CHAP. XX. Manners of the People. years, if they told us truth, a vine yielded two bushels of grapes. They have no foreign commerce. The rest of their shops were appropriated to the sale of the few necessaries which the inhabitants require; who seemed to lead a very idle life, smoking, taking coffee, chewing tobacco or opium, lounging about the streets, or playing at chess or at draughts in the coffee-houses, or before the doors of their houses. We observed a game here which was quite new to us: the Greeks call it Mangala, and I have since seen it at Constantinople. It is played with a board having two rows of parallel partitions, into each of which was placed a certain number of small shells, such as the natives of Guinea use for money.1 We found it necessary to leave our carriage at Balaclava, in order to visit the celebrated valley of Baidar; the passage to which is performed on horseback, over high mountains, covered with wood to their summits, and, on that account, having more of the Appenine than the Alpine character. Those which skirt the coast, and which we shall presently describe, can be compared to neither. (1) The Cypræa moneta of Linnæus. FROM THE HERACLEOTIC CHERSONESUS, ALONG THE SOUTH COAST OF THE CRIMEA. Valley of Baidar-Domestic Habits and Manners of the TartarsPassage of the Merdveen-Kütchückoy-Plants and MineralsThe CRIU-METOPON-Aloupka - Other Villages on the CoastCountry 3 U CHAP. XXI. Valley of Country between Kütchückoy and Sudack-Vestiges of the Genoese THERE is no part of the Crimea which has attracted the notice of preceding travellers so much as the Valley of Baidar. It has been described under the pompous titles of the Tauric Arcadia, and Crimean Tempe', with much warmth of fancy, and, as might be expected, with some fallacy of representation. If any attempt is here made to dispel the illusion thus excited, it is because those who come after may not meet with disappointment. "Even the vales of Caucasus," says Pallas', "far surpass this celebrated spot." It will not admit of a comparison with many of the beautiful scenes in Switzerland, nor even with those in Norway and Sweden. A very extensive cultivated plain, surrounded by high mountains, may be considered as one of those pleasing prospects which call to mind the description given by Johnson of his Abyssinian Vale; but, being without water as an ornament, must be deemed deficient in a principal object belonging to picturesque scenery. The valley itself, abstracting the consideration of the mountains around, may be compared to (1) See the Travels of Lady Craven, Mrs. Maria Guthrie, &c. (2) Travels in the South of Russia, vol. II. p. 135. to many parts of Britain, particularly the vales of Kent and The mode of enclosure, and the manner of cultivation, resembled those used in our own country. The mountains, as well as the plain, were thick set with oak, wild pear, crab, and carnelian cherrytrees, whose foliage shaded the road, and protected us from the scorching CHAP. XXI.' (3) "This famous valley belongs to Admiral Mordvinof; but his possession was contested when we were there, and the rents were paid to Government in deposit. Many of the Russian proprietors of the Crimea were in the same condition, owing to the following circumstances, as they were represented to me by a young man, named the Count de Rochfort, who was nephew to the Duke of Richlieu. Under the terrors of conquest, the Tartar proprietors made little opposition to the grants which were. made of their lands; but now that they are again in some measure restored to their rights, such as did not come properly under the description of emigrants have commenced processes to obtain a reversion of their forfeitures, which was a very unexpected blow to their masters. The Russians, since the conquest, have established their abominable code of slavery; but not on so rigid a footing as in their own country. Two days a week, we understood from Pallas, is all the work a Tartar is obliged to do gratis for his lord; and the Russians complain heavily of their idleness. The mountaineers are almost all either entirely freeholders, or on the footing of peasants of the Crown. The number of Russian residents in the Crimea is reduced greatly. Some have taken alarm at the tenure of their lands; others have sustained great losses by their slaves running away, some of whom are received and concealed by the Kuban Cossacks; which however is now prevented by the Duke of Richlieu's government, which includes the whole country up to Caucasus and the Caspian." Heber's MS. Journal. CHAP. XXI. scorching rays of the sun, which dart with uncommon force into this valley. Our lodging at night, and our meals by day, were entirely among Tartars; and this circumstance gave us an opportunity of seeing the domestic habits of that people. When a stranger arrives, they conduct him into the apartment destined for the men, and present him with a bason, water, and a clean napkin, to wash his hands. Then they place before him whatever their dwelling affords of curd, cream, honey in the comb, poached eggs, roasted fowls, or fruit. After the meal is over, the bason and water are brought in as before; because all the Tartars, like the Turks and other Oriental nations, eat with their fingers, and use no forks. Then, if in the house of a rich Tartar, a long pipe is presented, with a tube of cherry-tree wood, tipped with amber or ivory. After this, carpets and cushions are laid for the guests, that they may repose. All the houses of the Tartars, even the cottages of the poor, are extremely clean, being often white-washed. The floor is generally of earth; but smooth, firm, dry, and covered with mats and carpets. The meanest Tartar possesses a double dwelling; one for himself and his guests, and the other for his women. They do not allow their most intimate friends to enter the place allotted for the female part of the family. With so much cleanliness, we were quite surprized to find the itch a very prevalent disorder; especially among the poor. It was also difficult to escape the attacks of venomous insects and vermin. The tarantula, scorpion, cock roach, different kinds of lice, bugs, fleas, flies, and ants, more or less incommoded us wherever we rested; and we found it was necessary |