Category: Travel Writing

Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c.

Excursion on the Banks of the Dniepr--Doutchina--Election of the Marshals and Judges of the Nobility at Kherson--Horse-Racing --Strange Story in the "Journal des Debats"--A Country House and its Visiters--Traits of Russian Manners--The Wife of Two Husbands --Servants--Murder o...

Chapters

1. CHAPTER II.

2. CHAPTER III.

3. CHAPTER IV.

4. CHAPTER V.

5. CHAPTER VII.

6. CHAPTER VIII.

7. CHAPTER IX.

Excursion on the Banks of the Dniepr--Doutchina--Election of the Marshals and Judges of the Nobility at Kherson--Horse-Racing --Strange Story in the "Journal des Debats"--A Coun...

8. CHAPTER X.

Departure for the Caspian--Iekaterinoslav--Potemkin's Ruined Palace--Paskevitch's Caucasian Guard--Sham Fight--Intolerable Heat--Cataracts of the Dniepr--German Colonies--The Se...

9. CHAPTER XI.

Marioupol--Berdiansk--Knavish Jew Postmaster--Taganrok--Memorials of Peter the Great and Alexander--Great Fair--The General with Two Wives--Morality in Russia--Adventures of a P...

10. CHAPTER XII.

11. CHAPTER XIII.

General Remarks on New Russia--Antipathy between the Muscovites and Malorossians--Foreign Colonies--General aspect of the Country, Cattle, &c.--Want of Means of Communication--R...

12. CHAPTER XIV.

The different Conditions of Men in Russia--The Nobles--Discontent of the Old Aristocracy--The Merchant Class--Serfdom--Constitution of the Empire; Governments--Consequences of C...

13. CHAPTER XV.

14. CHAPTER XVI.

Entry into the Country of the Don Cossacks--Female Pilgrims of Kiev; Religious Fervour of the Cossacks--Novo Tcherkask, Capital of the Don--Street-lamps guarded by Sentinels--Th...

15. CHAPTER XVII.

16. CHAPTER XVIII.

17. CHAPTER XIX.

18. CHAPTER XX.

19. CHAPTER XXI.

Commercial Position of Astrakhan--Its Importance in the Middle Ages--Its Loss of the Overland Trade from India--Commercial Statistics--Fisheries of the Caspian--Change of the Mo...

20. CHAPTER XXII.

21. CHAPTER XXIII.

Another Robbery at Houidouk--Our Nomade Life--Camels--Kalmuck Camp--Quarrel with a Turcoman Convoy, and Reconciliation--Love of the Kalmucks for their Steppes; Anecdote--A Satza...

22. CHAPTER XXV.

The Kalmucks after the Departure of Oubacha--Division of the Hordes, Limits of their Territory--The Turcoman and Tatar Tribes in the Governments of Astrakhan and the Caucasus--...

23. CHAPTER XXVII.

24. CHAPTER XXVIII.

Banks of the Kouma; Vladimirofka--M. Rebrof's Repulse of a Circassian Foray--Bourgon Madjar--Journey along the Kouma-- View of the Caucasian Mountains--Critical Situation--Georg...

25. CHAPTER XXIX.

26. CHAPTER XXX.

History of their Acquisition of the Trans-Caucasian Provinces --General Topography of the Caucasus--Armed Line of the Kouban and the Terek--Blockade of the Coasts--Character and...

27. CHAPTER XXXI.

28. CHAPTER XXXII.

29. CHAPTER XXXIII.

30. CHAPTER XXXIV.

31. CHAPTER XXXV.

32. CHAPTER XXXVII.

33. CHAPTER XXXIX.

34. CHAPTER XL.

35. CHAPTER XLI.

Extent and Character of Surface--Milesian and Heraclean Colonies --Kingdom of the Bosphorus--Export and Import Trade in the Times of the Greek Republics--Mithridates--The Kingdo...

36. CHAPTER XLII.

Commercial Polity of Russia in the Crimea--Caffa sacrificed in Favour of Kertch--These two Ports compared--The Quarantine at the Entrance of the Sea of Azof, and its Consequence...

37. CHAPTER XLIII.

38. CHAPTER I.

On the 15th of May, 1838, we bade adieu to Constantinople, and standing on the deck of the Odessa steamer, as it entered the Bosphorus, we could not withdraw our eyes from the m...

39. CHAPTER II.

The day of our release from quarantine, was as full of bustle and annoyances as that of our arrival, the _spolio_ alone excepted. How we regretted the freedom of the East! There...

40. CHAPTER III.

The brilliant fetes that took place on the arrival of the imperial family, happened most opportunely for us, and enabled us to see many celebrated personages. All the foreigners...

