SUBJECTS OF COMMERCE. 
511 
accommodation with the chiefs of the Turcoman tribes pos¬ 
sessing the eastern shores of the Caspian, and whose territories 
and influence extend to both Bucharias. Should this alliance 
become a lasting one, and it is the interest of both parties to 
make it so, the future advantages to Russia may be incalculable. 
The imperial caravans from China, &c., will then have found a 
comparatively short road; and the island of Salian, and the 
mouths of the Kur, almost parallel with the new acquirements, 
must become the principal depot, and channels of conveyance to 
the north. 
As a preliminary to these, and many other important con¬ 
sequences, Russia was a considerable gainer in extension of 
territory to the south, by the articles of peace signed in 1813; 
which gave her the command of several entrances into the king¬ 
dom of Persia, on its northern frontier; and in the event of a 
struggle for the crown, would enable her “ to take the gate,” 
and decide the contest according to her own judgment. The 
line of frontier since that period, not to my knowledge having 
been laid down on any map, I shall here add a few details 
respecting it, with a remark or two on some of the districts now 
possessed by his imperial majesty on the northern shore of the 
Aras, or Araxes. 
I commence my description, at the most southern point of 
the present line of demarcation ; beginning at Lasandavil, on the 
western shore of the Caspian, in the district of Talish. This 
part, as far as to the fort of Lankeran, more to the north in the 
same district, was the latest conquest on the part of Russia. 
Almost the whole of the country, lying here between the moun¬ 
tains and the coast, is a forest of noble timber, and its proximity 
to the sea may put it to use immediately. This district flanks 
