with I know not what sentiment of joy and terror, which, in the state of astonishment and stupor into which this striking occurrence had thrown me, it was impossible to develop. The cold with which I was seized on the summit of the mountain obliged me to think very soon of departing. The clouds however had removed; and I had the pleasure of beholding the picture I had so ardently enjoyed by degrees reanimated, and presenting me, in the midst of different objects becoming insensibly visible to the eye, with attractions that drew all my attention. I discovered a great number of the grottoes, cavities, and abysses of the rocks. The snows, with which these last are filled, and which exist eternally, give birth to the Salgir, and sustain besides an infinity of smaller streams, which flow in an irregular course on every side. This great quantity of water, produced by the melting of the snow, as it escapes from the gulfs and profound excavations which it seems to have assisted in forming, encounters in its passage to the foot of the mountain different rocks, which convert it into a number of cascades, the noise of which is loud enough to be heard at a considerable distance. The water is extremely cold, and so limpid, that notwithstanding a depth of seventy fathoms, the sound of a piece of money being thrown in, and reaching the bottom, would be distinctly heard. I discovered in different parts of the mountain many loud and distinct echoes, which return several reverberations.' F, 41.

In our author's return to Petersburg, through Poland, we meet with nothing peculiarly striking. He points out the gigantic magnificence of Moscow, and the barbaric splendour of its vast fétes. In Petersburg, too, he notices the show, the luxury, the magnificence, of the entertainments given by the higher ranks.

The embassy, which he is engaged to follow, soon calls him from these scenes; and his journey, for a part of the way, brings him towards his former track. We pursue splendid spectacles, however, with less interest than the simple views of nature, and scenes not yet painted by the faithful hand of a real observer.

We stop with a little interest at Jassy, the capital of Moldavia, as at no great distance prince Potemkin 'breathed his Jast, in a field, as he was taken ill in his carriage. In this neighbourhood, too, count Romanzow lived in retirement, after having yielded the command of the army to the supe rior abilities, or the happier fortune, of Potemkin. The princes of Moldavia are subject to the Porte; and the precarious office of hospodar prevents any concerted plan for the increased prosperity of the country. The embassy was received with the most pompous hospitality; and the enter tainments were enlivened by the beauty, good humour, and splendor, of the ladies, who had learned English and Polish dances, teaching, in return, those of their own country.

At Bucharest they were received with similar attention, and soon afterwards crossed the Danube, when they entered

Bulgaria, a mountainous country, though highly cultivated, and where the peasants enjoy a fertile soil in security and peace. Romelia, the next province, is more mountainous still; yet cultivated badly, and parched, at that time, by a long continued drought. At last, however, they cross Mount Balkin, the ancient Hamus, and reach Adrianople, in a valley, beautiful, well cultivated, and watered by three ri

vers.

From Adrianople, we find nothing particularly interesting to detain us; and we shall add the general feelings of the traveler in this very tiresome journey, from his reflexions on arriving at Constantinople.

If it has ever happened to any of the persons who read to the end of my work, to wander during six months on the high roads before obtaining the object they had in view; if in the course of their journey they have been shut up in a carriage drawn at a slow pace by oxen, exposed to the burning rays of the sun, suffocated by the dust, torn by thorns and brambles, and horribly jolted by the roughness of the roads; if during the greatest part of the nights they have been under tents incapable of defending them from the torrents of rain which poured down upon them; if when exhausted with weariness and fa- · tigue they have experienced the vexation of being awakened by troublesome insects and reptiles; or if they have passed abruptly through the extremes of heat and cold, and supported the intemperance of the seasons; if in the course of their travels they have been inconvenienced with occurrences of this nature, they may perhaps form a just idea of the delight I experienced when I got out of my bed for the first time after our arrival at Constantinople. I was so enchanted with the reflexion that I was no longer under the necessity of occupying myself with preparations for travelling, that I thought of nothing but eating the excellent breakfast that waited for me; and this idea caused me additional joy, when, from the window of the apartment I shared with some of my companions, I beheld the most enchanting spectacle in the world. It is a generally acknowledged truth, that Constantinople is more delightfully situated than any other town in Europe, and that in this point of view she may dispute the preference with even Genoa or Naples. She is placed at the extremity of the celebrated Bosphorus of Thrace, which may be about half a league in length. It is by the Bosphorus that the Black Sea communicates with the sea of Marmora. On each side along its banks are a great number of gardens and country-houses, in the arrangement and construc tion of which is conspicuous the taste of all nations, without even excepting the Chinese. The city rises in an amphitheatre, exhibiting an infinite number of mosques and towers. Its shores are in general planted with cypress and other trees, presenting a most varied and animated scene, from the quantity of persons who pass and repass, as differently habited as the occupations are various which conduct them thither. Before the town extends the sea of Marmora, whose immense and tranquil surface of water facilitates the view of numerous vessels of all sizes and from all countries; to say nothing of a prodi

