Of the coasts of the Caspian as they now stand, the fol lowing is a very brief and general delineation. Towards the north, from the river Terek, in a westerly direction, as far as the eastern extremity of the bay of Mertvoi Kultyuk, the shores are low, flat, swampy, and over grown with reeds ; the water, too, is shallow, and the air, being generally hazy, it may be difficult often for those who have occasion to navigate this part of the sea, to distinguish clearly the places, by which, as a sort of landmarks, it would be useful for them to direct their pro gress. On the other shores, from the Terek to the desert of Korgan, near Astrabad, and from the northern part of the bay of Balkan to that of Mertvoi Kultyuk, the country generally is mountainous, the shores bold, and the water very deep ; so much so, indeed, that even in the vicinity of the shore a line of 450 fathoms will not reach to the bottom.
The ports of the Caspian Sea may be divided into the Russian, the Persian, and the Tartar ports. The Rus sian are, I. ASTRACAti, (a full account of which has already been given under that word.) The principal of the commodities that are forwarded from Astracan to the ports of the Caspian Sea, are Dutch, French, Silesian, and English cloths, vitriol, soap, alum, sugar, Russian leather and linens, needles, velvet, glass ware, paper, a few furs, hides, a little tea, corn, butter, wine, brandy, wooden vessels for household uses, sea-horse teeth, iron, copper, tin, lead, iron-ware, clocks, indigo, cochineal, looking-glasses, and cotton stuffs. The most considera ble articles of its importation, are silk, chiefly in a raw state, from Shirvan and Gillian, lamb skins from Bu charia, rice, dried fruits, coffee, wine, spices, saffron, drugs, a little salt, sulphur, and naphtha. The Indians, and the merchants of Khiva, bring to it, occasionally, also gold and silver in ingots and bars, gold dust, precious stones, and pearls.f—The second of the Russian ports i5 NViliCh is situated at the exit of the Ural, and near to a bay which occurs in that part of the Caspian. There is here a strong fortress, by n hich the frontiers of the empire are guarded in the direction of tne territory of the Kirg..ese Tartars. There are in the toys n scarcely 100 houses. Besides the garrison, almost the only in habitants are a 1. w Armenian merchants from Astracan, who resort to tdis place for the convenience or with the neighbouring Tartars.—The last port vv orthy of notice belonging to the Russians, is Kitzliar, situated at the moutii of the Terck. There is here also a fortress, which covers the frontiers of the empire towards Persi•. The ships bound for this place, used formerly to go quite up to it by the southern branch of the river, but as its mouths have been clinked up with sand, goods are now commonly landed in a little bay at a considerable distance front the town. There are brought hither from Astracan, the European commodities wanted for the Persian trade, also corn and other necessaries of life for the Russian colonies on the Terck, and for the inhabi tants of the neighbouring chain of Lie mountains of Caucasus. Besides those branches of legitimate traffic, there is 11101TOVer carried on by some of the imutbitants of this place, a smuggling trade to S:.amachic, Dcrbent, and even as far as Tullis in Georgia.
The Persian havens are, 1. Herb( nt, in the province of Shirvan. Owing to the rocks awl s oafs that prevail in this quarter, vessels can rarely approach the shore, but are obliged to lie at anchor 2 or 3 miles off On this account, not more than 3 or 4 Russian s. ips come an nually to this place, which are usually laden with oats and rye, bringing with them likewise iron, steel, and lead, for the Lesghees, and other Tartarean nations dwell ing on the eastern chain of the. Caucasus. There is here a fortress surrounded by high brick walls. The inhabi tants are chiefly Persians, Tartars, and a few Armenians. A little corn is produced in the neighbourhood, but not in sufficient quantity to answer to the consumption. It is asserted, that a peculiar sort of grass grows between this place and Tcrek, on which all the quadrupeds feed with avidity, and that to the horse alone the eating of it is fatal. The town of Derbent lays claim to a high an tiquity, a part of it, as is alleged, having been built by Alexander the Gruat.-2. Nicsco•aia Pristan, or Nize bad, in the same province, is a port that was formerly much frequented by the Russians. The merchants, particularly from Slianiachie, come hither in great num bers with European commodities, to supply the su• rounding country. Near to the harbour there are seve ral wretched villages.-3. Baku is reckoned the safest, if not indeed the only proper harbour of the Caspian. Ships may lie here at anchor in seven fathoms water. In some places, however, the entrance is dangerous, on account of shallows, islands, and sand-hanks. The for tress is of a similar construction with that of Dcrbeut. The inhabitants of this place are Persians, Tartars, and a few Armenian merchants. The trade here is not con siderable, and chiefly centres in the neighbouring- dis tricts. The principal articles of export by which its traffic is supported, are the naphtha and the fine rock salt, both of woich are obtained from mines on the east of the bay. Saffron and cotton are cultivated by the inhabi tants, but not with any considerable advantage. It is buppiied with raw silk and silk stuffs from Shamachie, an inland town, and the capital of this province of Shir von, which is situated from Baku, one also of its towns, at the distance of only 66 miles. It was to the silk trade
