of the Danube, which is at present almost entirely confined to grain,
to have some one point where the grain from all the different shipping
ports could be brought forward in river craft, and there loaded on
board of sea-going vessels. This can only be effected by having a free
port established. But this free port would be equally advantageous for
imports, which, being brought to one place, could be more conveniently
sent forward to their various ports of destination along the Danube.
As steam power for river navigation has such an evident advantage over
sailing vessels, it is quite behind the age to take sailing vessels
100 miles up a river for cargo, when the cargo can be brought down
more easily and economically to the mouth of the river by steam; it is
therefore apparent that, in seeking to establish _a free port on the
Danube for the first time_, it ought to be placed as near as possible to
the sea. For this reason the free port should be placed either at the
Sulina mouth or at the St. George’s mouth. As, however, Sulina consists
only of a narrow strip of land between the river and a marsh, and as that
strip is subject to be overflowed, Sulina is not suited for the site of
a town. At the St. George’s mouth, on the right bank of the river, the
land is high and well suited for the erection of a town, therefore the
free port should in preference be placed there. It is probable that, on
application being made, the Turkish Government would grant the rights
of a free port to the whole of the island Ruselm formed by the Danube,
the branch called Donnawitza, the lake Ramsim, and the sea. Even on the
left bank, on the island of St. George, the ground is much higher than
at Sulina. At the outset the St. George’s mouth presents a difficulty
in comparison to that of Sulina, namely, whereas the Sulina mouth has
only a single bar of about 150 yards broad, the St. George’s mouth has
banks extending out fully a mile; _but, as the entrance into the St.
George’s has never been carefully surveyed_, it is not known whether a
channel may not extend all the way out, which only requires to be marked
out by buoys; but in every case there can be no doubt that a channel
could be opened up and kept open, at an expense which would fall very
light on the number of vessels likely to enter it, in comparison to the
heavy lighterage which they have hitherto had to pay at Sulina. The St.
George’s branch is much finer than the Sulina; it discharges at least
ten times more water than the Sulina does, and this should render it
easy to make a deeper channel than at Sulina; it is much broader, and
therefore would afford more accommodation for shipping. It may be asked
why, when the St. George presents so many advantages over the Sulina, no
attempt has been made to render these advantages available? but when it
is considered that Russia only held the left bank of this branch, while
Turkey held the right bank, whereas Russia held both sides of the Sulina
branch, it is evident that it was for the advantage of Russia to keep the
St. George closed, and thus have the whole trade of the Danube under her
control.
To show precisely the disadvantage of having to ascend the river with
sailing vessels to receive cargo, it may be stated that sailing vessels
seldom arrive from Sulina at Galatz in less than fourteen days, and not
unfrequently they take a month to come up. Again, in going down, what
between putting part of their cargo into lighters in order to go over
the shoals in the river, and what by grounding and getting the vessel
off again, three weeks or a month are frequently consumed between Galatz
and Sulina. But the best proof is in the rates of freight, as a vessel,
obtaining 12_s._ per quarter from Galatz to England, would take cargo
from the mouth of the Danube to England for 8_s._ per quarter.
No doubt a vessel might save much time by being towed up the river by a
steamer; but there would always be danger of the vessel grounding, and
part of the cargo would always have to be put into lighters. The steamer
could bring down four times more grain in proper barges than the vessel
could carry, and in less time.
The uncertain political position of the Danube, and the difficulties and
delays caused by quarantines, have hitherto prevented steam navigation
from taking any considerable extension in that river; in fact, there have
not yet been any steamers exclusively for the trade of the Principalities
and Bulgaria. The steam navigation on the Lower Danube at the
commencement of the present war with Russia was as follows:—The Imperial
Royal Danube Steam Navigation Company of Vienna despatch a steamer weekly
from Vienna to Galatz, and _vice versâ_. A steamer went weekly both up
and down between Galatz and Turno Severin, on the Wallachian side of
the river; and a steamer weekly between Galatz and Skella Cladova, on
the Turkish side of the river. Besides these steamers, this Company had
occasionally tugsteamers between this place and Calafat; and within the
last four years it has had a number of iron barges, called _shlepfs_,
on the Lower Danube, to be towed by steamers, for the conveyance of
grain and other merchandise. The Austrian Lloyd’s Steam Company of
Trieste had steamers performing six voyages monthly between Galatz and
Constantinople: this Company also kept a steamer plying between Galatz
and Ibraila. The Russians had a steamer performing two voyages monthly
between Galatz and Odessa.
When, however, the trade and navigation of the Danube shall have been
placed on a satisfactory and permanent footing, there can be little doubt
that the companies having steamers on the Danube will increase their
number, so as to meet the requirements of trade; or, should such not be
the case, other companies will be established, as capital cannot be long
wanting for an investment which offers at once security and good returns.
Until the war between Russia and Turkey in 1828, grain and tallow
from the Principalities could only be sent to Constantinople. Certain
Turkish commissioners came yearly to the provinces and purchased grain,
fixing their own price for it, and that price was so low as not to be
remunerative to the cultivator. Consequently, very little grain was then
grown in the Principalities, and it was harvested and brought to market
in a most careless manner, having a great deal of earth and dirt mixed
with it, and the quality was very bad.
By the Treaty of Adrianople, the Russians gave free trade to the
Principalities and the cultivation of grain was extended. So soon as the
exportation of grain from the Principalities began to take a certain
extension, the Russian Government perceived the double error it had
committed, and endeavoured to correct it: this double error was, first,
the trade of the Principalities was increased, and the attention of
Europe was thereby called to them; secondly, the grain exported from
the Principalities came into competition and lowered the price of the
grain of the Russian ports on the Black Sea. For this end the Russians
prevented the establishment of a general entrepôt on the Danube; they
imposed vexatious quarantine regulations on shipping and merchandise; and
they prevented the removing of banks and shoals and other impediments to
the navigation of the river.
Notwithstanding all these discouragements and impediments, the
exportation of Moldavia and Wallachia by Galatz and Ibraila down the
Danube in the year 1852 had reached the following quantities:—
+------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | Galatz. | Ibraila. | Total. |
| +-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | Quarters. | Quarters. | Quarters. |
|Wheat | 187,555 | 343,584 | 531,139 |
|Indian Corn | 329,279 | 725,259 | 1,054,538 |
|Rye | 96,900 | 1,296 | 98,196 |
|Barley | 468 | 80,278 | 80,746 |
|Millet | — | 5,180 | 5,180 |
| +-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Total | 614,202 | 1,155,597 | 1,769,799 |
+------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
The exportation of grain from Turkey, and consequently from Bulgaria,
was prohibited until the year 1839, when the exportation was allowed by
the treaty of commerce made between Turkey and England in that year. The
exportation of grain from Bulgaria by the Danube has made very little
progress hitherto, and not more than 200,000 quarters of grain of all
sorts have been exported by the Danube in any one year.
There are many reasons no doubt for this want of progress; among which
are, the improper interference of the Turkish Government, which has
already forbidden the exportation of grain four different times, under
pretext that there was a scarcity of grain in Turkey; the interference
of pashas and other Turks in authority, who are always endeavouring
to have a monopoly of the grain trade of their districts; also the
insufficient protection of the cultivators. But another reason, and which
had great influence, was the want of a proper place for shipping on board
of sea-going vessels, as there is no place on the Turkish side of the
Danube with suitable warehouses, and Turkish grain was not allowed to be
warehoused in Wallachia or Moldavia.
Little doubt can be entertained, that inquiry will be made into the
causes which prevent the extension of agriculture in Turkey for the
purpose of removing them, and that, in consequence, the exportation of
grain from Bulgaria will increase rapidly.
Grain of Bessarabia is exported from Reni and Ismail on the Danube,
but by far the larger portion of the produce of that province goes to
Odessa for shipment, being attracted to that place by the lower rate of
freights which prevails there than on the Danube. Were the freights from
the Danube reduced to the same rates as those from Odessa, there can be
little doubt that nearly the whole of the grain produced in Bessarabia
would be brought to the Danube for shipment. The quantity of grain
exported from Ismail is larger than what is exported from Reni; in the
year 1852 the quantity exported from these two ports may have amounted,
to 400,000 quarters. It is proper to observe, that although Ismail is
situate on the Kilia branch of the Danube, yet the vessels at present
frequenting that port enter and go out by the Sulina branch, and would
consequently go by the St. George’s were it rendered more commodious.
