428 
TAGANROG. 
CHAP. 
XV. 
V| " "v— ■ 
Commerce 
external 
and inter- 
nal. 
the Emperor will visit and inspect the place, 
and that it will then become a town of the first 
importance in the empire. There is not any 
situation in the South of Russia more favourable 
for commerce, were it not for the want of 
water. Ships from the Black Sea find here, in 
readiness for embarkation, all the produce of 
Siberia, with the caviare, and other commodities 
of Astrachan ; whereas at Cherson and Odessa 
they have to wait for lading after their arrival. 
But it is only during three months in the year 
that commerce can be carried on at Taganrog. 
In Winter, the sea is frozen, so that the sledges 
pass upon the ice to Azof. During the short 
season of their commerce, the rent of a single 
warehouse upon the shore is estimated at four 
hundred roubles. As soon as the first ships 
make their appearance from the Black Sea, the 
waggons from the interior begin to arrive 1 . The 
(1) “ From November to March the sea is frozen, and navigation 
seldom safe earlier than April. As soon as the ice is supposed to have 
passed, a small vessel is sent from Taganrog to Kertch (in the Cri- 
mea), and vice vend. After this signal, the navigation commences. 
From April to Midsummer a south-west wind prevails very steadily, 
which greatly increases the depth of water, and favours the arrival of 
vessels. About Midsummer the water is generally deepest, and the 
sea crowded with small vessels. The harbour admits but few. Vessels 
may then lie tolerably near the shore; at other times, ships of two 
hundred tons are compelled to lie in the open sea, fifteen versts (ten 
miles) from the shore. 'In autumn, the Sea of Azof is often no more 
than fourteen feet at its greatest depth. From Taganrog to Azof is a 
shoal. 
