CHAP. XIX.

Account of the
Sect of Karaï.

Holland and I believe, as a sect, it is very rare.

These Jews call themselves KARAI. The etymology of the name is uncertain. The difference between their creed and that of Jews in general, according to the information received from the Rabbi, consists in a rejection of the Talmud; a disregard to every kind of tradition; to all Rabbinical writings or opinions; all marginal interpolations of the text of Scripture; and, in a measure of their rule of faith by the pure letter of the law. They pretend to have the text of the Old Testament in its most genuine state. Being desirous to possess one of their Bibles, the Rabbi, who seemed gratified by the interest we betrayed, permitted me to purchase a beautiful manuscript copy written upon vellum, about four hundred years old; but having left this volume in the Crimea, to be forwarded by way of Petersburg, it was never afterwards recovered. It began, like the others which were shewn to us, with the Book of Joshua.

The character of the Karaïte Jews is directly opposite to that which is generally attributed to their brethren in other countries, being altogether without reproach. Their honesty is proverbial in the Crimea; and the word of a Karaïte is considered equal to a bond. Almost all of them are engaged in trade or manufacture. We were surprized to see vine

leaves sold in the streets, particularly as they are abundant in the country; but this article is in very great demand, to use in cookery. Their minced meat is rolled up in vine leaves, and sent to table in the form of sausages. They observe their fasts with the most scrupulous rigour, abstaining even from snuff and smoking for twenty-four hours together. In the very earliest periods of Jewish history, this sect separated from the

main stem: This, at least, is their own account; and nothing
concerning them ought to be received from Rabbinists, who
hold them in detestation. For this reason, the relations
of Leo of Modena, a Rabbi of Venice, are not to be admitted.
Their schism is said to be as old as the return from the
Babylonish Captivity. They use very extraordinary care in
the education of their children, who are taught publicly
in the synagogues: and in this respect the Tartars are not
deficient. I rarely entered a Tartar village in the day-time
without seeing the children assembled in some public place,
receiving their instruction from persons appointed to super-
intend the care of their education; reciting with audible voices
passages from the Koran; or busied in copying manuscript
lessons placed before them. The dress of the Karaïtes differs
little from that worn by the Tartars. All of them, of what-
soever age, suffer their beards to grow; but among Tartars
the beard is a distinction of age, the young men wearing
only whiskers. The Karaïtes wear also a very lofty thick
felt cap, faced with wool, which is heavy, and keeps the
head very hot.
hot. The Turks and Armenians often do the
same; and in warm climates this precaution seems a pre-
servative against the dangerous consequences which result
from obstructed perspiration.

From this interesting colony we returned, by a different road along the tops of the mountains, to Baktcheserai1; concerning

(1) "Batchiserai is entirely inhabited by Tartars, Jews, and Armenians, and is the most populous place we saw in the Crimea. It has several mosques, besides a very fine one in the seraglio, with two minarets, the mark of royalty. There are

CHAP. XIX.

some

CHAP. XIX.

concerning which place I hope not to have omitted any thing the Reader might deem worthy of his attention.

some decent cutlers' shops, and some manufactories of felt carpets, and one of red and yellow leather. The houses are almost universally of wood and ill-baked bricks, with wooden piazzas, and shelving roofs of red tile. There is a new church dedicated to St. George; but the most striking feature is the palace, which, though neither large nor regular, yet, by the picturesque style of its architecture, its carving and gilding, its Arabic and Turkish inscriptions, and the fountains of beautiful water in every court, interested me more than I can express. The apartments, except the Hall of Justice, are low and irregular. In one are a number of bad paintings, representing different views of Constantinople; and, to my surprize, birds were pictured, flying, in violation of the Mohammedan prohibition to paint any animal. It is kept in tolerable repair; and the divans in the best rooms are still furnished with cushions. One apartment, which was occupied by the Empress Catharine, is fitted up in a paltry ball-room manner, with chandeliers, &c. and forms an exception to the general style. The Haram is a mean building, separated from the other apartments by a small walled garden, and containing a kitchen, with six or eight small and mean bed-rooms, each of which, (as we were told by our guide, who was a Jew, and remembered it in the time of the Khans,) was usually occupied by two ladies. In the garden is a large and delightful kiosk, surrounded by lattice-work, with a divan round the inside, the center paved with marble, and furnished with a fountain. The word Serai, or Seraglio, which is given to this range of buildings, seems, in the Tartar and Turkish language, to answer to all the significations of our English word Court; being applied indifferently to the yard of an inn, or the enclosure of a palace." Heber's MS. Journal,

CHERSONESUS.

Tarantula Spider-Departure from Baktcheserȧi-CTENUS of Strabo
-AKTIAR-Caverns of Inkerman- Mephitic Air-Cippus of
Theagenes-Antient Geography, and Antiquities of the Minor

Peninsula

CHAP. XX.

Tarantula
Spider.

Peninsula-EUPATORIUM-CHERSONESUS-Parthenium of Formaleoni-Monastery of St. George-Balaclava-Genoese Fortress— Geology of the Crimea - Remarkable Phænomena-Form of an antient Greek Town-Manners of the People.

UPON

PON our arrival at the house where we had lodged, we found the servant endeavouring to secure a very large Tarantula, which he had caught in one of the out-houses. Some utility may follow even our imperfect entomological researches, if they cause future travellers to avoid the dangerous consequences of an attack from such animals. A slight attention to the engraved representation prefixed to this Chapter will enable them to recognize three of the four venomous insects of the Crimea with tolerable precision, as the drawing was made from original specimens. The fourth, the Phalangium aranoïdes, was destroyed in its passage to this country; which may be lamented, because its bite is the most pernicious, and no very accurate representation of the insect has yet appeared. Observations more at large will be found in a preceding Chapter'; nor would the subject have been again introduced, but with a view to contradict notions propagated concerning the harmless nature of these animals. Both from my own experience, and the very extensive knowledge of Professor Pallas, I am authorized to assert, that in warm countries the wounds they occasion sometimes prove fatal. The amputation of the part affected was the only method of saving Our soldiers in Egypt who had been bitten by the scorpion; and Pallas

(1) See pp. 437-440, of this Volume.