SOUTH COAST OF THE CRIMEA. 
253 
crystal water pour down from the mountains 
upon their gardens, where every species of 
fruit known in the rest of Europe, and many 
that are not, attain the highest perfection. 
Neither unwholesome exhalations, nor chilling 
winds, nor venomous insects, nor poisonous 
reptiles, nor hostile neighbours, infest their 
blissful territory. The life of its inhabitants 
resembles that of the Golden Age. The soil, 
like a hot-bed, rapidly puts forth such variety 
of spontaneous produce, that labour becomes 
merely an amusing exercise. Peace and plenty 
crown their board ; while the repose they so 
much admire is only interrupted by harmless 
thunder reverberating in rocks above them, or 
by the murmur of the waves upon the beach 
below. 
At Derykeity, the Tahtar children were assem- 
bled in the school of the village, learning to 
read. The eldest boy led the way, pronouncing 
the lesson distinctly in a loud tone, from a 
manuscript copy of the Koran. The rest, to 
the number of twenty, were squatted, according 
to the Tahtar custom, upon little low benches, 
accompanying the leader with their voices, 
and keeping time by nodding their heads. It 
was amusing to observe the readiness of their 
little president to detect any of them in error, 
CHAP. 
VI. 
Tahtar 
School. 
