FROM TULA 
of Azof, towards the Black Sea ; authentic monu- 
ments of a vast ocean, once covering the whole 
of Tahtaky, whose diminished waters are still 
effecting a further retreat, by the channels of 
Constantinople and the Dardanelles. 
A musical instrument, more common among 
antient than modern nations, amused us in the 
streets of Eletz : it consisted of two reeds, put 
together into the mouth. The performer was a 
blacksmith’s boy, who played several tunes. 
The reeds were each about six inches in length, 
and not thicker than a quill. Such were the tibia- 
used in processions, as represented upon antient 
bas-reliefs , in the fresco paintings of Herculaneum 
and Pompeii, and upon terra-cotta vases found 
in Grecian tombs. 
From Eletz we continued our journey, through 
Zadonctz. the village of Ezvoly, to Zadonetz. In all this 
route we were continually met by caravans from 
the Don, the Crimea, and other parts of the 
South of Russia. These caravans formed a train 
of waggons, thirty or forty in number, laden with 
dried fish, brandy, wool, corn, &c. Sometimes they 
consisted of cattle only; coius of an ash colour, 
horses, goats, sheep, and hogs, all moving in the. 
same promiscuous herd, accompanied by Malo- 
Russians, Cossacks, and by other inhabitants of 
