282 
SECOND EXCURSION TO THE 
chap, thing had a white glare, painful to the eye, and 
i - wholly destructive of all picturesque appear- 
ance. Near to this hill, upon one of the emi- 
nences opposite to the Professor’s house, is a 
series of excavations, similar to those of Inker- 
man; exhibiting the antient retreats of Christians 
in cells and grottoes. One of these cavernous 
chambers is not less than eighty paces in length, 
with a proportionate breadth, and its roof is 
supported by pillars hewn in the rock: the 
stone, from the softness of its nature, did not 
demand the labour which has been requisite in 
similar works situate in other parts of the 
Crimea. 
Fuiierv From Shulu we proceeded once more to Bala- 
earth Pits. 1 
clava. In our road, we passed several pits, in 
which the Tahtars dig that kind of fuller’s clay 
called Keff-hil', or ‘ mineral froth; and, by the 
Germans, meerschaum,. This substance, before 
the capture of the Crimea, was a considerable 
article of commerce with Constantinople, where 
it is used in the public baths, to cleanse the 
hair of the women. It is often sold to German 
merchants for the manufacture of those beautiful 
(1) Literally, foam-earth i but often erroneously supposed to derive 
its name from the town of Caffa , whence this Mineral was exported to 
Turkey. See the Observations in Chap. IV. of this Volume , p. 153* 
