70 
A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. 
[Nature and Art, August 1, I860, 
A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS BEYOND THE 
SEAT OF WAR, 
By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery. 
U NSURPASSED in picturesque beauty as these 
charming grottos ancl fairy-like nooks are, an 
additional charm is lent to the whole by the quaint 
magnificence of the castellated palace to which they 
belong. Standing, as it does, almost on the “ border 
lands” of Europe and Asia, architectural beauties 
have been gleaned from each ; and as we see at 
times, in passing from the plains to the mountains, 
some well-known plant or tree growing beyond its 
usual limit, so the graceful minarets, pointed pin- 
nacles, and gilded domes of Moorish order and true 
Oriental beauty are associated with the massive 
walls, grim, frowning battlements, and deep, heavy 
archways of the Western world ; and we are some- 
what perplexed, and scarcely know for the moment 
whether the whole is not a page out of the “Arabian 
Nights’ Entertainments,” and that we are not in 
the neighbourhood of Bagdad, and likely to run 
against a turbaned caliph at some unexpected 
corner, or if, perchance, after all, we are not in 
some Highland chieftain’s stronghold, and about to 
be greeted by a “ skirl” from Donald’s pipes. Still, 
our very perplexity has a charm about it, and we 
wander on amongst the pomegranates, olives, and 
flowering acacia-trees. The soft cooing of the 
hoopoes, as, with elevated crest and curved beak, 
they turn the fallen leaves over in search of worms 
and insect prey ; the tinkling of the rills amongst 
the rocks ; and the sharp “ churr, churr” of the 
large ash-coloured shrike, as he sits on some bare 
thorn twig, break the silence, and call us back 
from waking dreams to life’s realities, and lead us 
to reflect on the vast sums in “silver roubles” it 
must have cost Prince Woronzoff to surround him- 
self with so much that is beautiful. 
And here we cannot refrain from relating a freak 
of true Russian magnificence indulged in by the 
prince in his younger days. When in command of 
the Russian army of occupation, which, it will be 
remembered, remained in France after the Peace of 
1815, he was informed, when about quitting that 
country, that a number of his officers had fallen 
heavily into debt, from their gay habits and the 
expensive society in which they had mixed, and 
were leaving without paying any one. He imme- 
diately directed an officer he could trust to collect 
all the outstanding bills, paid them out of his 
private purse, and burned the receipts ; an example, 
it is to be apprehended, few commanding officers of 
the present day are likely to follow. 
Our onward march now leads for some distance 
by orchards and vineyards, pass more Tartar huts, 
and through the village of Gaspra, with its cool, 
clear fountains and patriarchal walnut-trees, under 
the shadow of which sit groups of villagers making 
wicker baskets, and scooping out the cylindrical 
bee-hives, before described, with knives of rather 
formidable dimensions, and peculiar form. Some, 
we saw here, were made to fit, as in a sheath, the 
handle of the riding-whip, leading one to think, 
after all, that the catching of a Tartar might not 
prove quite as jocular an affair as is generally 
supposed. We therefore do not catch one, but 
proceed peaceably on our way still through the 
orchards and fruit trees ; still among the golden 
orioles and the turquoise-like roller jays. The 
bee-eaters, too, appear to have a busy, bustling 
time of it ; and dart hither and thither as if all the 
bees in the world had to be devoured in a given 
period, and they had but this one day left to do it in. 
The rich fertile belt of land between the high 
mountains and the seashore, Avidens out rapidly, 
and here and there stretches in open tracts and 
undulating mounds, away towards the hills beyond, 
on one of Avhich stands a curious record of the past 
— a mass of huge, piled-up rocks, which, if found on 
the cloud-capped “ Tors ” of Cornwall or the wild 
wastes of Brittany, we should at once pronounce 
Celtic or Druidical in their origin. Hoav came 
they here, or avIio reared them 1 “ Quien SabeI” * 
Here they are, at any rate, and appear likely to 
remain for some time to come. 
We are now rapidly nearing the promontory of 
Aithodor, on the very crown of which, amongst 
thickets of Oriental juniper and immense arbutus 
trees, stands the ruin of some ancient Greek 
temple, on the site of which a monastery appears to 
have been built, and in turn become a ruin ; a few 
white marble pillars and some fallen stones being 
all that remain to tell of its past grandeur. Our 
path still widens out, and is rapidly becoming a 
plain. Mount Megabi rising boldly up from its 
very midst. The turf, over which we ride, is soft 
as velvet, and thousands of floAvering plants strew our 
track. A Avliole flock of sandpipers rise from almost 
under our horses’ feet, and wheel off, Avith shrill 
whistle and sharp wing, towards the sea, Avhich is 
not far from us. The white gulls and SAvalloAv- 
like terns come hovering OA r er head, wondering, no 
doubt, at our unceremonious intrusion. Close 
doAvn by the seashore, backed up by the sheltering 
cliffs, and amongst splendid trees, stands the 
palace of “ Ourianda built by the Emperor 
Alexander, and inhabited by the dowager Empress 
of Russia. A most elegant and tasteful retreat it 
is. One immense hall-like room, with its roof 
supported on pillars and open to the sea, is charm- 
ing beyond description. Huge vines, like boa 
* Who knows ? 