From what has been stated it results that the quantity of grain exported
from the Danube in 1852 was:—
Imperial Quarters.
From Galatz 614,202
” Ibraila 1,155,597
” Bulgaria (about) 200,000
” Bessarabia 400,000
---------
2,369,799
=========
But the production of Moldavia and Wallachia goes on increasing at
the rate of about five per cent. yearly, and should this free port be
obtained, a further impetus will be given to the exportation by the
reduction of freights. For the same reason it may be expected that the
exportation of Bessarabia by the Danube will be greatly increased, as
produce, in place of being carried to Odessa, will be brought to the
Danube for shipment. Then as regards Bulgaria, taking into account
internal impediments to cultivation, which may be expected to be removed,
and facilities to exportation and lower freights, it cannot be doubted
that the production and exportation of grain from Bulgaria will increase
very rapidly. For these reasons it may safely be reckoned, that ten years
after the establishment of peace, and a convenient free port near the
mouth of the Danube, the following quantities of grain will be exported
from the Danube:—
Imperial Quarters.
From Wallachia 2,000,000
” Moldavia 1,000,000
” Bulgaria 1,500,000
” Bessarabia 1,000,000
---------
5,500,000
=========
Regarding the present manner of bringing forward grain for shipment on
board of sea-going vessels, it is to be observed that all the grain
shipped from Galatz comes forward to that place by land. Of that
shipped from Ibraila, not over one-fifth comes forward by land; the
rest is brought down the Danube by river craft, called _kerlatze_, from
Calafat, Islas, Giurgevo, Calarrach, &c. Latterly, the Vienna Danube
Steam Navigation Company has occasionally brought down grain from Upper
Wallachia in shlepfs or iron barges. Of the grain shipped from Bulgaria,
a portion is shipped from Silistria by small vessels, which go up to that
place in spring when the water is high; the remainder is brought down, by
kerlatze, from Widdin, Sistove, Rustchuk, &c., to Matchin, for shipment.
At Matchin some warehouses have lately been built. The grain shipped from
Bessarabia is all brought forward to Reni and Ismail by land.
The rate of freight, by kerlatze, from Calafat to Ibraila, in the course
of the last four years, has ranged from P. 60-P. 120 of the G. S. per
1000 okes, equal per quarter to 2_s._ 2_d._ to 4_s._ 3_d._; but P. 80 per
1000 okes may be taken as the usual freight, or per quarter 2_s._ 10_d._,
for conveyance the distance of 300 miles English. The freight charged by
the Austrian Danube Steam Company for conveying grain in iron barges,
towed by steamers from Calafat to Ibraila, varies according to the season
and demand, but may be taken on an average at 30 kreutzers per 100 funti,
4_s._ per imperial quarter. The kerlatze, or river craft, perform a
voyage from Ibraila up to Calafat, empty and back with a cargo of grain,
in about two months. A steamer towing shlepfs can perform the same voyage
in ten days.
The freight from Galatz to England may be taken as 50 per cent. higher
than the freight from Odessa to England; thus, when freight from Odessa
is 7_s._ per quarter, the freight from Galatz is 10_s._ 6_d._: these
are low freights. But were there a port at the St. George’s mouth, the
freight from thence to England could never be more than from Odessa,
but would probably be 10 per cent. less. Thus allowing 1_s._ or 1_s._
6_d._ per quarter for freight from Galatz to St. George, there would be
a saving, when freights were low, of at least 2_s._, and when freights
were high 5_s._ to 6_s._ per quarter, in favour of bringing grain to the
ships, in place of sending the ships to the grain.
There would also be a great saving on the Insurance, and in the time of
sending the merchandise to market.
CHARLES CUNNINGHAM.
_Galatz, April 4, 1855._
LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.
[Illustration: THE CRIMEA, WITH THE NORTHERN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA AND
SEA OF AZOV.
_Published by John Murray Albemarle Sᵗ. February 1855._
_Ford & West. Lithʳˢ._]
FOOTNOTES
[1] Voyage autour du Caucase, par Frédéric Dubois de Montpereux. 6 vols.
with an Atlas. Paris, 1839.
[2] Études sur les Forces Productives de Russie, par M. L. de Tegoborski,
Conseiller Privé et Membre du Conseil de l’Empire de Russie. 3 vols.
Paris, 1852-54.
[3] Les Steppes de la Mer Caspienne, le Caucase, la Crimée, et la Russie
Méridionale. 3 vols., with an Atlas. Paris, 1845.
[4] This was the strength of the army in 1846, when I left it.
[5] I do not reckon as a war the short period of misunderstanding with
them in the reign of the Emperor Paul.
[6] He was a Mussulman, but all the rest of his family are Christians.
[7] As this is a point of some importance, I think it right to state that
my authority for this statement is Mr. Carruthers, late Consul, and Mr.
Lander, late a merchant, at Taganrok.
[8] This name appears for the first time in Theophanes, page 316. He
says, “Justinian remembering the plot against him of the Chersonites,
the Bosphorians, and the inhabitants of the other Klimata.” Some authors
supposed it to refer to the southern coast, but Dubois applies it to the
northern slopes of the Tauric chain (the same country which was called
Doru by the earlier writers), principally from the following passage in
Constantine Porphyrogenitus:—“One part of the nation of the Patzinakes
is found next to the Chersonites, of whom they are the carriers. They
always treat them well, as it would be easy for them to ravage and
destroy Cherson and the Klimata.” He adds, “From Cherson to the Bosphorus
are the castles of the Klimata.” Dubois, Voyage autour du Caucase, chez
les Tcherkess Abkhazes, en Calchide, en Georgie, en Arménie, en Crimée:
ouvrage qui a remporté le prix de la Société de Géographie de Paris,
1838: vol. v. p. 5.
[9] That is, passing through Bereslaf; for, by going straight from
Perecop to Kherson by Adeski, it is only 332 miles, but this road is not
always practicable, on account of the difficulty of crossing the Dniepr.
[10] Its old Russian name was Belaio Veja, and it was called Kiz Kerman,
or the Girl’s Castle, by the Tatars (Vsevolovski, Dict. Hist. Géog. de la
Russie).
[11] The following is the account Herodotus gives of this river:—“The
fourth is the river Borysthenes, which is the largest of these after the
Ister, and, in my opinion, the most productive, not only of the Scythian
rivers, but of all others, except the Egyptian Nile; for to this it is
impossible to compare any other river, but of the rest the Borysthenes is
the most productive. It affords the most excellent and valuable pasture
for cattle, and fish of the highest excellence and in great quantities;
it is most sweet to drink; it flows pure in the midst of turbid rivers;
the sown land near it is of the best quality; and the herbage, where
the land is not sown, is very tall; at its mouth abundance of salt is
crystallized spontaneously; and it produces large whales, without any
spiral bones, which they call Antacæi, fit for salting, and many other
things that deserve admiration. The Borysthenes continues flowing near
the sea, and the Hypanis mingles with it, discharging itself into the
same morass.” Lib. 4.
[12] About 1801 the English, French, Dutch, and Prussians obtained
permission for their mercantile navy to pass the Bosphorus.
[13] 1791.
[14] 877 miles from Moscow, and 1362 miles from St. Petersburg.—Lyell.
[15] Castelnau.
[16] Strange to say, stores are always scanty here, perhaps because many
kinds deteriorate by keeping. Even timber is wanting for ship-building,
and is used green, and never seasoned. A part of the ‘Twelve Apostles’
was rotten when she was launched.
[17] This fact is noticed by Herodotus.
[18] Lyell’s Travels.
[19] There used to be many governor-generals in Russia, and there is
still one for the Ukraine, which comprehends the governments of Kharkow,
Tchérnigof, and Pultava.