gious quantity of handsome barges, and islands full of rocks, or co vered with lively verdure, light-houses, and many other edifices. The scene is also embellished by the coasts of Asia, enriched with hills and interspersed with country-houses, delightful gardens, and clumps of trees, in addition to which appears in the neighbourhood the large town of Scutari, presenting a very gratifying perspective.' P. 103.

The ceremonies, spectacles, and galas, we shall not notice; and we have already so many descriptions of Constantinople, and its ancient remains, that it would be difficult to offer any striking novelty. We mean not that any part is trite or copied. On the contrary, the author seems to have been peculiarly active in surveying the environs, and to have had some peculiar advantages in examining the different parts of this successor of the ancient Byzantium. We mean only to say, that the novelties are not easily discovered or separated from what has been before told.

The return is more full and descriptive than the journey forward. In the vicinity of the Black Sea, through the delightful provinces already noticed, and in the neighbourhood of the Danube, rolling majestically to the Euxine, the author could not avoid many interesting reflexions.

We find little of importance till the travelers cross the ancient Hamus, and arrive in Bulgaria; but the Hamus, inferior to the ancient Rhodope, which it meets at nearly a right angle, sends out but few rivers. It is from the latter mountain that the numerous streams arise, which swell the Danube, at its embouchure, into a vast river.

Bulgaria is not highly fertile; but the inhabitants are distinguished by a simplicity of manners and a courteousness that engage regard. Walachia is more luxuriant; and Molda. via is apparently capable of supporting a considerable population. In the fornier, however, agriculture is much neglected. The wheat, Turkish corn, barley, millet, and a small quantity of oats, are only raised for their interior consumption.

Labour, and the proper adaptation of crops, are in general so ill understood in this country as to render the scantiness of its produce very little surprising. Not more than a fortieth part of its extent is tilled. The cultivator only sows what he considers as sufficient to serve him for the necessaries of life, under the apprehension that the boyards or lords, who take the utmost care that these unfortunate. peasants should retain no more than what will suffice for their existence, may seize whatever exceeds that proportion. The misery and idleness, or rather the state of non-entity of the human species in these Countries, appears almost incredible when the natural excellence of the soil is considered; but when reflexion is carried back to the operation of eastern despotism, refined by the hospodars, who are at the same

moment both slaves and tyrants, there is no longer room for astonishment.' P. 258.

