98 FROM THE CIMMERIAN BOSPORUS, 
chap. i s only eighteen Russian versts, or twelve English 
v — v — ‘ miles. Prosperous gales, and placid weather, 
across^the soon brought us midway between the European 
sirens. anc i Asiatic coasts. As the sea was tranquil, 
we profited by the opportunity to delineate the 
view, both towards the Mccotis and the Euxine. 
Dolphins, in great numbers, played about our 
vessel. These animals go in pairs; and it is 
remarkable how accurately their appearance 
corresponds with the description given of them 
Yenikali. by Pliny 1 . Arriving opposite Yenikali, or, as it 
is frequently written, Jenihale *, we found a 
fleet of Turkish ships waiting favourable winds, 
both for Taganrog and for Constantinople. Soon 
after we landed, we obtained lodgings in a 
neat and comfortable Greek mansion, whose 
owner, by birth a Spartan, and native of Misitra, 
was a man of integrity, and considerable infor- 
(1) Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. ix. c. 8. — From the Promontory of Tahil- 
muys, at the entrance of the Bosporus, Professor Pallas obtained some 
very interesting specimens of the blue phosphat of iron, or native iron 
azure: these he afterwards presented to the author. This substance 
lies deposited with animal remains, and generally occupies the cavities 
of fossil shells ; the phosphoric acid being communicated to the iron by 
the decomposition of the animal matter. One of those specimens 
exhibits a crystallization of the phosphat, in diverging tetrahedral 
prisms with rbombo'idal bases. 
(2) Yenikali is compounded of two Turkish or Tahtar words, signi- 
fying New Castle. 
