O DESSA. 
379 
the tables of th eRussiajis : they entertain a super- 
stitious veneration for these birds, because the 
Holy Ghost assumed the form of a dove. They 
are therefore kept more for amusement than 
for food, and are often maintained with great 
care, at an enormous expense. The nobles 
employ servants to look after them, and to teach 
them a number of tricks *. 
It has been already stated, that we left the 
Crimea with an intention to undertake a journey 
by land to Constantinople. The route is usually 
practicable from Odessa, by the way of Dubosar , 
Upon the frontier, to Yassy, Silistria, and Adria- 
nople. On account of the rumoured dangers 
that might be apprehended from the rebel 
adherents of Pasvan d'Oglou, we had solicited, 
from our ambassador at the Porte, an escort of 
Janissaries to meet us at Yassy. The road is 
calculated for the conveyance of any kind of 
wheeled vehicle. Prince Nassau, during his 
legation to the Porte, had been accompanied 
by nearly an hundred carriages; and the 
Turkish guard, stationed at short intervals 
the whole way, renders the journey secure. 
This route is also interesting, on account of 
CHAP. 
IX. 
Account of 
tile Passage 
by Land to 
Constanti- 
nople. 
(3) See p. 141, of the former Volume. 
