HERACLEOTIC MINOR PENINSULA. 
to the wool of the lambs, which is so highly 
prized both in Turkey and in Tahtary, as an 
ornament of the calpcick, or cap, worn by 
Tahtar gentlemen, instead of the turban. 
The Professor instructed us to search for the 
rarest plants, in deep sands, in salt marshes, 
and upon chalky hills. We purposely avoided 
entering again the town of Baktcheserai, that 
we might not encounter the interruption of 
ceremonial visits ; and changed our horses at 
Katcha. Soon after leaving this last place, we 
turned towards the southern chain of moun- 
tains, and passed Kara Ilaes, the most pleasing 
village in the Crimea, beautifully situate in 
the entrance of a romantic defile, leading to 
Shulii. Upon the right hand, soon after 
entering this defile, and upon the summits of the 
high mountains forming its southern side, are 
seen the remains of the antient fortress of 
Tcherhesskerman, once possessed by the Genoese, 
and in remoter periods by the TcherJcess, 
or, as we write, Circassians. When the former 
made themselves masters of all the strong- 
holds in the Crimea, they erected fortresses 
upon the most precipitous and inaccessi- 
ble places, in the wildest retreats of the 
Peninsula. Tcherhesskerman was one of the 
citadels thus constructed; and the scattered 
ruins of its battlements yet cover the heights 
VOL. II. T 
2 75 
CHAP. 
VII. 