The vine is a more considerable object of cultivation and of com merce in this country. It will grow any where, though it is more ge nerally and more successfully cultivated at the foot of the mountains. The wines they produce are light and watery, but they possess a very agreeable flavour, and a nourishing quality. Those of Pietra are esteemed the best, and they are sometimes even considered superior to the best Tokay wine; and, if the country produces very little of it, it is entirely the fault of the inhabitants, who neither know how to make or preserve it, the cultivators of vineyards being unaccustomed to weeding them carefully; and, ignorant of the method of trailing them, similar to that practised in vine countries, content themselves with raking up the earth once a year round the stalk, and take no further care to prevent the growth of weeds. The most considerable commerce for these wines is with Poland and the Ukraine. A certain quantity is even conveyed as far as Moscow. I have already mentioned the quantity of fruits of every kind produced in Walachia, where it is common to meet with even whole forests of fruit-trees, such as pears, cherries, and apricots, &c. The greatest part of the mountains, in this circumstance of the variety of its fruit-trees, resemble our best cultivated gardens, which undoubtedly will always be inferior to those I saw in Walachia. I observed in general a greater population in the mountains than in the plains, notwithstanding their being less fertile. This is easily accounted for, when it is considered that these mountains answer the purpose of an asylum to the inhabitants during the ravages of war. They instantly fly to them for refuge when the flatter parts of the country are exposed to the fury and ravages of a lawless Turkish soldiery, whose violence it is difficult to restrain, and who bear in mind the consciousness of being the support of the thrones of the sultans, who dare not punish them. On these unhappy occasions, the Walachians find in these mountains a secure retreat against the rage of their tyrants, who carefully avoid pursuing them thither, dreading the stratagems and intrepidity of those who inhabit them. The paths leading to these mountains are almost inaccessible, and known only to those who constantly reside in them.' r. 259.

Weyd (probably woad), employed in dyeing blue, succeeds very well in this country. The skompi, used in the dressing of Morocco leather, and a sort of strawberry which gives a yellow colour, are also said to be common. Three Hundred and forty thousand horned cattle are annually sent from Walachia to Constantinople; and several millions of horses, with numerous flocks of sheep, are driven every year to graze in the country. Some millions of sheep are sold annually for the Constantinople market at about 2s. 6d. cach; and a broad cloth is manufactured in this country from the wool, usually dyed blue or green. Bees are much attended to; and the honey, nearly white, is carried to Constantino

ple; the wax to Venice. A green wax is produced by bees of a particular species, smaller than the common, but very scarce. Near Bucharest is a mine of fossile salt; and, as the mountains of Walachia are a continuation of those of Hungary, they may probably be equally rich in metals. Grains of gold are frequently brought down by the rivers, mixed with sand.

Though Walachia, no more than other southern countries, has escaped the invasions and inundations of barbarous nations, yet the Roman name, and language have ever been preserved in it. The inhabitants still call themselves Romans. The name of Walachians is without doubt a Sclavonian name adopted by the Turks. The present Walachians being a mixture of several nations, their language also is mixed with a quantity of terms, so much disfigured, that it is very often quite impossible to trace their origin. Each barbarous nation has left in it some of its own language, and a most disgusting jargon is the result of the whole together. Meanwhile, the Roman language has finally been paramount; but without experiencing a better fate in Walachia than in the other countries in which it formerly prevailed; it is even much more corrupted in Walachia than in most other places.

The Walachians are in general tall, well built, robust, and of a very wholesome complexion. Diseases are very rare amongst them; and the plague, though so frequent in Turkey, has never been known in Walachia, excepting in times of war, when this disease is brought among them by the troops who come from Asia.

It is melancholy to consider, that so beautiful and fertile a country, situate in so fine a climate, and inhabited by beings of this description, should be so thinly peopled. I am persuaded that the coun try is capable of subsisting five or six times more inhabitants than it at present contains. Its population, far from increasing, has been diminishing for a great number of years; the principal reasons for which are easily conceived:-the despotic government of the Turks; the taxes which the hospodar is obliged to levy on the country, to be enabled to pay the annual tribute, and to buy powerful friends at the court of the grand-signior; the tyrannical manner of collecting these taxes; the oppressions of the boyards, who take revenge on their vassals for the sovereign contempt with which they are treated by the Turks; the frequent wars in which the Porte has been engaged, the conscquences of which have been so sensibly felt by Walachia, and of which it has often been the theatre; the barbarities and cruelties exercised by the soldiery in times of war; the plague itself, which frequently follows in their train;-this combined multitude of destructive evils, any single one of which is sufficient to lay waste and depopulate the most flourishing country, contributes in equal portions to diminish the number of the inhabitants of this province, and every day to increase their emigration. The wise and benevolent policy of their neighbours receives them with open arms; and Transylvania, in particular, has derived many advantages from these forced or voluntary emigrations of the inhabitants, who in the similarity of the soil, man