io ; 
TO THE CAPITAL OF THE CRIMEA. 
perhaps more easily account for their appear- chap. 
ance as the ornaments of a Pagan bath. ' — — 
In the midst of these very picturesque ruins, van of 
sheltered by mountains, and shaded by beau- press, 
tiful trees, stands one of those villas erected 
for the Empress Catherine, when she visited 
the Crimea. At every place where she halted 
for repose, or was expected to pass a night, 
she found a palace prepared for her reception. 
Many of these are still maintained : others, like 
this at Stara Crirn, are suffered to decay. They 
Usually consisted of a bed-chamber for the 
Empress, with a bath adjoining, a ball-room, a 
small chapel, and a few other apartments for 
her guards and attendants. Nothing at present 
interrupts the melancholy solitude of her villa 
at Stara Crim. Some of the chambers were 
tilled by heaps of the common liquorice-root, 
collected, for the use of the military hospitals, 
from the neighbouring woods, where it grows 
wild, and attains great perfection. Upon the 
mountains to the south of this place, in one 
of those wild and secluded situations where 
zealous devotees delight to fix their habitation, 
is an Armenian monastery : we could obtain no 
other information concerning it, than that it 
was worth seeing, on account of the sur- 
rounding scenery. 