41. CHAPTER IV.

From the destruction of the Genoese colonies in the Crimea, in 1476, down to the treaty of Kainardji, a period of 300 years, the Black Sea remained closed against the nations of...

42. CHAPTER V.

Of all the seaboard of the East, the coasts of the Black Sea are those from which the expense of freight are the greatest. Different circumstances combine in producing this effe...

43. CHAPTER VI.

In justification of its prohibitive system, the government alleges the protection and encouragement it owes to native industry. Now it is evident that absolute exclusion cannot...

44. CHAPTER VII.

After some months' stay in Odessa, we left it in company with General Potier, a Frenchman by birth, to pass the winter at his country-house. Travelling would nowhere be more rap...

45. CHAPTER VIII.

That same winter at 10 P.M. on the 11th of January, we had a smart shock of earthquake, but which happily did no mischief in that part of the steppes. We were seated at the whis...

46. CHAPTER IX.

EXCURSION ON THE BANKS OF THE DNIEPR--DOUTCHINA--ELECTION OF THE MARSHALS AND JUDGES OF THE NOBILITY AT KHERSON--HORSE-RACING --STRANGE STORY IN THE "JOURNAL DES DEBATS"--A COUN...

47. CHAPTER X.

DEPARTURE FOR THE CASPIAN--IEKATERINOSLAV--POTEMKIN'S RUINED PALACE--PASKEVITCH'S CAUCASIAN GUARD--SHAM FIGHT--INTOLERABLE HEAT--CATARACTS OF THE DNIEPR--GERMAN COLONIES--THE SE...

48. CHAPTER XI.

MARIOUPOL--BERDIANSK--KNAVISH JEW POSTMASTER--TAGANROK-- MEMORIALS OF PETER THE GREAT AND ALEXANDER--GREAT FAIR--THE GENERAL WITH TWO WIVES--MORALITY IN RUSSIA--ADVENTURES OF A...

49. CHAPTER XII.

As we turned our backs on Taganrok, we could easily foresee what we should have to suffer during our journey. A long drought and a temperature of 99 deg. had already changed the...

50. CHAPTER XIII.

GENERAL REMARKS ON NEW RUSSIA--ANTIPATHY BETWEEN THE MUSCOVITES AND MALOROSSIANS--FOREIGN COLONIES--GENERAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, CATTLE, &C.--WANT OF MEANS OF COMMUNICATION --...

51. CHAPTER XIV.

We must not, however, form to ourselves an idea of the Russian nobility at all similar to those we entertain of the aristocracies of Germany, or of ante-revolutionary France. In...

52. CHAPTER XIV.

CONSTITUTION OF THE EMPIRE; GOVERNMENTS--CONSEQUENCES OF CENTRALISATION; DISSIMULATION OF PUBLIC FUNCTIONARIES-- TRIBUNALS--THE COLONEL OF THE GENDARMERIE--CORRUPTION-- PEDANTRY...

53. CHAPTER XV.

In contemplating the development and organisation of public instruction in Russia from the time of Peter the Great to these days, one cannot help thinking that the Russians atta...

54. CHAPTER XVI.

ENTRY INTO THE COUNTRY OF THE DON COSSACKS--FEMALE PILGRIMS OF KIEV; RELIGIOUS FERVOUR OF THE COSSACKS--NOVO TCHERKASK, CAPITAL OF THE DON--STREET-LAMPS GUARDED BY SENTINELS--TH...

55. CHAPTER XVII.

The origin of the Don Cossacks has, like that of the Tatars of Southern Russia, given rise to interminable discussions. Some have represented this people as an offshoot of the g...

56. CHAPTER XVIII.

Beyond Novo Tcherkask the road to Astrakhan runs northward along the right bank of the Don; the country still continuing the same naked and monotonous appearance; it is only in...

57. CHAPTER XIX.

At some distance from the colony, a dull white line, scarcely distinguishable through the gloom, announced the presence of the Volga. We followed its course all night, catching...

58. CHAPTER XX.

The history of Astrakhan is so well known that the reader will no doubt thank us for not recapitulating the various political revolutions that have taken place in the regions of...

59. CHAPTER XXI.

COMMERCIAL POSITION OF ASTRAKHAN--ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES--ITS LOSS OF THE OVERLAND TRADE FROM INDIA-- COMMERCIAL STATISTICS--FISHERIES OF THE CASPIAN--CHANGE OF THE M...

60. CHAPTER XXII.

We left Astrakhan at eight in the evening, and were ferried across the Volga in a four-oared boat. It took us more than an hour to cross the river, its breadth opposite the town...