[20] See Hist. of the Precopian Tatars, London, 1693; also Peyssonel,
Commerce de la Mer Noire, in which there is a Dissertation on the Tatars,
from information gained among them by the author, who was French consul
at Baktchéserai, the capital of the khan in 1773. The Tatars first
appeared in Crimea in 1226.
[21] Fletcher’s Hist. of Poland, p. 69 and 70.
[22] Tanquam nidulo aliquo affixi.
[23] See Fletcher’s History of Poland, p. 68, from which this account is
taken. The original authorities are Chevalier’s work on the Cossack war,
published 1663, and the Relazione di Polonia in the Harleian Collection.
[24] From “Tchorny,” black, and “Moré,” the sea, in Russian.
[25] From about A.D. 1560-1783.
[26] The country between the Dniestr and the Pruth, called Bessarabia,
used to be an integral portion of Moldavia, and is still inhabited by
Moldavians. It was torn from Turkey and given up to Russia in 1812, by
the treaty of Bucharest, which was concluded by Sir Stratford Canning,
then a very young man, who rose into notice from his services on this
occasion.
[27] See ‘Études sur les Forces productives de la Russie,’ par M. de
Tegoborski, Membre du Conseil de l’Empire de Russie. Paris, 1852. Vol. i.
p. 33.
[28] “Step” is a Russian word. The following is the account of the
Steppes taken from Von Hammer’s History of the Ottoman Empire:—“These
Steppes are called by Oriental geographers ‘the fields of Hëihat:’ they
extend from east to west from the banks of the Aksou (river Bug) and the
Ouron (river Dniepr) to those of the Ten (river Don) and the Tel (river
Wolga); northward as far as Astrakhan, and southward as far as the banks
of the Kuban (river Hypanis): situated between the Caspian and Black
Seas, they cover a superficies of 1000 parasangs (one parasang is about
four miles). These immense Steppes, which Timour, in marching against
Tóktamish, traversed in 180 days, are covered in winter with snow as high
as the grass in summer, and are inhabited by the Nogais and Kalmouks.”
Vol. ii. p. 109.
[29] Hylè means “wood” in Greek.
[30] Tegoborski, vol. i. pp. 34-36.
[31] Geology of Russia in Europe, by Sir Roderick Murchison, vol. i. p.
559.
[32] Well known in the English markets under the name of “the country of
the Line.” The production has much decreased of late years, owing to so
many of the Cossacks being employed for warlike purposes.
[33] This account is taken from a paper by M. Teetzmann, steward of the
estates of the Duke of Anhalt-Köthen, near Bereslaf. See Tegoborski, vol.
i. p. 38.
M. Teetzmann says, that on his domain, in the 10 years from 1832 to 1841,
rye and wheat produced on the average 6 times, barley 7 times, and millet
23 times the amount sown. In this time there were some years when the rye
gave 16 times, wheat and barley 15 times, and millet 64 times the amount
sown; but there was also one year when the crops entirely failed, and
others when they did not give more than the amount sown. This was in a
country which M. T. ranks among the “Eternal Steppes.”
[34] The post-carts are found at every post station throughout European
Russia, from Archangel to the banks of Erasas, on the borders of Persia,
and are called “pavosk,” or “telega,” or “pereclodnoi;” they are very
low, have a seat for the driver in front, and will, with difficulty,
hold two persons inside: they have no springs and no seat, and the
traveller sits on his luggage. In this way, couriers and officers perform
journeys of 1000 and 2000 miles without stopping, except to change at
each station. I have myself performed a journey of 1200 miles from Tiflis
to Odessa in this manner, and have frequently known Russians to have
travelled 12,000 to 13,000 miles within the year.
[35] “It would be tedious to notice on every occasion the extraordinary
number of tumuli which appear during the whole route (_i. e._ from
Kasankaia to Tcherkask): I wish the reader only to keep in mind the
curious fact of their being everywhere in view.”—Clarke’s Travels, part
i. p. 254.
[36] Mus citillus of Buffon.
[37] See Clarke’s Travels, part i. ch. 12. Recently rewards have been
offered for the destruction of the suslics on account of the great injury
they do to the crops and fields. They make the steppe very dangerous for
riding.
[38] Nat. Hist., cap. 26.
[39] This name is said to be derived either from Horus and Kapou (and it
would then mean the gate of Horus or the frontier), or from the Tatar
word “Or,” or “Ore,” meaning fire. Von Hammer.
[40] In the name of Beresin is preserved the ancient name of the isle
Boristhenis, which, like the island of Leuké, at the mouth of the
Ister, was devoted to the races in honour of Achilles; and the “Kil” in
Kilboroún probably comes from Achilles, the sovereign of Pontus, although
the Tatars explain the word as meaning a promontory as fine as a “hair,”
since “Kil” means hair in their language.—Page 362.
[41] Von Hammer, Hist. de l’Empire Ottomane, vol. xiv. p. 360-364.
[42] The whole account of the coasts and soundings is taken from the
‘Pilot of the Black Sea and the Azof,’ by M. Taitbout de Marigny.
Constantinople, 1850.
[43] P. 60.
[44] P. 51.
[45] P. 53, 54.
[46] Gloubok means “deep” in Russian.
[47] For a further account, see Chap. VI.
[48] This was in about the year 1838. See H. de Hell.
[49] Crimea was divided into 48 kadilics.
[50] Peyssonel, de la Commerce de la Mer Noire, vol. i. p. 252.
[51] Dubois, vol. v. p. 390.
[52] One verst, equal to about three-quarters of an English mile; 108
Russian versts = 1 degree; 69 English miles = 1 degree.
[53] De la Motraye, 3 vols. fol. illustrated by Hogarth: vol. ii. p. 42.
The temperature of the water is 10° Réaumur, 54° Fahrenheit. See R. P.
Koeppen, uber 130, Tauriens Quellen, p. 13. See Dubois, vol. vi. p. 325.
[54] The following is the translation of the Tatar inscription on this
fountain:—“Glory to God most High! the face of Baktchéserai is made glad
by the beneficent care of glorious Prince Geray Khan. With a prodigal
hand he has satisfied the thirst of his country, and he will spread other
blessings if God lends him his assistance.
“By care and trouble he has opened this excellent spring of water. If
there exist such another fountain, let it come! We have seen the towns of
Cham (Damascus) and Bagdad, but nowhere have we seen such a fountain. The
author of this inscription is called Cheiki. If any man, fainting from
thirst, reads these words across the water which escapes trickling from
the slender pipe, what do they tell him? Come: drink this limpid water
that flows from the purest of springs; it gives health!”
The last three words, when reduced into figures, give the date 1176 (A.D.
1762).—Dubois, vol. vi. p. 328.
[55] See Dubois, vol. vi. p. 331.
[56] He was poisoned in A.D. 1769.
[57] Hommaire de Hell, Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian, p. 360,
English edition.
[58] Dubois (Voyage du), vol. vi. p. 337.
[59] The population of Tchoufout Kaleh in 1830 was composed of 492
men and 617 women, altogether 1109 Jewish inhabitants. P. de Koeffen,
Baktchéserai zur Zeit der Cholera, 1830.—See Dubois, vol. vi. p. 340.
Hommaire de Hell says, in 1842, they were gradually leaving, to settle in
Baktchéserai: p. 364.
[60] Henderson, p. 314.
[61] Also Hothinger, Albringrus, Triglandius, and others. See Henderson.
[62] The name Karaim comes from the Hebrew word “Kara,” Scripture. They
are also frequently called “Bene Mukra,” sons of the text, and “Baala
Mikra,” masters or possessors of the text. Henderson’s ‘Biblical Res. in
Russia,’ p. 316.
[63] She died A.D. 1437-38—year of the Hedgra, 841.
[64] The name “Tchoufout” applied to the Jews, is said by Pallas to be
derived from “Cifutti,” which was a term of reproach applied to them at
Genoa. There are many Genoese words in the Tatar language.
