Chapter XXV: Appendix: (a.) (2)

_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.