" Some time before we reached the mouth of the canal, steering close along its European side, we ob served the cliffs and hills, which are there destitute of verdure, presenting, even to their summits, a re markable aggregate of enormous pebbles, that is to say, heterogeneous masses of stony substances, round ed by attrition in water, and imbedded in a hard na tural cement, yet differing from the usual appearance of breccia rocks ; for, upon a nearer examination, they appeared to have undergone, first, a violent ac tion of fire, and secondly, degree of friction, by long contact in water, to which their form was due. Breccia rocks do not commonly consist of substances so modified. The stratum formed by this singular aggregate, and the parts composing it, exhibited, by the circumstances of their position, striking proof of the power of an inundation ; having dragged along with it all the, componentparts of the mixture, over all the heights above the present level of the Black Sea, and deposited them in such a manner, as to leave no doubt concerning the torrent which passed towards the sea of Marmora. As in a field of corn long agitated by a particular wind, we see the whole crop incline towards one direction ; so, at the mouth of the canal of Constantinople, all the strata of the mountains, and each individual mass composing them, lean from the north towards the south. On the point of the European lighthouse we found the sea, still tempestuous, beating against immense rocks of hard and compact lava ; these had separated prisma tically, and exhibited surfaces tinged by iron oxide wherever a division was effected. • " From this point we passed to the Cyanean Isle, on the European side of the strait, and there land.. ed. The structure of the rock, of which the island consists, corresponds with the nature of the strata already described ; but the substances composing it were perhaps never before associated in any mineral aggregate. They all appear to have been more or less modified by fire, and to have been cement ed during the boiling of a volcano. In the same mass may be observed fragments of various colour ed lava, trap, basalt, and marble. In the fissures are •found agate, chalcedony, and .quartz, but in friable and thin veins, not half an inch in thickness, and apparently deposited posterior to the •settling of the stratum, of which the island consists. The agate appeared in a vein of considerable extent, occupying a deep fissure not more than an inch wide, and coated by a green substance, resembling some of the lavas of /Etna, which have been decomposed by acidife ' rous vapours. Near the same vein appeared a sub stance resembling native mercury', but in such ex ceedingly minute particles, in a crumbling matrix, that it was impossible to preserve a specimen. The summit of this insular rock is the most favourable si tuation for surveying the mouth of the canal ; which thus viewed has the appearance of a crater, whose broken sides opened towards the Black Sea, and, by a smaller aperture, towards the Bosphorus. The A siatic side of the Strait is distinguished by appearan ces similar to those already described ; with this dif ference, that, opposite to the island, a little to the east of the Anatolian lighthouse, a range of basaltic pillars may be discerned, standing upon a base in clined towards the sea ; and, when examined with a telescope, exhibiting very regular prismatic forms. From the consideration of all the preceding observa tions, and comparing events recorded in history with the phenomena of nature, it is perhaps more than a conjectural position, that the bursting of the Thra cian Bosphorus, the deluge mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, and the draining of the waters which once united the Black Sea to the Caspian, and covered the great Oriental plain of Tartary, were all the conse. quence of earthquakes caused by subterranean fires, described as still burning at the time of the passage of the Argonauts, and whose effects are visible even at this hour." The Black Sea received its name from the darkness which often covers it, particularly during winter, in consequence of thick fogs and falling rains. This obscurity is often so great, that mariners are un able to see a cable's length from their vessels, and on these occasions the entrance of the Bospborus is im practicable. Dr Clarke affirms, that there is no sea in which the navigation is more dangerous ; that shal lows hitherto unnoticed in any chart frequently occur when vessels are out of sight of land, and that dread ful storms come on so suddenly, and with such fury, that every mast is carried overboard almost as soon as the first symptom of a change of weather is observed. Admirals Priestman and Wilson, who commanded the Russian fleet, described the Black Sea as exhibiting tempests more horrible than any thing they had ever encountered in the ocean. This account of the Black Sea is completely contrary to that given by Tourne fort. " Whatever the ancients may have said," ob serves this able naturalist, " the Black Sea has nothing black but the name ; the winds do not blow there with more fury; and the storms are not more frequent than in other seas. We must pardon the exaggeration of the ancient poets, and particularly the chagrin of Ovid. The sand of the Black Sea, indeed, is of the same colour with the sand of the White Sea, and its waters are equally pure. If the coasts of this sea, in short, which are reckoned so dangerous, appear gloomy from a distance, it is owing to the woods which cover them, or the great distance which gives them the ap pearance of blackness. The sky here was so beau
tiful and so serene during the whole of our voyage, that we could not avoid giving the lie to Valenus Flaccus, the famous Latin poet, in describing the route of the Argonauts, who passed for the most ce lebrated sailors of antiquity, but who were only very little boys when compared with Vincent le Blanc, Tavernier, &c. This poet assures us, that the sky on the Black Sea is always obscured with fogs." (Voyage du Levant, Lett. xvi, torn. iii. p. I.) The same opinion is stated by Mr Thornton in his Survey of the Turkish Empire. " It is a notion," says he, " received among the Turks, that the Black Sea is dangerous. To them indeed it is truly black ; and it would even be so to British sailors in such vessels as the Turks use, and which are peculiar to that sea ; they cannot lie to, and are consequently obliged to / run before the wind, and if they miss a port, go oa shore. It is not more stormy than other seas." Besides being distinguished by the haziness of its atmosphere, and by the storms with which it is agi tated, the Black Sea is remarkable for its extraordi nary temperature. Ovid, during his resklenee on the Black Sea, had observed, the " ingentem glade con. sistere pontum ;" and Dr Clarke was informed by Captain Bergamini, that he was once detained,fire months in the mouth of the Danube by the freezing of the sea.