that Shanutchie owed its former rominert ial importan« , and the same means it is still pi ewes «I from 1 min, though its traffic has been greatly reduced, in ( nose quence of the exorbitant exactions of the khans of K uba, and, in the same proportion, the numbers of its in rabi tants diminished, and the sof the place even su ithin a short time has e greatly (It rat( d. Baku is usually the reside c of a Russian ( 11e, thOtigh the most fr? (pit hn d by the Pet stall 11" din'; vessels of all the ports of this sea, is yet hut a most wet wheel place. .111 entrance into its bay was formerly Found through a particular channel which communif ated with the sea, hut that passage having been ol,sti titled by an accumulation t.f sand, the vessels which 11)w. t owe hither must remain at anchor in the loud. Eit.zellee, situated on the south wt st coz.st of the Caspian, consists of an old and new town, the former inhabited by Pe . sians, and the Armenians subject to the jurisdit tion of the sophi ; the other by Russian nit rchants. al d Ft Armenians as acknowledge the authority of tin Russian government. A Russian consul it sides here, w ho Las under him a garrison of 30 soldiet s; and the Russians trade to this port to gi cat advantage. It is happy in its position, as it lies in the province of Ghilan, the (Usti ict the most noted for those articles, which has e t.lvvays been chiefly in request with the traders who has e en gaged in the commerce of these parts, viz. silk, :nel silk stuffs. Commodities go from hence to Reshd, through which a supply of European goods is thus furnished to the bordering provinces of Persia, and the neighbouring independant states as far as Gcor!;ia. The remaining part of the supply for those more northern states is de rived immediately from Astracan, through Kitzliar and "Alosdok. A portion is also sent from Shamachie, for the use of the Lesghee Tartars, and other independent tribes in that vichlity. In the town of Eh zeil-e, there arc churches belonging to the Russians and the Arme nians. and about Soo houses, formed mostly of reed. It is the refuse only of the Persian and European commodi ties that is sold here. The great mart iu this qm..iter is Reshd, where there is a concourse of merclrints from Twirls, and the principal cities of Persia, Armt ilia, and Turkey, for the purchase of these, and of the raw sill, and the manufactures of Ghilan. Here, accordingly, the Russians dispose very advantageously of their European commodities, obtaining in return for them the rich pro ductions of this province, which are esteemed the best of their kinds in Persia, and which for the last 50 years have been in such reputatien, that Reshd is become one of the first commercial towns in this part of Asia. The finest sort of the silk of this province is usually whin., and is chiefly sent to the inland cities of Persia, or is sold to the Turks. The inferior kind is yellow, and is principally disposed of among the Rus,i-tns. From the great and constant demand for tl ese silks, their price has for sonic time past been rising every year.-5. I'a rabat, and 6. Mt dshetizar, on the southern coast. in province of lazandtran. are mere villages. In the lat ter, hones cr, a considerable trade was for some time carried on, owin.2,- to its vicinity to Balfrush, the chief town of tl c province, whither the Russians and the \ r menians were accustomed to thing their wares. This traffic has suffered a diminution, in consequeDee of the impositions of the khans of the province. Vet the port continues to be in some degree froquentcd. as well by the Russian merchants as by others from Kiskan, Ispa han, Schecraz, Khorazan, Lac. bring with them the Persian and Indian products. From this province itself there is exported silk, much however inferior in quality to that of Gbilan ; also large quantities of rice and cot ton.-7. The bay of Astrabat, whence ti.e Russians are accustomed to proceed in the prosecution of their mer cantile business to the capital town of the same name. The products of the province of Astrabat, with its ex ports and imports, are nearly the same with those of Ma zanderan. Astrabat trades mostly with Candabar. As to the roads, generally, of the southern coast of the Cas pian, it may be observed, that, though they afford good clean anchoring ground, and in a sufficient depth of water, yet they are in this respect disagreeable, that they are so much exposed to heavy swellings of the sea, oc casioned chiefly by the prevalence of the westerly winds. Few, if any of the ports of this sea, arc altogether ex empted front the like inconveniences.—The Tartarian ports are, 1. The Balkanskoi bay, and, 2. Mangushlak, both of which are situated on the eastern part of the Caspian, and which both, particularly the latter, have pretty secure roadsteads. The Russians visit the islands in the Balkanskoi bay, which are mostly inhabited by pirates of the race of Turkoman Tartars. They yield rice and cotton. One of them, also named from that circumstance, Napnthonia, furnishes a great quantity of naphtha. The commerce of Mangushlak is more considerable. To it the neighbouring Tartars bring the products of their own country and also those of Bucharia, such as cotton, yarn, stuffs, furs, hides, rhu barb, kc.