The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-22 00:00:00

THE CRIMEA.

Crimea, the Chersonesus Taurica of the ancients, a
peninsula of Ru,sia in Europe, Government of Taurida,
hetween 44.23 deg. and 46 deg. N. lat., and 32.33
deg. and 36.22 deg. E. long. It is united on the
north to the mainland by the Isthmus of Perekop, five
miles in width, and has on its east the Sivache, or Putrid
Sea, the Sea of Azoff, and the Straits of Yenical6, by
which it is separated from the Isle of Taman, being every-
where else surrounded by the Black Sea. It is estimated
to contain about 15,000 square miles. Population un-
known. The Crimea is divided into two distinct parts,
one lying north and the other south of the river Sal-
ghir, which flows from west to east, and is the only
stream of any importance in the peninsula. The for-
mer consists almost entirely of vast plains, or steppes,
destitute of trees, but covered with luxuriant pasture,
except where they are interspersed with heaths, salt
lakes, and marshes. The climate of this region is far
from good, being cold and damp in winter, and oppres-
sively hot and very unhealthy in summer, particularly
along the Putrid Sea. The aspect and climate of the other
or south portion of the peninsula are entirely different. It
presents a succession of lofty mountains, picturesque
ravines, chasms, and the most beautiful slopes and val-
leys. The mountains, formed of strata of calcareous
rocks, stretch along the south coast from Caffa on the
east to Balaklava, on the west. The Tchadyadag, or tent
mountain, the highest in the chain, rises to the height of
about 5,110 ft. above the level of the sea, and several of
the other summits attain to a considerable elevation. The
climate of the valleys and of the slopes between the moun-
tains and the sea is said to be the most delicious that can
be imagined ; and besides the common products, such as
corn, flax, hemp, and tobacco, vines, olives, fig-trees,
mulberry-trees, pomegranates, oranges, &c., flourish in
the greatest profusion. Pallas, Dr. Clarke, and others,
have given the most glowing descriptions of this inter-
esting region. According to Clarke, "If there
exist a terrestrial paradise, it is to be found in the
district intervening between Kutchukoy and Sudak,
on the south coast of the Crimea. Protected by en-
circling alps, from every cold and blighting wind,
and only open to those breezes which are wafted from
the south, the inhabitants enjoy every advantage
of climate and of situation. Continual streams of
crystal water pour down from the mountains upon their
gardens, where every species of fruit known in the rest
of Europe, and many that are not, attain the highest
perfection. Neither unwholesome exhalations, nor
chilling winds, nor venomous insects, nor poisonous
reptiles, nor hostile neighbours, infest their blessed ter-
ritory. The life of its inhabitants resembles that of the
golden age. The soil, like a hotbed, rapidly puts forth
such a variety of spontaneous produce that labour be-
comes merely an amusing exercise. Peace and plenty
crown their board ; while the repose they so much ad-
mire is only interrupted by harmless thunder, reverberat-
ing oa rocks above them, or by the murmur of the wave
on the beach below." (Clarke, ii., p. 252, Bvo. ed.)
But if this description be as faithful as it is eloquent, it
will not certainly apply to any other portion of the
Crimea, not even to the famous Valley of Baidar. At
certain seasons of the year the finest parts of the penin-
sula are infested with swarms of locusts, which frequently
commit the most dreadful devastations, nothing escaping
them, from the leaves of the forest to the herbs of the
plain. Tarantulas, centipedes, scorpions, and other
venomous insects are also met with in most parts ; and
even to the south of the mountains the air in autumn is
not everywhere salubrious, and malignant fevers are not
uncommon. _ _ _

Owing to the thinness of the population, and their
want of industry, the Crimea, which in antiquity was
the granary of Athens, and whose natural fertility is no.
wise diminished, does not produce a tenth part of what it
might do. The steppe, or north portion, is in general
more suitable for grazing than for tillage, and is depas-
tured by immense numbers of sheep, horses, and black
cattle. Some of the rich Nogai Tartars are said to have
as many as 50,000 sheep, and 1,000 horses ; and the
poorer classes have 100 of the former and ten of the
latter. Thousands of cattle often belong to a single in-
dividual ; camels also are abundant. Breed of horses
improved by crossing with Arabs. Sheep, mostly of the
large-tailed species peculiar to the Kirghises. The buf-
falo is domesticated, and yields a rich milk ; and the
culture of bees is a good deal attended to. Though
they have renounced their migratory habits, the Tar-
tars, who constitute the bulk of the population, have
little liking to or skill in husbandry. Exclusive of
milk and other animal food, they subsist chiefly on
millet, producing, however, in some years, as much
as 150,000 chetwerts of wheat for exportation.
The mountainous or south portion of the F.ninsula
furnishes a large quantity of indifferent wines, with flax
fruits, timber, honey and wax, &c. ; but the cuitivathn
of corn is so little attended to that even in the best years
its inhabitants have to import a large proportion of their
supplies The most important and valuable product of
•
the Crimea is the salt derived from the salt lakes in the
vicinity of Porekop,
eCTahGm ffeao e nKros
quantity
exported
Koslow,
and
e and yields
revenue. h
sch amounts to from 1,500,000 to
t enroapbolellsed by
2,000,000 poods a year Lthe lakes of Porekop are even
more productive. At Koslow there is only a single
lake. In 1833 the different lakes of the Crimea
pro-
duced the immense quantity of 15,065,000 poods
(242)000 tens), a
which $014,555 kivr" n!l°. "