[65] Kirkor is first mentioned by Abulfeda (1341), under the name of
Kerkri, and he says it was then inhabited by the As. Kerkor was probably
the capital of the Khans of Crimea from about 1400 to 1480 A.D.—Dubois’
Voyage, &c., vol. vi. p. 343.
In 1396 “the Khan of Kirkel” is found fighting on the banks of the Don,
against Vitort, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Pallas and Clarke think the
Genoese possessed this place, as well as Mangoup and Eski Crim, but
Dubois doubts this fact.
[66] The question as to who built the crypts is fully discussed in
Dubois, vol. vi.
[67] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 347.
[68] Whenever the Russians say Tatars and Kalmucks, the ethnologists I
have chiefly followed say Turks and Mongols.
“Ethnologically viewed, the ‘Tatars’ or ‘Tartars’ were a tribe nearly
allied to the Mongols in race, who dwelt near the lake Bougir, to the
eastward of Mongoliei. They were among the first of the Mongol conquests,
and they took afterwards so conspicuous a place in the army of Zingis
Khan that their name became synonymous with that of the Mongols. Their
proper name was Tatars. It was said to have been changed into Tartars in
consequence of an expression of St. Louis, who, when the devastations of
Zingis Khan were heard of with horror in Western Europe, is reported to
have exclaimed, ‘Let this heavenly consolation, O Virgin Mother, sustain
us if they come, that either we will drive the Tartars, as we call them,
back to their Tartarean (infernal) seats, whence they have sprung, or
they shall raise us all to heaven.’”—_Dr. Smith’s Note, Gibbon_, vol.
iii., p. 294.
[69] Or the Great Khan.
[70] Karamsin, vol. v. p. 83.
[71] Tóktamish was descended from Touschi, son of Zingis Khan, the Mongol
hero. Tamerlane was a Turk, but claimed to be descended by the females
from Zingis Khan. He was born 1335; d. 1405.
[72] After being four times khan, he died in 1704.—_Von Hammer’s
Genealogical Tables._
[73] Discourse on the Precopian Tatars. London, 1693, _passim_.
[74] Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian: see p. 369, English edition.
[75] Douvankoi means the Valley of Prayer (see ‘Pallas’s Travels’).
[76] This is the name of the fort and suburb on the north side of the bay
of Sevastopol. “Sievarna” means northern in Russian.
[77] ‘Pallas’s Voyage,’ ii. 46, in Dubois.
[78] ‘Pallas’s Voyage:’ see Dubois, vol. vi. p. 26.
[79] Sevastopol, or Sebastopolis, is composed of two Greek words,
“Sebastos” meaning Augustus, and “polis” a city; and it was the name of a
Greek city of the Lower Empire on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in
Abkhazia.
[80] The ancient Greek city of Kherson was close to Sevastopol, but in
the time of the Empress Catherine it was supposed to have stood near the
mouth of the Dniepr, and the new city she founded there was therefore
called by that name.
[81] Clarke, in 1800, ii., page 98; Reuilly in 1803; Castelnau in 1817;
Montandon in 1833.
[82] The wooden telegraph thus carries messages from Sevastopol to
Odessa, whence there is the electric telegraph to Petersburg.
[83] In 1834 there were 1500 working with the chain, without counting the
other prisoners.
[84] “Black rivulet” in English. Large reservoirs were formed at a
distance in the mountains to supply the canal, but they gave way. The
river was insufficient, and a steam engine was lately erected to pump sea
water into the docks.
[85] This is taking the paper rouble at the same value as the franc, but
it is really rather more.
[86] It is but justice to Col. Upton, who is now no more, to observe,
notwithstanding the reports lately circulated about certain faults in the
early part of his life, that he enjoyed a good reputation among his own
countrymen in Russia, and was considered a honest and faithful servant of
his employer, while he has left monuments of his talents of which we may
be proud.
[87] Naval Gunnery, 4th ed., p. 619.
[88] Toola, besides the Government, has many private establishments, and
is considered as the Birmingham of Russia.
[89] For all these details see Tanski, Tableau du Système Militaire de la
Russie. Paris, 1833, p. 295-7.
[90] For many years all the harbours of the Crimea were shut to commerce
on the plea of there being no quarantines.
[91] He writes in 1852.
[92] Haxthausen, Études sur la Russie, vol. iii. p. 477-479.
[93] ‘Histoire de la Russie,’ tom. ii. p. 624, par Mons. Chopin, Paris,
1838. This gentleman was for many years an employé in Russia.
[94] The first part of this chapter is based upon Haxthausen, vol. iii.
[95] Will of Peter the Great, transmitted by the Chevalier d’Eon, French
Ambassador at Petersburg, to his court in 1757, and soon after made
public. See ‘Geschichte Peters des Grossen,’ by Peters, published at
Leipsic.
[96] _Equipage_ is the French for “crew.”
[97] See Appendix C., on the Timber Trade.
[98] Hommaire de Hell, vol. ii. p. 383, French edition.
[99] See App. (A).
[100] See Sir H. Douglas’s ‘Naval Gunnery,’ from which I have borrowed
all this account of the Paixhans system, p. 289-291.
[101] This chapter is based upon the account of the Russian army by M.
Haxthausen, and a great portion of it is borrowed from him. He had access
to Russian official records.
[102] M. Tegoborski, the mouthpiece of the Government of St. Petersburg,
states that the estimate of the regular army alone in 1854 was from
800,000 to 900,000 men, and that it may be raised to 1,250,000 men in
1855. ‘Revue des Deux Mondes,’ Nov. 15, 1854, p. 802.
[103] Haxthausen, vol. iii. p. 335.
[104] See his will, which has been often published.
[105] Haxthausen, vol. iii. p. 331.
[106] Nestor was a monk of Kieff, and ceased to write about A.D. 1016.
[107] Chroniques de Nestor, French translation, c. 3, p. 54.
[108] Haxthausen, vol. iii. p. 348.
[109] Haxthausen, vol. iii. p. 340.
[110] “The bankers of Berlin in 1853 refused the 5 per cent. Russian loan
at 83, with a bonus of 17 per 100 on the nominal capital. For the last
twenty years Russia has been borrowing, to cover the deficit left in her
budget by her enormous military preparations.”—Léon Faucher, ‘Revue des
Deux Mondes,’ Nov. 15, 1854, p. 809.
The position of Russia is well described by M. Léon Faucher:—“How can
the riches of a country be spoken of, which is still on so many sides
a desert to clear and people? There are scarcely 11 inhabitants to the
square kilomètre (⅔rds of a mile). The average of life is only 20 years
(less than half that of the inhabitants of London, which is 43), and
this presents very precarious resources for recruiting immense armies.
The middle classes in Russia are scarcely born; the nobles are in debt;
the peasants are reduced to a state of serfdom, or live in a kind of
communism which is the actual practice of the most immoral and barbarous
theories; manufacturing industry is an artificial creation by high
protective tariffs; agriculture, with the exception of the kingdom of
Poland, is in a rude and patriarchal state. The forests, the steppes, and
the marshes occupy ⅚ths of the empire; and can it be supposed that a soil
thus badly prepared can furnish the means of successfully resisting the
powers of the West, who have in abundance what Russia has a dearth of, or
will soon have a dearth of, namely, men and money.”—Id. p. 318. These are
home truths, and we have only to thank our late rulers that Russia is not
already so far reduced as to be obliged to accept any terms that we chose
to impose upon her.
[111] I believe Count Radetski has also received this decoration since
his Italian campaigns.
[112] Perhaps the light division of cavalry of reserve and its light
artillery (24 light pieces) should be considered quite independent of
this second corps.—Haxthausen, vol. iii. p. 287.
[113] I have already mentioned the diminution in the quantity of linseed
and wheat brought into the English market from “the Line country,” in
consequence of the demands upon the Cossacks for men.
[114] “Sotni” comes from the Russian word sto—a hundred; “sot nic” means
a captain.
[115] If M. Haxthausen estimates so highly these Caucasian auxiliaries,
if they could be brought to aid the Russians, why have we not long ago
arrayed them against their natural enemies?
