416 VOYAGE DOWN THE DON, 
chap, and the destruction of the citadel, must have 
, J . j brought to light some relic ot antiquity ; 
either medals, or weapons, or vases, or sepul- 
chres: yet, in no instance, has there ever been 
observed a single vestige or remnant of any 
former settlement, except the citadel originally 
founded by the Turks. Some of the senior offi- 
cers, who were well informed concerning every 
thing that had happened here since the time of 
Peter the Great, and among others the Com- 
mandant, declared that nothing had ever been 
found of this description ; and maintained, that 
in all the country about the place there was no 
mark of the existence of any former city. 
About fifteen years ago, some coins were dis- 
covered upon the shore of the Sea of Azof, fur- 
ther westward ; but the characters upon these 
coins were described to us as Indian, or Chinese: 
probably they were Tahtarian, or Turkish. If 
Probable there ever did exist such a city as 1 anais, we 
the city might expect to find the traces of it at the 
of Tan.us. extrern [ty of that northern embouchure of the 
Don which was before mentioned, as bearing 
the very name the Greelcs gave to the city, in 
the appellation Tdanaets, Danaetz. This channel 
we had no opportunity of exploring. Perhaps 
some future traveller will meet with more 
success in the inquiry; and to further it, we 
have afforded him a clue, in our Map ot the 