The Black Sea abounds with sea-worms, which gnaw the planks of vessels, and in the space of two years completely destroy the sides of the ships. These animals are four or five inches long. Their head re sembles an arrow, and their body consists of a whitish mucilage. The only way of destroying them has been until lately, to lay up the vessels for two years to careen them, and to cover the sides with burning pitch and juniper wood. The vessels which navigate the Black Sea are now begun to be coppered, which is the only effectual remedy against the attack of these worms.
The force kept by the Russians in the Black Sea, consists of the flotillas of Nicolaietand Sevastapool. The first of these comprehends 70 or 80 shallops decked and carrying guns, with some others which are row boats. The latter is composed of four vessels of the line, and four or five frigates. This naval force is not under the direction of the Admiralty of St Pe tersburgh, but under an High Admiral stationed at Nicolalef.
We shall now conclude this article, by giving some account of the commerce of the Black Sea, for which we are principally indebted to Mr Reuilly, who travelled along its shores so late as the year 1803.
" The storms frequent in the Black Sea," observes that learned traveller, " and the savage state of thepeo plc inhabiting its coasts, prevented the Greeks l'or a tong time from visiting its shores. The expedition of the Argonauts is the first trace of navigation and commerce in that sea, which antiquity has transmitted to us.
This trade took place principally in the Oriental parts, but notwithstanding the establishment of seve ral colonies upon its coasts, it was inconsiderable du ring the first ages of Greece, and under the empire of the Romans. It did not begin to flourish until the time of the crusades, when the Latins possessed them. selves of Constantinople : at that time the Genoese and the Venetians carried on this trade with such con siderable advantage, that the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs having entirely ruined the ancient corn. merce of Alexandria, the merchandise of India open. ed itself a new way to the European markets; they went thither sometimes by the Indies, and the Russian Sea, or were transported by caravans across Georgia and Mingrelia ; .Jmetimes by going up the Persian gulf, the Tigris, or the Euphrates ; they went, by way of Armenia, to Trebizond, whither the Genoese and the Venetians went to meet them, for the purpose of supplying Europe with their commodities.
Jealousy, the inevitable consequence of the great advantages this commerce procured, was the occasion of some bloody wars between the Venetians and the Genoese, which terminated in the last becoming the masters ; by contributing to the overthrow of the dominion of the Latins at Constantinople, profiting dextrously by the favour or the weakness of the Greek emperor, they obtained from them such ad vantages, that they had no longer any rivals. To se cure to themselves this exclusive commerce, they for tified their settlement at Pera, established colonies on the coasts, principally in Crimea, and put their fac in a state of defence : Caffa was the principal city of their commerce with the East, and the port at which was deposited all the merchandise which had been transported to the Black Sea. The merchandise of India, Persia, and Arabia, came to Astracan, went again up the Volga, was carried afterwards by land as far as the Don, distant about 'sixty versts, convey. ed by that river to Azof, and thence embarked for Caffa. The Genoese procured to themselves immense riches, and put themselves in a situation, notwith standing the smallness of their territory, to hold rank among the first of the maritime powers. They en joyed these advantages until the taking of Constanti nople by Mahomet the Second, of which almost the immediate consequence was, their expulsion from the Crimea. With the annihilation of the power of the Genoese, ended the commerce of the Black Sea. • It is to be observed, that, at this epoch, the re. establishment of the ancient route by Alexandria, which took place under Tala-Eddin, had already turned that source of riches.