CHAP. XVIII.

Vallum of
ASANDER.

beads slowly to the mosque, where, having performed his
devotions, he ascends to the top of the minaret, singing out,
as loud as he can bawl, in a drawling tone, the well-known
invocation," God is God, and Mahomet is his Prophet."
The dress of the Tartars, particularly among the higher
ranks of the men, is plain and simple. It preserves the
· Oriental form, but without that contrast and variety of colour,
which gives such splendour to the habits of Turks, Poles,
and Tchernomorski Cossacks. A Tartar Prince is generally
seen in a habit of light drab cloth, with a cap of grey wool,
and yellow or drab-coloured boots. Perhaps the costume
was more magnificent under the government of their Khans;
it might be injudicious, and perhaps dangerous, now to make
a parade of laced clothes and expensive embroidery; since
the smallest evil, to which they would be exposed in their
journies, is that of plunder from the Russians.

In the last stage from Kertchy to Caffa, we passed the
third, that is to say, the outer vallum or boundary of the
Bosporians, which separated their peninsula from the country
of the Tauri. Its remains, as well as those of the towers
placed thereon, were very visible. This wall extends from
the Sea of Azof, beginning eastward of a place now called
Arabat, to the mountains behind Caffa; it is mentioned by
Strabo, who states from Hypsicrates, that it was con-
structed by Asander, three hundred and sixty stadia in length,
having at every stadium a turret'.
This description agrees
with its present appearance; the distance from the Sea of

Azof is not so great, but the oblique direction of the wall makes its length equal that which Strabo has given2. Constantine Porphyrogenetes has afforded a more explicit account of the boundaries of the Bosporians3. According to that author, the Sarmatians, in possession of the Bosporian territory, gave war to the Chersonites, respecting the limits of their empire. The Chersonites were victorious in a battle fought near Caffa; and by the treaty of peace, made on the spot, it was determined that the limits of the Bosporian empire should not extend beyond Caffa. Afterwards, the Sarmatians, under another leader, protested against this boundary, and giving battle to the Chersonites, were again defeated. Pharnacus, King of the Chersonites, then contracted the Bosporian limits still more, and placed their boundary at Cybernicus,

CHAP. XVIII.

(2) Allowing eight stadia to the English mile, its length would equal forty-five miles.

(3) Καὶ γενόμενος ἐγκρατὴς τοῦ πολέμου, τὸ μὲν πλῆθος τῆς μαιώτιδος ἀπέλυσε, τοὺς δὲ τῆς Βοσπόρου αἰχμαλώτους λαβὼν, καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν ἀφελόμενος, ἐν κυβερνικῷ ἄνω τῆς τῶν χερσωνιτῶν ὁροθεσίας ἔστησεν, ἄχρι τεσσαράκοντα καὶ μόνον μιλίων γῆν αὐτοῖς ἐάσας. αἴ τινες ὁροθεσίαι μέχρι τοῦ νῦν διαμένουσι. αἱ δὲ εἰρημέναι πρῶται ὁροθεσίαι ἐν καφᾷ εἰσὶν ἀποκείμεναι. ὀλίγους δέ τινας κατασχὼν παρ ̓ ἑαυτῷ τῶν βοσποριανῶν ὁ φάρνακος γεωργῶν ἕνεκα, τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας οἴκτου ἀξιώσας, ἀπέλυσε κατὰ τῶν βοσποριανῶν ἀπελθεῖν. οἵ τινες ἀπολυθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ φαρνάκου ὑπὲρ τῆς τοιαύτης εὐεργεσίας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας αὐτοῦ τῆς εἰς αὐτοὺς γενομένης, στήλην αὐτῷ ἤγειραν ἐν τῇ βοσπόρῳ. ἔκ τοτε οὖν λοιπὸν ἡ τῶν Σαυρομάτων ἐν τῇ βοσπόρῳ βασιλεία κατελύθη.

