rains, but mostly rivulets only in the dry season. 



The eastern promontory, or subordinate peninsula of Ancient 

 Kertsch, anciently the kingdom of Bosphorus, differs kingdom 

 considerably in appearance and soil from the rest of the of ^P 110 

 Crimea. It measures about eighty-four English miles rus * 

 from west to east, by about twenty-four at a medium 

 from north to south. The isthmus by which it is con- 

 nected with Crimea Proper, of about ten miles broad, 

 is a level plain, to the east of which the country rises 

 into gentle eminences ; and at the eastern end near 

 Kertsch and Yenikale there are hills of some elevation. 

 The shores of the Euxine, and Sea of Azof, all around 

 this peninsula, are high, steep, and of difficult access. 

 Between the hills there are several salt lakes, some of 

 which are separated from each other by beds composed 

 of shells and sea sand. The few and scanty rivulets of 

 this peninsula are dry in summer ; and, although there 

 are many springs of excellent water among the hills, 

 that which is procured by digging pit wells in the lower 

 grounds is mostly brackish. Though destitute of na- 

 tural wood, tins peninsula has abundance of fruit trees 

 in its gardens and orchards ; and the soil in general, 

 except around the saline lakes and salt marshes, is fer- 

 tile and productive. 



The singular stripe or spit of land, stretching from 

 Arabat towards Yenitche, and separating the Mud Sea, 

 Sivash, or Putrid Gulf, from the sea of Azof, formerly 

 mentioned, is composed of shells and sand, and is most- 