[116] See Haxthausen, vol. iii. p. 458.
[117] Haxth. vol. iii. p. 460.
[118] Napoleon’s opinion of the Cossacks was not high. In the celebrated
29th bulletin of the Grand Army, he says of these gentry, “Even the
Cossacks became formidable—that contemptible cavalry that, under ordinary
circumstances, could not have penetrated a company of Voltigeurs.” I
quote from memory.
[119] Haxth. vol. iii. p. 301.
[120] _First Levy._—9 battalions of grenadiers, 3 battalions of
carbineers, 86 battalions of infantry of the line, 36 battalions of
chasseurs of the line, and 134 battalions of infantry; 52 squadrons, and
24 batteries of infantry; representing a total of 98,000 men, and 192
cannons.
_Second Levy._—12 battalions of the guard, 12 battalions of the
grenadiers and the carbineers; 72 battalions of infantry of the line,
and the chasseurs; _in toto_, 96 battalions of infantry, 62 squadrons,
24 batteries of infantry, 11 batteries of cavalry, and 2½ battalions of
sappers: presenting in round numbers 115,000 men and 280 cannons.—See
Haxthausen, vol. iii. ch. on the Russian army.
[121] See ‘Kreutz Zeitung,’ Feb. 1, 1855, a Prussian newspaper, generally
considered to have good information on Russian subjects. This paper also
states, that, exclusive of the corps of the Caucasus and two divisions of
the fifth and sixth corps detached in Asia, the Russian active forces now
amount to 607 battalions, 562 squadrons, and 1712 field-pieces, which on
paper represents 637,000 infantry, 95,000 cavalry, and 42,000 artillery;
and that no more than 10 per cent. is to be deducted for non-effectives.
This would give a total of nearly 700,000 men.
[122] For this Chapter see Dubois, vol. vi.
[123] This name is derived from _In_ and _kerman_, a castle.
[124] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 264.
[125] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 266. Some say Keffe Kil means “froth earth.”
Clarke says that it is from this earth that the famous meerschaum (froth
of the sea) pipes are made.
[126] The date of the earliest tomb of the Karaim Jews at Mangoup is the
year of the world 5034 (A.D. 1274). P. de Koeppen Sbornik, p. 29.
[127] Dubois, vol. v. p. 19.
[128] Hommaire de Hell.
[129] As measured by Clarke. See Travels.
[130] A French guard is now placed to protect it.
[131] After A.D. 30.
[132] Sauromates V., A.D. 282.
[133] Rurik is a common name of Scandinavian heroes.
[134] The title of Tzar, says Karamsin, was used in Russia as early as
the reign of Ysiaslaf II. and Dmétri Donskoi (1363-1389). This word is
not an abridgment of the Latin Cæsar, as some learned men have supposed.
It is an ancient Eastern name, which became known to the Russians
through the Slavonic translation of the Bible, and was given by them
first to the Emperor of the East and then to the khans of the Tatars. It
signifies in Persian “a throne,” “the supreme authority,” and is observed
in the names of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia, as in Phala_ssar_,
Nabona_ssar_. John III. (1462-1472), was the first grand prince who
took the title of Tzar in writing to foreign powers, and in his public
acts he gave to his empire the name of “White Russia,” that is to say,
great or ancient, according to the acceptation of this word in Oriental
languages.—_Karamsin_, vi. 438.
In one of the chronicles of Novgorod it is said that Vladimir assumed
the title of Tzar, 978. “Sic unus (Vladimir) serum Russiæ politus, auxit
se titulo Tzaris et magni ducis atque autocratoris Russorum, sedemque
ducatus Novogordiensis Kioviam transtulit.”—M.S. quoted in the notes to
French translation of Nestor.
[135] Nestor.
[136] Clarke says that he obtained some copper coins of Vladimir in the
Chersonese with a V upon them, probably marking the era of his baptism.
[137] Nestor, French translation, viii. 133.
[138] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 147. M. F. Adelung, die Korsüncher Thüren in
der Cathedral Kirche zur heilg. Sophia in Novgorod. Berlin, 1823.
[139] Karamsin, Histoire de Russie, vol. v. p. 16.
[140] Bronovius, Desc. Tartariæ, pp. 258-261.
[141] A plan of these is given by Clarke in a vignette.
[142] B. iv.
[143] St. George is the principal patron saint of Russia, and the ancient
arms of Moskow, when it was an independent principality, were this saint
mounted on a white horse on a red field. When Moscow became the capital
of the Grand Princes of Russia they adopted these arms. The vanquished
dragon was added in 1380, after the victory of Koulikof, gained by Dmétri
Donskoi over the Tatars. Ivan IV. in adopting in 1580 the double-headed
eagle of the Greeks did not on that account renounce the horseman and the
dragon, and the Russian eagle is charged in the heart with the scutcheon
of Koulikof.
The ancient sovereigns of Russia, after embracing Christianity, took
for their arms three circles in a triangle. In one of the circles was
an inscription about the Trinity, in another the name of the prince to
whom the letter was addressed, and in the third the titles of the Grand
Prince.—Notes to French translation of Nestor, p. 71; Strahlemberg,
Description de l’Empire Russe, vol. i. p. 240. Amst. 1757.
[144] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 194.
[145] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 201.
[146] See St. Simon, Mémoires de l’Arménie.
[147] For all this account of the crypts see Dubois, vol. vi. p. 314-319.
[148] Toira in Assyrian means a mountain, a chain of mountains; _Tyrou_
in Chaldean; _Tourou_ in Syrian. With the Turk races _Tau_ means a
mountain, a round or high building, a rampart; and _or_ a façade. In
Greek _oros_ means a mountain. See Dubois, vol. vi. p. 12.
[149] The remainder of this chapter is abstracted from Hommaire de Hell,
vol. ii. ch. 19.
[150] See Dubois, vol. vi. p. 222.
[151] The history of the Goths in the Crimea, an obscure but interesting
subject, has been investigated in a recent German work, which I have not
seen.
[152] Clarke’s Travels, vol. i. App. 3.
[153] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 110. A great part of the following account of
Balaclava is translated from this author.
[154] K. Ritter, die Vorhalle Europäischer Völkergeschichten vor
Herodotus, um den Kaucasus und an den Gestaden des Pontus. Berlin, 1820,
p. 8. A very curious and interesting work, although considered too
speculative by some scholars.
[155] Pallas, vol. ii. p. 131.
[156] Ibid., vol. ii. p. 130; see also Strabo.
[157] MS. Travels of Nicholas Barti, of Lucca, into Tatary, Circassia,
and Mingrelia, from 1632-1639.
[158] Clarke’s Travels, vol. i. p. 507.
[159] Pallas, vol. ii. p. 132-3.
[160] Pallas, vol. ii. p. 89-99.
[161] This account of the valley of Baidar and the Tatars and their
dwellings is borrowed from Clarke, vol. ii. p. 514-520. The manners of
the Tatars are the same as those of other nations of Western Asia; and
this account has been inserted, because, although written a long time
ago, it is still believed to give a faithful picture of them.
[162] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 92.
[163] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 93.
[164] P. de Koeppen, Krimskii Sbornik, p. 23, quoted in Dubois.
[165] As, for instance, Mangoup, Biassala, Katchikalene, Mangouche, and
Lec.
[166] Cape Saritch is the name of the sailors for Mount Aia.
[167] General Potier was one of, I think, eight engineer officers lent by
Napoleon after the peace of Tilsit, to form the Russian engineers on the
French model, and to establish an École Polytechnique.
[168] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 97.
