390 
ODESSA. 
CHAP. 
X. 
Extraordi- 
nary Tem- 
perature of 
the Cli. 
mate. 
English 
Commerce 
in the 
Black Sea. 
the Black Sea, an enemy upon the ice may 
attack the ships as well as the works : this 
happened when the Russians took Oczahof. The 
extraordinary degrees of temperature, in these 
latitudes, are altogether unaccountable. Captain 
Bergamini informed us, that his ship was once 
detained five months in the mouth of the Danube, 
by the freezing of the sea. Ovid, during his 
residence near the same place, had witnessed a 
similar event 1 2 . Upon the subject of English 
commerce and navigation in the Black Sea, we 
have avoided going into much detail, from the 
consciousness that our personal observations 
were of limited extent, and because the theme 
is amply discussed in some interesting remarks 
addressed to a respectable periodical work*: 
these remarks, notwithstanding their unas- 
suming form, bear such internal evidence of 
authenticity, that we shall adopt them as au- 
thority, in the appendix. In fact, the official 
(1) The description possesses admirable force and beauty : 
“ Vidimus ingentem glacie consistcre pontum, 
Lubricaque immotas testa premebat aquas. 
Ncc vidisse sat est. Durum calcavimus sequor ; 
Undaque non udo sub pede summa fuit.” 
Ovid. lib. iii. Trist. Elrg.. X. 
Those who have experienced a Russian winter will also know bow to 
estimate the truth and elegance of the following lines : 
“ Slope sonant moti glacie pendente capilli, 
Et nitet inducto Candida barba gelit.” Ibid. 
(2) Xuval Chronicle, vol. XXI. p. 216. 
