6 
ODESSA. 
thence the road continued flat and uninteresting; though some 
parts were prolific in water-melons, a very grateful fruit in sul¬ 
try weather. In many places they grew wild; and my little 
party did not spare their refreshing beverage. We reached the 
village of Koblinka early in the morning, and thence I had my 
first view of the Black Sea. 
Koblinka is situated close to a large piece of water, called a 
Lyman ; a name given in this country to any estuary which 
accident has separated from its originating sea; and this Lyman 
is the remains of what once formed a branch of the Euxine, but 
which, in process of time, was cut off from its parent waves by 
the accumulation of sand, gradually rising into a sort of isthmus 
between. Many similar lakes of the same origin intersect the 
valleys towards Odessa. On quitting Ajelyka, (our last post 
before we gained Odessa,) we descended into a flat of consider¬ 
able extent: it was worthy observation, from having been a still 
larger branch, now dried up, of the same sea ; but the road was 
the worst I had seen during my whole journey. 
We entered Odessa, the great mart of this northern Mediter¬ 
ranean, at nine o’clock in the evening. From the duskiness of 
the hour it was difficult to distinguish objects; however, 1 could 
discern wide streets, spacious houses, numerous churches, ranges 
of warehouses, and hundreds of draft-oxen reposing in the 
squares, and open grounds not yet occupied by buildings. I 
traversed the city in all directions, without finding a hotel; but 
the hospitality of Mr. Yeames, our Consul-general, put an end 
to my pursuit; and I learnt from him that private houses are the 
only lodgings at Odessa. 
My next step was to engage a passage for Constantinople; 
but on proceeding to do so, every body told me, the plague 