[169] The village of Kutchuk Koi, four versts from Kíkineis, was buried
in February, 1786. The following is the account of this catastrophe
from Professor Pallas’s work, written shortly after the event:—“On the
10th of February, 1786, the surface of the earth about the deep glens
before mentioned, and in another still further to the eastward, began
to burst, and to exhibit rocks or clefts; so that, on the same day,
the brook which had hitherto turned two small mills, constructed by
the native Tatars, entirely disappeared. Two days afterwards, the soil
having become entirely disengaged, and the frightened inhabitants of the
adjacent village having removed their cattle, carried off their effects,
and abandoned their habitations, the whole tract between the hollows
above described, from the lofty bank of rocks by the sea-shore, fell in
about midnight with a dreadful noise; and this sinking continued till
the 28th of February, so as to occasion a terrific abyss from ten to
twenty fathoms deep, in which only a large parallel ridge of hard rock
and two smaller crests remained projecting at the bottom. The ground
thus fallen extends about a mile and a half in length, and six hundred
yards in breadth. In proportion as one part of the steep declivity was
detached from the rock, the whole mass pressed downwards, and the strand
was removed further into the sea to a distance of from one hundred to two
hundred yards.”—Pallas’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 142.
[170] Pallas’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 150. It is a pity Professor Pallas
has given no specimen of the language of these people. By the original
inhabitants of the Crimea, I suppose he means the Tatar population, who
arrived in the Crimea with Batou Khan.
[171] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 85.
[172] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 82.
[173] It was measured trigonometrically by Mr. Chatillon, and found to be
3798 pieds de roi.—Dubois, vol. vi. p. 77.
[174] Castelnau, Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie, quoted by Dubois, vol. vi.
p. 81.
[175] The Russian loss at Borodino in killed and wounded was—generals,
30; officers, 1,600; men, 42,000.—_MS. Memoir._
The French loss was—generals, 40; officers, 1,800; men, 52,000, as shown
by the papers of Marshal Berthier, subsequently taken at Wilna.
[176] “Namesnik” in Russian—a very high office, seldom conferred. The
holder of it corresponds directly with the Emperor, and not through the
Ministry.
[177] The army of the Caucasus in 1847 was about 170,000 men.
[178] The history of these three ladies is admirably told by the graceful
and vigorous pen of Madame de Hell, in the chapter entitled ‘Trois femmes
célèbres.’ It is worth reading in the original French, as all the charm
of the writing is lost in the published English translation.
[179] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 73.
[180] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 59.
[181] The E. India Company have a similar establishment on the Neilgherry
Mountains in the South of India.
[182] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 55.
[183] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 24.
[184] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 26.
[185] The early writers on the coast of the Crimea are Herodotus,
B.C. 469; Scymnus of Chio, B.C. 100; Strabo, A.D. 29; Arrian, A.D.
110; Ptolemy, _A.D._ 211; Procopius, A.D. 550. The anonymous Periplus
translates into prose the verses of Scymnus.
[186] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 9.
[187] Scymnus of Chio, B.C. 100. See Hudson, Geo. Min.
[188] Dubois, vol. vi. p. 7.
[189] Dubois, vol. v. p. 450.
[190] Dubois, vol. v. p. 451.
[191] Ai for “agio,” holy, in Greek; and “thodor,” corruption of
“Theodoro.” Thus, “Ai Petri” for St. Peter.
[192] Dubois, vol. v. p. 455.
[193] Dubois, vol. v. p. 446.
[194] Dubois, vol. v. p. 429.
[195] See H. de Hell, vol. ii. p. 484.
[196] Dubois, vol. v. p. 350-360.
[197] Maharab is a kind of pulpit, generally in stone-work, on which the
“imam” or “mollah” stands in every mosque, and it is always turned in the
direction of Mecca: thus in Africa it would look towards the east, in
India towards the west, and in the Crimea nearly due south.
[198] See Dubois, vol. v. p. 355-358.
[199] The following account of the vines of the Crimea and the prices of
land is translated from Dubois, vol. v. p. 330-350.
[200] Bronovius, Desc. Tartariæ.
[201] ‘Recueil de quelques antiquités trouvées sur les bords de la Mer
Noire, par L. D. Waxel,’ No. 4, Clarke, Voyage, p. 117. It is now in the
Museum of Nikolaief.
[202] Mount Simeonkaia and Mount Kisilkaia.
[203] Dubois, vol. v. p. 413.
[204] Aian is a contraction for Agio Joannes, or St. John. Dubois, vol.
v. p. 417.
[205] Dubois, vol. v. p. 418.
[206] Dubois, vol. v. p. 407.
[207] Dubois, vol. v. p. 411.
[208] Ibid., vol. v. p. 412.
[209] Dubois, vol. v. p. 412.
[210] Id. p. 375.
[211] Pallas, vol. ii. p. 271, 387; Peyssonel, Commerce de la Mer Noire,
vol. ii. p. 269; Dubois, vol. i. p. 271.
[212] Dubois, vol. v. p. 280.
[213] From this point the greater part of the rest of this chapter is
translated from H. de Hell’s work. Vol. ii. ch. 18.
[214] Dubois, vol. v. p. 284.
[215] See Dubois, vol. v. p. 293.
[216] Dubois, vol. v. p. 287.
[217] A celebrated Armenian city in the Pashalic of Kars.
[218] Dubois, vol. v. p. 296.
[219] One ancient Armenian church exists at Zvainiets, near the Dneistr,
in Podolia; the interior walls are hewn stone, covered with carving of
very fine execution. This little church dates from the end of the 15th
century. At Jaslovitz in Gallicia, the seat of the famous Polish family
of Konietzpolski, is the residence of the Armenian bishop of that place.
The indignities heaped upon them afterwards obliged the Armenians to
quit that town, and they retired to Leopol or Lemberg, whose riches and
importance date from that time. Dubois, vol. v. p. 297, note.
[220] He gives a picture of it in his work.
[221] Clarke’s Travels, vol. i. p. 446.
[222] The Russians took this town in 1771, and restored it at the peace
of Kainardji, in 1774. Chahin Geray, the reigning Khan, then transferred
here the seat of government, till he was forced to yield up his country
to Catherine in 1784; he then passed into Russia, and at last was
strangled at Rhodes in 1787. He lived like an European, had a European
cook, ate all kinds of meat, and his servants wore a livery. He drove
in his carriage instead of riding, and hid his beard under a black silk
cravat—a daring thing for a Mussulman at that epoch. He had a corps of
200 Cossacks, dressed in a red and black uniform, under the command
of an English officer.—See ‘Essai Hist. sur la Mer Noire,’ by a very
intelligent French merchant of Kherson. Paris, 1805.
[223] See Clarke, vol. i. p. 451, note, for authorities in support of
this opinion.
[224] Dubois, vol. v. p. 218.
[225] Dubois, vol. v. p. 242.
[226] Hommaire de Hell, Vol. ii. p. 505.
[227] Dubois, vol. v. p. 104.
[228] Id. p. 108.
[229] Pallas. Voyages dans les Gouvernements Méridionaux, vol. ii. p. 298.
[230] The quarantine here is probably only a political measure to keep
away foreigners.
[231] The last “t” is pronounced like a “tz,” and the word as if written
“Constitutzia.”
[232] Dubois, Voyage, vol. v. p. 113-117.
[233] The remainder of this chapter is abstracted from Dubois’ detailed
account, vol. v. p. 113-239.
[234] Smith’s Geog. Dict., Art. ‘Bosphorus.’
[235] Reskóuporis I., Mithridates III. and his wife Ghepaipyris, and T.
J. Reskóuporis.
[236] Dubois, vol. v. p. 137.
[237] Dubois, vol. v. p. 151-184.
[238] See Genesis, chap. 24.
[239] See Sir W. Hamilton’s collection of Etruscan Vases, Naples, about
1766.
[240] A roof in which the stores go on projecting in layers till they
nearly meet at the top.
[241] The peacock is supposed to have been brought from India by the
companions of Alexander the Great, and in the wild state is not known
west of India.
[242] I found, curious to say, a somewhat similar tradition prevailing
near Chingleput, in Southern India. There the entrance was said to be
guarded by two gigantic wasps.
[243] Dubois, vol. v. p. 89.
[244] Dubois, vol. v. p. 194-288.
[245] Electrum is a mixture of gold and silver.
[246] For bows and arrows together, called oistiodoche.
[247] Boiled mutton is a common dish in Persia. An immense cauldron of it
is made about midday in the villages in some parts of Persia, and persons
sending may buy a portion. I have sometimes bought some in travelling,
but found it indigestible on account of the fat sheep’s tails boiled up
with it.
