The Caspian Sca, as has been already remarked, is the receptacle of many large rivers. The Emba, the Ural or Vail:, and the Volga, run into it from the north ; the Kuma, 'Trek, Kul., and Kizil Om), from the west : those which it receives from the south arc inconsidera ble ; but from the cast it is supposed still to receive the Tcdjen. Other rivers were understood formerly to dis emboguc themselves into it, some of which do not now exist ; such are the Jaxartes and the Oxus, which are said to have flowed into it front the east, the latter par ticularly by one or two branches, till it afterwards bent northwards, and joined the sea of Aral.' It is probably owing to the great influx of tit er water into this sea, as well as to the nature of its bottom, that its water, parti cularly near to the shore, is so generally very turbid and impure. To the same circumstance it must be attri buted, that though the taste of this water is salt, vet the proportion of salt found to be actually contained in any given quantity of it is comparatively inconsiderable. The degree of its saltness is said likewise to vary, not only with the depth, and according to the nearness to the shore, but also with the variation of the winds. Besides the salt and bitter taste common to it with all sea water, it has been observed, that the water of the Caspian has a certain peculiar taste quite distinct, and which affects the tongue with an impression similar to that made by the bile of animals. The degree in which this taste is perceptible at different periods is said, as in the other case just alluded to, to vary with the direction of the winds; and it has been attributed to the springs of naph tha, or other mineral or combustible substances, lying in the tract between Derbent and Baku, towards the west, or in the islands in the hay of nalkhan. Whc tiler is any plausibility in this notion or not, thcrl i, at least no doubt that the substances mentionf d are found in an(' fimn a valuable production of these parts. fi••nbe• salt, which is so intimately connected Nvith naphtha in its nature and origin, is also obsc rved to be a constituent in the water of the Caspian, as NVCII its to enter into the composition of the saline earth, that is found in such quantity in efflorescence along its coasts. In Ratite ular situations, it is dug out of mines, which occur also in tin same vicinity.
Much has been written respecting supposed periodical risings and fallings of the water of the Caspian; and it has been represented as a striking peculiarity, that for the space of thirty or thirty-live years its waters are con stantly increasing, and then for the same term continually decrease. It has also been remarked, that, in propor tion to the extent of this sea, the ariety of its produc tions is by no means considerable. This has been attri buted, and apparently uit6 justice, to its want of com munication with the ocean, which is thus precluded from imparting to it of its inexhaustible stores. But of the animals which this sea nourishes, the greater part are of very valuable kinds ; and they multiply to such a degree. as to be a never failing source of profit and wealth to those of the contiguous nations, that are in a condition to turn them to account. Salmon, sturgeon, and other fish abound in all parts of the Caspian, as well as in the rivers which communicate with it. The salmon is as good as that of Riga and Archangel, and even more fleshy and fat. The herrings, too, are remarkably large, and plumper than the English or the Dutch, but not so ten der. To this list of the fishes of the Caspian may be added, the stcrlet, various species of seals, diversified, however, only or chiefly by their colour, and porpoises. The only shell-fish that occur are three or four species of cockle, the common muscle, some species of snails. and one or two others. This sea is much frequented by birds of various kinds. Those most commonly seen in its vicinity are storks, herons, bitterns, spoonbills, red geese, red clucks, and the like. The most beautiful or
these is what is called the red goose, which, however. contrary to what is suggested by the name, is for the greater part white, having only the tips of the vs inks, the orbits of the eyes, the beak, and the feet of a scarlet colour. It is about the size of a stork, with long neck and legs, and, though it lives on fish, is very savoury to the taste. The same in this respect is the character of a species of wild ducks, which is also frequent in these parts, and which is noted for the sort of noisy concert that they perform in the evenings, on the tops of the trees or the roofs of houses. Other birds. properly aqua tic, that occur here, are the grebe, the crested diver, the pelican, the cormorant. and almost every species of gull. Two kinds of leeches arc found in this sea, the hog-leech and the dog-leech. The lurking places of those creatures have two apertures, one towards the south, the other towards the north, which they open and shut according to the changes of the wind.
Alexander the Great, with taat attention which he was ever so ready to bestow upon whatever might be useful to commerce, gave, a short time before his death, di rections to fit out a squadron in this sea, in order to sur vey it, and to discover whether it was connected either with the Euxine or with the Indian Ocean. Seleucus Ni cator, also, the first and most sagacious of the Syrian kings, at the time when he was assassinated, entertained thoughts of forming a junction between the Caspian and the Euxine seas by a canal, and of thus extending the trade of his subjects in Europe, and supplying all the countries in the north of Asia, on the coast of the Eux ine Sea, as well as many of those which stretch east ward from the Caspian, with the productions of India. And many ages afterwards, under the auspices of Peter the Great of Russia, a canal was made at Vishnei-Vo lotshok, by means of which a passage is had from the Caspian into the Volga, and thence, in conjunction with some rivers and lakes, into the Neva, and so into the Baltic. As to the actual commerce of this sea, ancient or modern, it is to be observed, that the maritime trade between the east and the west, which in every age has contributed so much to the opulence and power of the nations that have been fortunate enough to obtain the possession of it, was, in ancient times, long monopolized by Egypt, a country which, from its early and continued attention to naval affairs, had formed a powerful fleet, and obtained such a decided command of the sea, that it would have been vain for any other state to attempt to rival it in this trade. The Persians, in the mean time, though they had no intercourse by sea with India, yct being desirous to acquire a share in the valuable pro ductions and elegant manufactures of that country, had them conveyed to all parts of their dominion by land carriage. The part of these commodities destined for the supply of the northern provinces was transported on camels, from the banks of the Indus to those of the Oxus, down the stream of which they were forwarded to the Caspian Sea, and distributed through various channels over the different districts, bounded on one hand by that sea, on the other by the Euxinc. The part of them in tended for the southern and interior provinces, proceeded by land from the Caspian gates to some of the great rivers, by which they were circulated through every part of the country. While thus, however, in the seve ral channels which they had respectively appropriated, the sovereigns and subjects of different states laboured with ardour and emulation to secure as far as possible to themselves the advantages of the trade with India, the Lower and consequence of them ad was eventually swal lowed up and lost under the devom ing ambition and ra pidly extending dominion of the Romans.