180 
BAKTCHESERAI, 
CHAP. 
IV. 
' v ' 
Palace of 
the Khans. 
the air. “ Avferre, trvcidare, rapere palsis 
NOMINIBVS, IMPERTVM; ATaVE, VRI SOLITVDINEM 
FACIVNT, PACEM ADFELLANT.” 
There was something very emphatical in the 
speech of a poor Tahtar, who, one day lament- 
ing in his garden the havoc made among his 
fruit-trees by a severe frost, said, “ We never 
used to experience such hard weather; but 
since the Russians came, they seem to have 
brought their winter along with them.” 
The principal palace of the Khans is still entire, 
and perhaps it may escape the general destruc- 
tion ; because the late Empress ordered it to be 
kept in repair, and always according to its 
present Oriental form. When she came to Bak- 
tcheserai, a set of apartments had been prepared 
for her, in the French taste : this gave her great 
offence, and caused the order for its preserva- 
tion, according to the original style observed in 
the building. It is situate in the midst of 
gardens ; from which circumstance the city de- 
rives its name 1 . These gardens are tilled with 
fountains and fine fruit-trees. Its interior pre- 
sents the sort of scenery described in Eastern 
(1) JJaktcheserai signifies " A palace in a garden.” See Pallas's 
Travels, vol. II. p. 26. 