"Victorque existens Mæotidis quidem populum dimisit, Bosporianos verò in vinculis detinens, capta eorum terra limites in Cybernico supra Chersonitas statuit, quadraginta tantum milliarium terram ipsis relinquens manentque isti limites in hodiernum usque diem, cum priores illi, quos dixi, in Capha sint. Paucis verò Bosporianorum apud se retentis, agriculturæ causa, Pharnacus reliquos omnes misericordia ductus ad sua redire permisit; qui reversi pro beneficio tali benevolentiaque statuam ei in Bosporo posuerunt. Atque ex eo tempore in posterum Sarmatæ Bospori imperium amiserunt.” Constant. de Admin. Imp. p. 213. ed. Meurs. L. Bat. 1611.

CHAP. XVIII. Cybernicus, leaving them only forty miles of territory ';

Arrival at

CAFFA.

" and

these boundaries," observes the author, "remain to this day." From that period the Bosporus was lost to the Sarmatians. Pharnacus retained some of them to cultivate the land, and sent others to their own country; the latter, for this kindness, inscribed a pillar to him, which perhaps still remains among the antiquities of Kertchy."

We now arrived upon the beautiful Bay of CAFFA, supposed to have been THEODOSIA. The town appeared covering the southern side of it, and rising, like a vast theatre, with its numerous mosques and minarets, over all the hills which enclose that part of the Bay. Many vessels were at anchor near the place, and notwithstanding the destruction of buildings by the Russians, it still wore an aspect of some importance. In former times it obtained and merited the appellation of The Lesser Constantinople; containing thirty-six thousand houses within its walls; and, including the suburbs, not less than forty-four thousand.

(1) The latter is the same which the Reader will find noticed in the first part of our journey from Kertchy.

CHAP.

FROM CAFFA, TO THE CAPITAL OF THE CRIMEA.

Caffa in its present State-Barbarous Conduct of the Russians— Inscriptions-Distribution of the Town-Departure from CaffaStara Crim-Ruined Baths - Villa of the Empress - Antient Vallum-Remarkable Mountain- Karasubazar-AkmetchetProfessor Pallas-Unwholesome Situation of the Town-Mus Jaculus, or Jerboa-Observations of Bochart and others upon that Animal-BAKTCHESERAI -Novel Appearance of the City-Fountains Destruction caused by the Russian Troops - Causes which led to the Deposition and Death of the late Khan- - Consequences of the Capture of the Crimea-Palace of the Khans-Preparations made for the Reception of the late Empress-Seraglio-Description of the Charem-Visit to the Fortress of Dschoufoutkalé-Anecdote of an English Servant-Extraordinary Ring-Singular Excavation -Jewish Cemetery-Account of the Sect of Karaï.

CHAP. XIX.

FIFTY IFTY families are at present the whole population of the once magnificent town of Caffa; and in some instances a single Caffa in its

house present State.

CHAP. XIX.

Barbarous

Conduct of the
Russians.

house is found to contain more than one family. The me-
lancholy devastation committed by the Russians, while it
draws tears down the cheeks of the Tartars, and extorts
many a sigh from the Anatolian Turks who resort to Caffa
for commercial purposes, cannot fail to excite the indignation
of every enlightened people. At Caffa, during the time
we remained, the soldiers were allowed to overthrow the
beautiful mosques, or to convert them into magazines, to
pull down the minarets, tear up the public fountains,
and to destroy all the public aqueducts, for the sake of a
small quantity of lead, which they were thereby enabled to
obtain. Such is the true nature of Russian protection; such
the sort of alliance which Russians endeavour to form with
every nation weak enough to submit to their power, or to
become their dupe. While these works of destruction
were going on, the officers were amusing themselves in
beholding the mischief. Tall and stately minarets, whose
lofty spires added such grace and dignity to the town,
were daily levelled with the ground; which, besides
their connection with religious establishments for whose
maintenance the integrity of the Russian empire had been
pledged, were of no other value to their destroyers than to
supply a few soldiers with bullets', or their officers with
a dram.
I was in a Turkish coffee-house at Caffa, when
the principal minaret, one of the antient and characteristic
monuments of the country, to which the Russians had been
some days employed in fixing blocks and ropes, came down

with

(1) The Russian troops are obliged to provide themselves with lead.