but the article the shipment of which would prove most lucrative, is salt.

From the very small tonnage of the Turkish ships at present employed in that trade, the transport constitutes an undue proportion of the price; and this the superior size of our vessels, admitting of large cargoes, would very considerably diminish. The exorbitant profit to be made at present in consequence of the blockade, and of which some idea may be formed from the voyage of the Vixen, which, but for its capture, would have realized five or six hundred per cent., forms, it is true, no criterion of what it might be under ordinary circumstances; there can be no doubt, however, that the supply of salt to these countries would, with the facilities we possess, be a considerable and advantageeus accession to our shipping trade. A point on which a merchant would perhaps feel less confidence, is the nature of the returns; but I do not apprehend the difficulty would be so great as may be imagined. Certainly, he could not purchase slaves, but investments might easily be made in wax, honey, butter, hides, sheep and goats, wool, fox-skins, grain of every description, and boxwood-articles of which there is already a superfluity for home consumption, and which may be had so cheap that they are exported, to a small extent,

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to Turkey itself. There is every reason to suppose that the supply of these things would increase with the demand, if we take into consideration that at least two-thirds of the soil are either uncleared or uncultivated. This is a fact which I was for some time at a loss to reconcile with its large population—larger indeed for a rural one than any I had previously met with. I did not reflect at first that it was exclusively rural, and that the produce of its labour was merely for its own use, and not for that of towns and cities, of which there are none whatever, or for exportation.

During our sojourn as guests of the Zazi Oglous at Djouga, Mehmet visited us early one morning with a bag in his hand, from which he produced, with an air of great mystery, some large lumps of ore which he declared to be silver, but which we were rather inclined to believe were tin-stone. Abundance of it, he assured us, was to be had in the place where he obtained his specimens; but he flatly, or rather scornfully, refused to acquaint us where this was. He was not singular in this respect; the remark made by Klaproth as to the caution of the people in this particular we found to be perfectly correct. There seemed to be a general conspiracy among them to conceal from us the

locality of these mines, to which, though they made no secret of their existence, they always declined to conduct us. They have an idea, that were strangers to become fully acquainted with them, they would present an additional inducement for the conquest of their country. Their jealousy is not unfounded; nor have they forgotten that the first expedition undertaken by Russia into the Caucasus was with a view of exploring and appropriating these mines.

The fourth day after our arrival, we perceived a great concourse of people of both sexes in the sacred grove at the bottom of the bay. The sounds of music and revelry issuing all day long from the precincts of the antique wood greatly excited our curiosity, the more so that we had received no invitation to be present, and we did not wish to intrude. Nadir's interpreter, however, the Hadji, who, particularly when there were fun and feasting in the wind, was troubled with no such scruples, was a spectator, and that by no means an idle one, of the festivities. From him we ascertained the reason that we had not been invited. The people had assembled to celebrate a heathen holiday, and as the stricter Mahometans never attended these festivals, it had been presumed, a fortiori, that we also would refuse to countenance them. We were much

amused by the Hadji's description of the proceedings. The wooden representative of the deity Seoseres, consisting of a post, with a stick placed crosswise towards the top, had been planted in the centre of the grove, and the lads and lasses had danced about it in a ring. The oldest of the patriarchs present, who officiated as priest, had then come forward and delivered a thanksgiving for the success of the harvest. Offerings, in the shape of bread, honey, and triangular cheesecakes, and, lastly, an ample bowl of boza, were duly presented to the idol; but he showing no stomach for them, they were handed to his votaries, who had apparently much keener appetites.

To crown the whole, a bull was led to the foot of the wooden deity, and there sacrificed, having his throat cut with a cama. The carcass was taken away, roasted, and afterwards distributed to the multitude, that they might eat and be merry. This, in fact, seemed to be the principal object that had brought them together; and till Islamism can furnish an apology for feasting and good fellowship as satisfactory, it seems improbable that the joyous old pagan rites will be hastily abandoned.

CHAPTER XI.

Retreat of the Russian army-Nadir Bey's reception at SemezOpening of a tumulus-We take leave of the Semezians.

WE left Djouga on the 1st of October, and arrived at Shapsine by the route I had taken in coming. All the castle-capturing enthusiasm of my companion was aroused at the sight of the newly-erected fort. We got a near view of it from the spur of a hill that sinks abruptly into the valley a few hundred yards distant from it, and from whence it might be shelled or cannonaded with the greatest facility. The place had an appearance of solitude, having been abandoned by the army a fortnight before. Russians as they were, I could not help pitying the prospects of the unfortunate garrison, con