HERACLEOTIC MINOR PENINSULA. 
281 
we were in continual danger of being thrown. c ^ 1 ’' 
One of our party nearly lost an eye by a blow — * — 
he received from a bough stretching entirely 
over the path we pursued. The defile itself is 
not without danger, in certain seasons of the year. 
Immense masses of limestone detach themselves 
from the rocks above, carrying all before them 
in their passage : some, from the northern pre- 
cipices, had crossed the river at the bottom, 
and, by the prodigious velocity acquired in 
their descent, had rolled nearly half way up the 
opposite side. We noticed some of these frag- 
ments in our way to Shidu, where we passed sum. 
the night. This village belongs to Professor 
Pallas, and consists of a forest of walnut-trees, 
beneath which every dwelling is concealed. 
One of those trees yields to him, as he informed 
us upon the spot, sixty thousand walnuts in a 
single season. The ordinary price of the fruit, 
throughout the Crimea, is from eighty to a hun- 
dred copeeks for a thousand. The Professor 
had built for himself a very magnificent seat at 
Shulu ; but owing to disputes with the Tahtars, 
concerning the extent of his little territory, the 
completion of the work had been delayed, when 
we arrived. The building is placed upon the 
northern side of the defile, commanding a fine 
prospect of the valley ; but, from the chalky 
nature of the soil in the surrounding hills, every 