61. CHAPTER XXIII.

ANOTHER ROBBERY AT HOUIDOUK--OUR NOMADE LIFE--CAMELS--KALMUCK CAMP--QUARREL WITH A TURCOMAN CONVOY, AND RECONCILIATION-- LOVE OF THE KALMUCKS FOR THEIR STEPPES; ANECDOTE--A SATZ...

62. CHAPTER XXIV.

The account we have given of our journey on the banks of the Volga, and the steppes of the Caspian, will have afforded the reader an idea of the strange and striking habits of t...

63. CHAPTER XXV.

THE KALMUCKS AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF OUBACHA--DIVISION OF THE HORDES, LIMITS OF THEIR TERRITORY--THE TURKOMAN AND TATAR TRIBES IN THE GOVERNMENTS OF ASTRAKHAN AND THE CAUCASUS--...

64. CHAPTER XXVI.

The Kalmucks, Like most of the other offshoots of the Mongol stock, are Buddhists, or rather Lamites. According to the opinion of all writers, Buddhism began in India, and Buddh...

65. CHAPTER XXVII.

Perhaps no people has given occasion to more discussions than the Tatars and Mongols, nor is the problem of their origin completely solved in our day, notwithstanding the most l...

66. CHAPTER XXVIII.

BANKS OF THE KOUMA; VLADIMIROFKA--M. REBROF'S REPULSE OF A CIRCASSIAN FORAY--BOURGON MADJAR--JOURNEY ALONG THE KOUMA-- VIEW OF THE CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINS--CRITICAL SITUATION--GEORG...

67. CHAPTER XXIX.

From Georgief we set out for Piatigorsk, the chief watering place of the Caucasus, and travelled for three hours over a dreary plain, with nothing for the eye to rest on but her...

68. CHAPTER XXX.

HISTORY OF THEIR ACQUISITION OF THE TRANS-CAUCASIAN PROVINCES--GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY OF THE CAUCASUS--ARMED LINE OF THE KOUBAN AND THE TEREK--BLOCKADE OF THE COASTS--CHARACTER AND...

69. CHAPTER XXXI.

The treaty of Adrianople was in a manner the opening of a new era in the relations of Russia with the mountaineers; for it was by virtue of that treaty that the present tzar, al...

70. CHAPTER XXXII.

At four o'clock on a dull morning we left Piatigorsk of charming memory, to strike once more into the mountains, where by the by, in less than an hour, we were met by one of the...

71. CHAPTER XXXIII.

It would have been impossible to travel more rapidly than we did from Stavropol to the Don. The steppe is as smooth as a mirror, and the posting better conducted than in any oth...

72. CHAPTER XXXIV.

After a winter spent in the pleasures of repose, we left Odessa at the end of April to visit the Crimea, on board the _Julia_, a handsome brig, owned and commanded by M. Taitbou...

73. CHAPTER XXXV.

After our excursion to Inkermann we left Sevastopol the same day, glad to quit the Russians and their naval capital for Bagtche Serai, that ancient city, which previously to the...

74. CHAPTER XXXVI.

Under the Tatars Simpheropol was the second town of the Crimea, and the residence of the Kalga Sultan, whose functions were nearly equivalent to those of vice-khan. He exercised...

75. CHAPTER XXXVII.

The country we passed over, next day, on our way to the southern coast, had a wild sylvan appearance strikingly in contrast with what we had hitherto seen. Between the valley of...

76. CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Every one is aware of the mystic influence which Madame de Krudener exercised for many years over the enthusiastic temperament of the Emperor Alexander. This lady who has so cha...

77. CHAPTER XXXIX.

The proximity of Ialta to the most remarkable places on the coast, its harbour, and its delightful situation, make it the rendezvous of all the travellers who flock to the Crime...

78. CHAPTER XL.

Leaving my wife to return with Mademoiselle Jacquemart to Oulou Ouzen, I took my way by the lower part of the valley of Soudagh through a labyrinth of vineyards and meadows cove...

79. CHAPTER XLI.

EXTENT AND CHARACTER OF SURFACE--MILESIAN AND HERACLEAN COLONIES--KINGDOM OF THE BOSPHORUS--EXPORT AND IMPORT TRADE IN THE TIMES OF THE GREEK REPUBLICS--MITHRIDATES--THE KINGDOM...

80. CHAPTER XLII.

COMMERCIAL POLITY OF RUSSIA IN THE CRIMEA--CAFFA SACRIFICED IN FAVOUR OF KERTCH--THESE TWO PORTS COMPARED--THE QUARANTINE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE SEA OF AZOF, AND ITS CONSEQUENCE...

81. CHAPTER XLIII.

To complete our account of the southern regions of Russia, it remains for us to speak of Bessarabia, the most remote province which the tzars possess on the shores of the Black...