the course of the year. About 13,000 men are employed
in the works. Each pood cost the treasury four copecks
or thereabouts, the expense of production being seldom
greater than from six to ten copecks. Government sells
this salt at 80 copecks per pood, except the portion
destined for the consumption of the peninsula, which
only pays 15 copecks. Salt exported is charged with a
duty of 5 copecks. (Hagemeister on the Trade of the
Black Sea, p. 130, Eng. Trans.) Exclusive of salt and
corn, the other principal articles of export are wine,
honey (of an excellent quality), wax, morocco leather,
hides, a considerable quantity of inferior wool, with
lamb-skins, which are highly esteemed, lc. Silks and
cottons, in the style of the Asiatics, form the basis of
the import trade ; and there are also imported woollen
stuffs, wine, oil, dried fruits, tobacco, jewellery, drugs,
and spices. The only manufacture worth notice is that
of morocco leather. Principal towns :—Kertsch, Caffa,
BaleAlava, and Koslow, or Eupatoria. Sebastopol, the
finest harbour in the peninsula, is one of the stations of
the Russian fleet. Baktchiserai was the capital under
the Khans. Simpheropol is, however,• the modern
capital, not of the Crimea only, but of the entire Go-
vernment of Taurida.
The population consists of Tartars, Russia's, Greeks,
Germane, Jews, Armenians, and gipsies. The variety of
different nations found in the Crimea, and the fact that each
lives as in its own country, practising its peculiar customs
and preserving its religious rites, is one of the remarkable
circumstances that render the peninsula so curious
to a stranger. The number of Tartars has declined con-
siderably, by emigration and otherwise, since the occu-
pation of the country by the Russians ; but they still
form the nucleus and main body of the population. They
consist, first, of Nogai Tartars, living in villages, who
pique themselves on their pure Mongolian blood ; 2d, of
Tartars of the steppe, of less pure descent ; and 3d, of
those inhabiting the south coast, a mixed breed, largely
alloyed with Greek and Turkish blood, and despised by
the others, who bestow on them the contemptuous de-
signation of Tut or renegade. They are all attached to
the Mahommedan faith, and Simpheropol is the seat of
one of the two muftis of the Russian Empire. The Tar-
tars are divided into the classes of nobles (moorzas), of
whom there are 250 priests (mullahs), and peasants. A
mullah is at the head of every parish, and nothing is
undertaken without his consent. The peasants plough
his land, sow and reap his corn, and carry it home ; and
it is seldom that the proprietor takes tithe of the priest.
In summer the feet and legs of the peasantry are bare ;
but in winter they are clothed after the Russian fashion.
They are simple in their manners and dress ; and their
sobriety, chastity, cleanliness, and hospitality have been
highly eulogised, and probably exaggerated ; they live
principally on the produce of their flocks and herds ; are
wedded to routine practices ; and if they be not, as Pal-
las seems to have supposed, decidedly averse to labour,
they, at all events, are but little disposed to be indus-
trious. The emigration that took place after the occu-
pation of the country by the Russians was owing quite
as much to the efforts of the latter to convert the Tartars
into husbandmen as to the excesses they committed
(Reuilly, p. 176). In their diet they make great use of
honey, and are much addicted to smoking. Every family
has two or more copies of the Koran, which the children
are taught to read ; but despite of this, and of the
schools established in their villages, they are, for the
most part, exceedingly ignorant.
During the present century Government has exerted
itself to improve the condition and to enlighten the
minds of the inhabitants, and also to increase their num
bers and improve their habits, by planting among them
industrious colonists from Germany and elsewhere. The
unhealthiness of the climate is the great obstacle to the
progress of the latter.—M'Cullocla.

CRIMINAL COURT.—Sept. 20.

OLD COURT.

Jane Barrington, 26, was indicted for the wilful
murder of her male infant.

Mr. Ribton prosecuted ; Mr. Duncan was counsel for
the defence.
It appeared that the prisoner and her husband were
in humble circumstances, and occupied one room in a
housein Arrow-street, Southwark. The child in ques-
tion was about a fortnight old at the time of its death,
and it appeared that within five days of the prisoner's
delivery she had left her bed, and was engaged in wash-
ing, and there appeared to be very little doubt that this
premature exertion had excited her and affected her
brain. On the sth of September she was in a very w►ld
state, and she made use of several incoherent expressions
relating to her child, and she at length exclaimed that
she had done for it by giving it laudanum. The child
appeared to be very ill, and upon its being taken to a
surgeon named Rendell, he expressed an opinion that it
was suffering from the administration of some narcotic
poison, and it was removed to the workhouse, where it
died two days afterwards. It appeared that the pri-
soner had admitted that she had purchased a penny-
worth of laudanum, and that she gave some to the child,
but there was no trace of that ingredient in the stomach,
and Mr. Rendell said, in cross-examination, that be
should have thought the child had died of natural causes
if he had not been aware of the previous circumstances
of the case. _ _ _ _

Mr. Duncan made a very feeling address to the jury
on behalf of the prisoner, and he called Mr. Evans, the
surgeon of the parish, as a witness, and he stated,
that even supposing laudanum had been administered
to the child, he was opinion that it had entirely re-
covered from its effects, and that it died from natural
causes.
His lordship, upon this evidence, stopped the case, and.
the jury at once returned a verdict of not guilty.
Jane Colbert, 33, was indicted for the manslaughter of
Wil (lain Colbert.

Mr. Robinson prosecuted ; Mr. Lilley was counsel
for the prisoner.
The facti of this case will be fresh in the recollection
of the public. The deceased was the husband of the
prisoner, and it appeared that he was constantly in the
habit of getting drunk and ill-using her. On the occa-
sion in question he had knocked her down and struck
her several times, and in a sudden fury she seized a
knife and threw it at him, and the blade entered his
body, and pierced the lung and caused his death.
The jury found the prisoner guilty, but strongly re-
commended her to mercy.
She was sentenced to be imprisoned for one week.