they were the only survivors. Each man was distinctly visible for a moment, as he passed through a gleam of the moonlight; and so, without the sound of a footfall, the whole procession slowly vanished, and we were left to pursue our lonely way over the desolate steppe. Many hours after, I awoke to the realities of a miserable post-hut, and could scarcely believe that the spectral view I had obtained of an Armenian funeral in the old Tartar town of Karassu Bazaar was not a dream.

Karassu Bazaar is one of the largest and most characteristic of Crimean towns, containing a population of nearly fifteen thousand inhabitants. It is advantageously situated for commercial purposes; and the industrious Jews and Armenians, who, together with Tartars, compose the population, carry on extensive manufactures in morocco leather, soap, candles, &c.

The Kara Su, or black-water river, runs past the town, and through a fertile valley which grows great quantities of grain and tobacco; while the extensive pasture-lands of the surrounding steppes enable the inhabitants to maintain large herds of cattle. Near this spot the gallant Potemkin erected a palace, expressly for the reception of the Empress Catharine, who was thus surprised to find herself surrounded by all the luxuries of civilised life in this remote corner of her empire.

On the left of the post road from Karassu Bazaar

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to Simpheropol, and not many miles distant, are situated numerous German colonies, which have been placed upon the slopes of the mountains in the upper part of the rich valleys with which the country now begins to be continually intersected. The northern course of each rivulet was distinctly marked by a narrow belt of wood.

We had accomplished a hundred and twenty-five miles in thirty-seven hours with the same horses. The Tartar was in continual danger of dropping off his box, fatigued with hunting along his team through two consecutive nights; and the whole party were equally tired of the journey, when, after climbing up a steep ravine, the new Russian capital of the Crimea lay spread at our feet, as beautiful as it was a welcome sight. The fertile valley of the Salghir, winding from the base of the Tchatir Dagh, here expanded into a richly cultivated plain, where the white houses and handsome churches of Simpheropol seemed half buried amid luxuriant vegetation. To the left the Tchatir Dagh raised its imposing crest, to a height of five thousand feet, standing boldly out, as if unwilling to acknowledge any connection with the adjoining range. In shape it reminded me of Table Mountain at the Cape of Good Hope.

The cheering effects of this delightful prospect were soon manifest, alike upon ourselves, the Tartar, and the horses. The latter, sniffing their journey's end, took advantage of a gentle slope, and started off

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at a gallop the Tartar vented approving shouts of their conduct-while we shook ourselves out of the dust and straw as we dashed into the valley, along avenues of tapering poplars, and terminated, with inexpressible satisfaction, our last experience of steppe travelling.

TARTAR QUARTER-STREET SCENES-BACTRIAN CAMELS-THE FAIR COSTUMES-VARIETY OF RACES-PREPARATIONS FOR ASCENDING

THE TCHATIR DAGH

TARTAR QUARTERS A RESTLESS NIGHT ASCEND THE TCHATIR DAGH-MAGNIFICENT VIEW-THE CAVE

WHEN the Crimea was ceded to Russia in 1781, the picturesque old capital of Bagtchi Serai was considered unworthy of being the chief town of the new province, and a gay modern city was laid out upon the plains of the Salghir, dignified with an imposing ancient Greek name, and built in true Russian taste, with very broad streets, very white tall houses,

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decorated with very green paint. If the population consisted entirely of Russians, the interior of the town would be as far from realising the expectations which its outward appearance is calculated to produce, as Kazan or Saratov; but fortunately for Simpheropol, it was once Akmetchet, or "The White Mosque," and the inhabitants of Akmetchet still linger near the city of their ancestors, and invest the cold monotony of the new capital with an interest of which it would be otherwise quite unworthy.

Formerly the second town in the Crimea, and the residence of the Kalga Sultan, or vice-Khan, Akmetchet was a city of great importance, adorned with palaces, mosques, and public baths. It has now exchanged the Eastern magnificence of former days for the tawdry glitter of Muscovite barbarism.

About five thousand Tartars inhabit exclusively one quarter of the town, and thither we bent our steps, under the guidance of an intelligent German watchmaker, who officiated as cicerone during our stay at Simpheropol with great kindness, neglecting the duties of his shop for the pleasure of lionising the "distinguished" strangers.

The streets inhabited by Tartars are composed entirely of blank walls, and would, therefore, be the dullest places imaginable were it not for the people who traverse them. The houses are only one storey high, and each is enclosed in a separate courtyard. The parchment windows which look out into it are placed so low as to be quite hidden from the street;