408 
VOYAGE DOWN THE DON, 
chat. Again embarking upon the Don, we pro- 
. K | V j ceeded from Nakhlshivan to the fortress oi St. 
s°vZ- { Demetry Rastof, about a mile lower down the 
try iiaunf. j.jygj.1. It was a place of great importance 
when the Turkish frontier was nearer. The 
Don is here much broader and deeper : in con- 
sequence of this, the vessels from IV oronetz, 
unfit to encounter the sea, are broken up, and 
their cargoes, the product of Russia, shipped 
on board lighters and small vessels, and sent 
to Taganrog, to load the vessels lying in the 
(1) Mr. Ueber performed a journey from Taganrog to Rastof by 
land. His observations concerning the latter place are therefore pe- 
culiarly appropriate, and serve to supply the deficiency of our own. 
“ Here it is that the barks from Voronctz are broken up, and the 
goods embarked from Taganrog. We saw about sixty lighters lying 
in the river, many large enough to perform the voyage to Arabat. 
Some of these, which we pointed out, they told us bad made voyages 
all the way to Caffa. There is a large brewery, producing very detest- 
able beer and porter. The distilleries are numerous, and, if we un- 
derstood right, pay no duties, unless sent inland. The banks of the 
Don are covered above by vineyards, and below by stinking Sudak, a 
large white fish, dry ing in the sun. Fish are caught in great abun- 
dance and variety. The principal kinds are. Beluga, Sturgeon, Ster- 
let, and Sudak. There are also myriads of Prussian Carp, which, with 
all the refuse fish, arc heaped up in great dunghills among the black 
circular tents of the Calmucks. The Cossacks pay no duty on salt, 
if it be for their own consumption. The fortress is just above the 
town ; it is extensive, but ill situated. In it is a small garrison, and 
a school kept by an old Frenchman of the name of Andrth He had 
about twenty pupils, who were taught French, German, writing, and 
geography. They were all very little boys. We had a letter to the 
Master, and found an old man in a sheep-skin, which would have 
turned the stomach of a Mushick, sitting down to dinner with his 
flock.” Heber's MS. Journal. 
