CAPITAL OF THE CRIMEA. ' 
r 
that quarter of the city, before mentioned, 
which belonged to the Greeks. It is now a heap 
of ruins, with scarcely a stone in its original 
situation. As we proceeded, they shewed to 
us, in the very highest part of the rocks, an 
iron ring, pretending that the cables of ships 
were formerly fastened to it, although many 
hundred feet above the present level of the 
Black Sea. The tradition, however, is, or ought 
to be, set aside, by a much more rational 
account given of the same ring ; namely, that a 
rope was here fastened upon festival days; and 
this being carried across the defile to a similar 
ring upon the opposite side, the Khans amused 
themselves by seeing a man pass over the valley 
upon the rope, from one precipice to the other : 
as formerly at Venice, during the Carnival, a hired 
rope-dancer was drawn to the top of the tower 
of St. Mark, whence he descended by another 
rope, with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, to 
present to the Doge. This account is admitted 
by the best-informed concerning the marvellous 
ring near Bahtcheserai ; but Baron de Tott very 
credulously received the original tradition, with 
all its absurdity. The only objection belonging 
to the more rational story is suggested by the 
difficulty of conceiving how any rope, so ex- 
tended, could support a man's weight without 
breaking. 