[248] The _toura_ is an animal in the Caucasus like a wild bull, with
enormous horns, and a very thick skull, as it throws itself down
precipices on its head. It is the favourite game of the Mingrelian and
Ossete princes.
[249] Strabo, lib. xi. p. 486.
[250] Dubois, vol. v. p. 223.
[251] This medal is among those published by Sestini.—Musée Chaudoir,
tab. i., figs. 5 and 6. Consult Dubois, vol. v. p. 225.
[252] Hagemeister, Com., see p. 147.
[253] See Scymnus of Chio, B.C. 100.
[254] Meleti and Sanson, geographers of the 17th century, say that Caffa
was built of material from Tousla, which is now the name of a village
near Opouk, and, according to Chardin, means salt-works. Krimskii
Sbornik, p. 106; Carte du Voyage de Chardin, en 1672; Dubois, vol. v. p.
263.
[255] Nearly the whole of this chapter is taken from the Pilot of the
Black Sea and the Sea of Azof, by the late M. Taitbout de Marigny, who
for many years employed his time in exploring these seas in his yacht.
A 3rd edition of his little work was printed in English with Maps, at
Constantinople, 1850.
[256] Tonka means “narrow.”
[257] _Kamish_ means “a reed” in Russian.
[258] _Bielo_ means “white” in Russian, and _serái_ “a palace” in Tatar.
[259] _Obriv_ means “a cliff” in Russian.
[260] _Dolgoi_ means “long” in Russian.
[261] _Staroi_ means old in Russia.
[262] It is sometimes called “Mertvoi Donetse.” Mertvoi means “dead” in
Russian.
[263] All the coals used are Russian coals, which come down the river.
[264] No masts are, however, shipped from Taganrok.
[265] Dictionnaire Géograph. Historique de l’Empire Russe. 1823. Art.
Taganrok.
[266] Cape Bielo-Serái is called Cape Bilestav by the Greeks and Italians.
[267] See Blue Book, p. 73. The exact numbers are, 1853, Imports, S. R.
48,110; Exports, S. R. 6,243,774.
[268] See Appendix, on the country between Yénitchi and Perecop.
[269] Rostof is not mentioned as one of the principal towns of Russia
in the Russian Government Tables of Population, &c., translated and
published this year by the Board of Trade (Statistical Tables relating to
Foreign Countries, Part I., 1855); I believe, however, that I am correct
in the importance which I attribute to it.
[270] See Blue Book, Stat. Tables of Foreign Countries, 1855, Part I., p.
70-72.
[271] Blue Book, p. 29.
[272] Id. id.
[273]
_Wheat._—Quarters 72 = Tchetwerts 100 of ten poods weight each.
_Linseed._—Quarters 83 = Tchetwerts 100 ditto
1 pood = 40 lbs. Russian = 36 lbs. English.
[274] There is a small portion grown in the Danubian Principalities and
in Italy, but of an inferior quality.
[275] This is also the case with Indian linseed.
[276] That is when manufactured, but not when it is sold to the public,
after having passed through the excise. The excise is farmed in Russia
according to governments, and is let by auction for short terms of years.
Mr. Tegoborski states, that last autumn (1854) the farms were relet, and
that there was no diminution in the biddings, on account of the war. It
has been for some time in contemplation to do away with the farming of
the excise, and to introduce a system somewhat similar to our own.
[277] This word has the same meaning in Russian, as “quarter” in English,
_Tchetwert_ being derived from _Tchetíri_, four.
[278] Dr. Clarke makes also the following observations on the name
of this river, which, being of considerable size, runs through the
Government of Kharkof, and meets the Don at some distance above
Tcherkask, and from which the Greeks, he thinks, took the name of Tanais,
which they applied to the Don. He says, “I must request the reader to
suppose himself entering the mouth of the Don, and proceeding up the
river to the distance of about 99 miles, above its embouchures, and
rather more than 46 above the town of Tcherkask. He would here find the
Danaetz falling into the Don, by two mouths, separated from each other
by a distance of 10 or 12 miles. But the people here have, from time
immemorial, entertained a notion that it leaves the Don again before it
reaches the sea, and, taking a north-westerly direction, falls into the
Palus Mæotis, to the north of all the other mouths of the Don, of which
it is, in fact, one. This northernmost mouth of the Don, on account of
the river whose waters its channel is supposed peculiarly to contain,
is called Danaetz, and to express either its sluggish current, or its
exit into the sea, _Dead Danaetz_. The Greeks, steering from the Crimea
towards the mouth of the Don, and, as their custom was, keeping close to
the shore, entered first this northernmost mouth of the river. It bore
then, as it does now, the name of _Danaetz_, _Idanaetz_, or _Tanaetz_,
whence the word _Tanais_ would be easily derived.”—Clarke, i. 257. It
must be remarked, however, that a gentleman from Taganrok informs me that
the word is distinctly pronounced _Donetz_, as the Germans write it.
[279] The importation of Russian woollens into China must be very large
to supply the extensive demand which exists for them in the north and
centre of China. The thick heavy kinds, which the Chinese call “hala,”
after the Russian name for wrappers or outside coverings, which are often
made from cloths of this description, are chiefly in request, and are
much used for cloaks and travelling dresses: those of red and green hues
are much esteemed, on account of the superior depth and brightness of the
Russian colours. These cloths are from 20 to 30 yards long, and from 62
to 64 inches broad. Belgian and Saxon cloths are also received through
Russia. Small parcels of Russian woollens are brought to Canton, where
they enter into competition with English goods, to the disadvantage of
the latter. Russian blue cloth may be bought at 2½ dollars per yard, and
in the interior it is a dollar cheaper: other kinds, except scarlet, are
cheaper. The Chinese could not sell at these prices, unless they obtained
them at rates even lower than the cost of production; and there is little
doubt that the Russians part with them at a loss, but are eventually
remunerated by the high profits they are able to realise on teas.
Kiachta and Mae-mae-Chin are the well known towns on the Russian and
Chinese borders respectively, where the trade between the two countries
is carried on. It is purely a barter trade; no money is allowed by the
Chinese to pass. The measure of value is bricks of tea, averaging about
3 lbs. in weight; and the chief staple of exchange on the side of the
Russians is cloth. Tea is the principal article given by the Chinese, of
which it is calculated that 18,000,000 lbs., of the value of 5,300,000
dollars, are taken by the Russians. The Russians have of late begun to
ship teas from the eastern part of China, and taking in the tea sent
through Europe, they receive about 2,000,000 lbs. by water; so that their
total consumption may be put at about 20 millions of lbs., and is rapidly
increasing. It is a disputed point whether the Russian caravan tea is the
same kind as that we drink, or whether its undoubtedly superior quality
arises from the land journey. Mr. Parkes thinks that the tea is the same,
but Mr. Hill was told at Kiachta that it came from different provinces.
(Hill’s ‘Siberia,’ vol. i. 1854.) Kiachta is 4000 miles from Moscow, and
1000 from Pekin. The cost of transport of tea from Kiachta to Moscow is
computed at 40_l._ a ton, or 4¼_d._ per lb.; Chinese transport is 3¼_d._
per lb.; total cost of transport per lb., 7½_d._; cost of water transport
from China to Russia, 2½_d._ Price of best tea in Russia, 2_l._ 2_s._ per
lb., which appears enormous to us in England.—(See Parkes’ Rep., Journal
of R. Geog. Soc., vol. xxiv. p. 306.) The Russian estimate of the value
of the cloth exported to China is about 400,000_l._, and total exports to
China, 850,177_l._—See Blue Book, p. 57.
[280] The time of year for advancing the money varies considerably,
according to the nature of the goods, the place of production, and the
class of people from whom they are bought. For the goods, consisting
principally of linseed and wheat, purchased on the Volga, the Don, and
its tributaries, most of the money is advanced as early as September on
produce to arrive the next year in June. On tallow to be delivered in
April the advances are generally made in the winter, and on that to be
delivered in October the advances are made in April and May. For such
of the fine wools as are purchased on the estates of the producers, the
advances are made about January or February, and sometimes the greatest
portion of them is purchased for ready money at the fairs.
