DON COSSACKS. 
359 
European side of the river 5 : of these we shall ™'\ r- 
have occasion to speak hereafter. We heard, *- 
moreover, of coins of Alexander; but none were 
to be seen. Perhaps, among the numerous 
Greeks who reside in Tcherkask, both spurious 
and genuine coins of Alexander may have been 
found, and thus have given foundation to the 
report. Of the marble Stela:, however, the 
history is unequivocal ; because General Orlof 
himself, who possessed them, and who issued 
orders for their removal from Zimlanshaia, gave 
to us the intelligence. The boats upon the 
D on exhibit the most antient form of vessel 
used for navigation; that of a canoe, scooped 
from a single tree, consisting of one piece of 
timber : in this they move about with a single 
paddle. Sometimes, as in the South Seas, they 
join two of those canoes by transverse planks 
laid across, and so form a kind of deck, capable 
of conveying considerable burthens 3 4 . The 
breadth of the river at Axay, at this season of 
the year, appeared to be at least half a mile. 
The current is rapid, and even turbulent. The 
fishes caught in it are much too numerous to be 
mentioned, as perhaps there is no river in the 
(3) Ptolemsei Geogr. ibid. p. 142. 
(4) See the Vignette to this Chapter, from a drawing by Mr. Heber. 
