269 
SOUTH COAST OF THE CRIMEA. 
serai, Koslof, and Aktiar ; where there were two chap. 
regiments. Notwithstanding the reputed rigour ' * — 
of the Sovereign, his attention to the minutiae of 
discipline, and his passion for military pursuits, 
a degree of negligence and of stupidity charac- 
terized all public affairs ; so that the boasted 
strength of the Russian empire, during the 
reign of Paul, could only excite ridicule. Such 
was the disposition of the guard along the coast, 
and such the nature of the country, that an army 
might have been landed, and marched up to 
the sentinels at Akmetchet, before they were 
observed. Detested as the Russians were by 
every inhabitant of the Crimea, their expulsion 
from the Peninsula, it it had pleased Great 
Britain to restore it to the Turks, would have 
been a work of ease and amusement. The 
harbour of Nympfueum was entirely open , and 
it was unguarded, both by sea and land. To 
the west, at Sudak, Alusta, or Yourzuf, invadeis 
would have found the Tahlars greeting theii 
arrival with tears of joy. A small band ot 
Morean Greeks , upon the coast, were read\ 
either to join the invaders, or to fly at their 
approach 1 . In the garrisoned towns, a few 
(l) Though some years have elapsed since this Journal was written, 
the changes which have taken place in Russia rather tend to facilitate, 
than to obstruct, the capture of the Crimea . 