[281] The rate of interest in South Russia varies from 8 to 14 per cent.
At Galatz and Ibrail money may be safely laid out at from 15 to 18 per
cent.
[282] The Greek consul-general in London, M. Ralli, is the head and
founder of this house of Ralli Brothers, who have branch establishments
in all the great towns in Europe and Asia as far as the eastern limits of
the Persian empire. They have recently opened a branch house in Calcutta,
where other Greeks have now established themselves.
[283] “Limné Mœoticé” in Greek, “Palus Mæotis” in Latin.
[284] The total tonnage was 393,096 tons.—Blue Book, p. 27.
[285]
Assign. Robles.
Per Tchetwert, for wheat 1 0c. to 1 50c., or 10_d._ to 15_d._
Rostof to Taganrok 0 50c. to 1 50c., or 5_d._ to 15_d._
Taganrok to Kertch 1 0c. to 5 0c., or 10_d._ to 4_s._ 2_d._
From Katchálin to Rostof 1, or 10_d._
[286] I am not certain of the exact place at which the Don becomes
navigable.
[287] The Volga was called Rhao by the ancients; the Tatars called it
_Idél_, _Adel_, or _Edel_, which signified _abundance_, _generosity_,
_riches_. The name of Volga, or Wolga, has the same origin as Boulgar
or Bulgarian, and this name was given to the river because the early
seats of the Bulgarians were situated on its banks before they moved to
their present country on the south bank of the Danube. It rises in the
district of Ostachof, in the government of Tver. Its course to the mouth
of the Kama is from west to east, and thence it runs to the south into
the Caspian Sea. It passes through the governments of Tver, Jaroslav,
Kostroma, Nijni Novgorod, Kazan, Simbirsk, Saratof, and Astrakhan, and
throws itself into the sea by 70 mouths, forming a multitude of islands.
Its course is about 2500 miles (4000 versts) long. It passes several
important towns, such as Tver, Ouglitch, Romanof, Jaroslav, Kostroma,
Balakhna, Nijni Novgorod, Kousmodemiansk, Tcheboksar, Kazan, Simbirsk,
Syzran, Saratof, Tsaritzine, and Astrakhan. It waters fertile regions,
and is ornamented on its lower course with fine forests. Its principal
navigation begins at Tver. The Volga has the advantage of having no
cataracts, or any dangerous passage; but its depth gradually diminishes
from time to time, so as to give reason to fear that it may become
unnavigable even for vessels of a moderate size. At the beginning of the
eighteenth century the salt vessels of Siberia could carry from 130,000
to 150,000 poods[288] of salt; now they cannot carry more than 90,000
poods. Fish is most abundant in it; the principal kinds are the beluga,
sturgeon, biella ryba, sterlet, &c.—Vsevolovski, _Dict. Géog. Hist. de
l’Empire Russe_, art. ‘Volga.’
[288] One pood = about 40 lbs. English.
[289] The project of uniting the Volga and the Don, so as to complete
the communication between the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas, is
very ancient. Seleucus Nicanor, then Selim II., and afterwards Peter
the Great, undertook the execution of it, and, if it has not yet been
effected, the delay must be attributed to other circumstances than to the
difficulty of the enterprise. If the Tlavlia, which falls into the Don,
and the Kamitchiaka, which falls into the Volga, were rendered navigable,
the distance necessary to unite these two mighty streams would only be
3 miles. The difficulty which Peter the Great encountered was, that the
level of the Don was higher than that of the Volga by a distance which
the academician Lovitz found to be 300 feet. The celebrated Pallas then
suggested a junction below the Tlavlia, where the Don, making an angle,
approaches the Volga within 50 versts (about 35 miles), and the ground
is a bed of sandstone easy to work. They might also be joined by a
canal from the Karpovka, on the left bank of the Don, and the Sarpa, a
tributary of the Volga; and this would be easy, because of deep ravines
and valleys near a convenient point of junction.
Peter the Great, however, united the Voroneje, which falls into the Don,
with the Niaza, by a canal; and as the last river flows into the Racovna,
the Racovna into the Oka, and the Oka into the Volga, it is possible to
navigate from Moscow into the Oka, and thence into the Don.—Vsevolovski,
_Dict. Hist. de l’Empire Russe_, art. ‘Don.’
[290] In spite of the protection afforded by all but prohibitory duties,
and the great expense incurred by the nation to support a fictitious
system, the manufacturers of Russia are always in a depressed state, and
do not gain by this state of things, although their countrymen lose.
[291] This is confirmed by Tegoborski. “The thing,” he says, “which
struck me the most during my short stay at Nijni Novgorod in 1852 was
the simplicity, and I might almost say the apparent carelessness, with
which commercial affairs were ordinarily carried on without the agency
of brokers (courtiers). Considering that there were sales to the amount
of 10,000,000_l._ in the short space of three or four weeks, I was
surprised to see the Exchange almost always deserted. Many important
affairs were concluded without any formality, on the simple word of
the parties, in the cafés and restaurants. This method of conducting
business is generally in use in Russia, and constitutes a characteristic
trait of our commerce. Few persons are aware that at Moscow there is
much more business done at the restaurant of the Troitsk (troitski
troetir) than at the Exchange. Sometimes, no doubt, a merchant becomes
embarrassed and unable to fulfil his engagements, but it is rare that
any man of tolerable credit frees himself in regular bad faith from a
bargain concluded without the formalities which would render it legally
binding.”—_Études_, vol. iii., p. 287.
[292] This was the number of the corps of the Caucasus when I left the
country in 1846, and it was afterwards, I believe, increased.
[293] Sunk on the 24th of September, 1854, at the entrance of the port of
Sevastopol.
[294] Published in the Appendices to Dr. Clarke’s Travels.—A discourse
under the trigger is the harangue made by a general to his troops when
the line is drawn out and the soldiers rest their pieces.
[295] The Russian archine is 28 inches.
[296] The Russian soldiers buy their own lead.
[297] The treasury of the mess.
[298] The name given by the Russians to the empress.
[299] It is impossible in this translation, consistently with fidelity,
to preserve the brevity and energy of the original Russian.
[300] This is a Russian mode of expression. To proceed ten versts, they
say, To break off ten.
[301] Children and brothers: appellations given by Suvórof to his troops.
[302] Whatever arrives. Suvórof began the attack as soon as the colours
arrived, even if he had but half a regiment advanced.
[303] Strength and a half. A common mode of expression in Russia. Suvórof
aimed at the style and language of the common soldiers, which rendered
his composition often obscure.
[304] Lashes: the literal translation is sticks.
[305] Professor Pallas supposed this to have been a manual of medicine,
published for the use of the army.
[306] Here he endeavours to counteract a Russian prejudice, that is
favourable to immoderate eating during fevers.
[307] A sour beverage, made of fermented flour and water.
[308] Suvórof had so great an aversion to any person saying “I
don’t know,” in answer to his questions, that he became almost mad
with passion. His officers and soldiers were so well aware of this
singularity, that they would hazard any answer instantly, accurate or
not, rather than venture to incur his displeasure by professing ignorance.
[309] The words here are some of them not to be translated, and seem to
be the coinage of his own fancy. The Russians themselves cannot affix an
explication to them.
[310] A Russian proverb.
[311] Here Suvórof is a little in his favourite character of the buffoon.
He generally closed his harangues by endeavouring to excite laughter
among his troops; and this mode of forming a climax is a peculiar
characteristic of the conversation of the Russian boors. In this
manner:—“And not only of the boors, but of the gentry; and not only of
the gentry, but the nobles; and not only of the nobles, but the emperors.”
[312] A slight exaggeration of Suvórof’s.
[313] From Hagemeister’s Report on the Commerce of New Russia. London,
1836, p. 120.
[314] Trade and Navigation of the Crimea for 1852, from the ‘Journal de
St. Pétersbourg.’