170 BAKTCHESERAI, 
chap. villages we saw some good crops of com and 
' — v — • hay. It was before observed, that a tra- 
veller, unless he visit the southern coast, may 
pass over all the rest of the Crimea, and conclude, 
from its appearance, that the whole country is 
a flat and dreary steppe. Baktcheserai is the 
first object, in the journey from Yenilcalc to 
Sevastopol, which interrupts the dull uniformity 
of at least two thirds of the Peninsula, to the 
north of Tchetirdagh and of the other mountains 
facing the Black Sea upon the southern side. It 
pearanceof is one of the most remarkable towns in Europe: 
Baktche- first, in the novelty of its manners and customs ; 
these are strictly Oriental, and betray nothing 
of an European character : secondly, in the site 
of the town itself ; occupying the craggy sides 
of a prodigious natural fosse between two high 
mountains, somewhat like the appearance exhi- 
bited by Matlock in Derbyshire. The view 
breaks all at once upon the traveller, exhibiting 
a variety of objects in a most irregular and 
scattered manner; while bubbling fountains, 
running waters, gardens, terraces, hanging vine- 
yards, and groves of the black poplar, seem to 
soften the horror of rocks and precipices, and 
even to make them appear inviting. The reli- 
gious veneration entertained by the Tahtars 
Fountains, for their fountains induces them to spare no 
expense in order to supply them with the 
