144 
CAFFA. 
— Anecdote of an English Servant — Extraordinary 
Ring — Singular Excavation — Jewish Cemetery — 
Account of the Sect of Kara!. 
CHAP. 
IV. 
Caffa, in its 
present 
state. 
Barbarous 
Conduct of 
the Rus- 
sians. 
Fifty families are at present the whole po- 
pulation of the once magnificent town of Caffa : 
in some instances, a single house contains more 
than one family. The melancholy devastation 
committed by the Russians, drawing tears down 
the cheeks of the Tahtars, and extorting many a 
sitrh from Anatolian Turks who resort to Caffa for 
commercial purposes, cannot fail to excite the 
indignation of every enlightened people. During 
the time we remained, soldiers were allowed to 
overthrow the beautiful mosques, or to convert 
them into magazines, to pull down the minarets, 
tear up the public fountains, and to destroy all 
the public aqueducts, for the sake of a small 
quantity of lead they were thereby enabled to 
obtain. Such is the true nature of Russian 
protection ; such the sort of alliance which 
Russians endeavour to form with every nation 
weak enough to submit to their power, or to 
become their dupe. While these works of 
destruction were going on, the officers amused 
themselves in beholding the mischief. Tall and 
stately minarets, whose lofty spires added 
grace and dignity to the town, were daily 
levelled with the ground : these, besides their 
