BLACK SEA, or Euxine Sea, Pontus Euxinus of the ancients, is a large inland sea, bounded on the west by Rumelia, Bulgaria, and Bessarabia; on the north by Russian Tartary; on the east by Mingrelia, Circassia, and Georgia; and on the south by Anatolia. It is entered from the Mediterranean through the channel of the Dardanelles, anciently the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmora or Propontis, and the channel of Constantinople or Thradαη Bosphorus; and it is connected with the Sea of Azof, or Palus Moeotis, by the strait between the Crimea and the isle of Taman, anciently the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and known by the various modern names of the Strait of Caffa, of Yenikale, and of Taman.

Till within less than half a century, the extent of the Black Sea, and the position of several of its principal capes, gulfs, and ports, were very imperfectly ascertained. But soon after the commencement of the French Revolution, the National Institute sent Μ. Beauchamp to examine this sea, and especially its southern shores. In this enterprise he was much impeded by the jealousy of the Turks: nevertheless, he ascertained that Cape Kerempe, Cαrαrnbis, was placed in the charts too far to the south; that the Gulf of Sansoun, Amisenus Sinus, was deeper tlian it is commonly represented; and that Trebizond, the Tarabagan of the Turks, anciently Trapezus, was five or six leagues farther to the west than it appeared in the charts. But recent travellers have discovered that even the Parisian charts are inaccurate. According to Dr Clarke, the Isle of Serpents, the Ulan-Adassi of the Turks, the Fidonisi of the modern Greeks, and anciently Leuce, lies fifteen minutes, and the port of Odessa twenty-seven minutes, too far towards the north (Clarke’s Travels, i. 653); and Mr Macgill ascertained, from two observations of his own, compared with those of some captains who had navigated this sea, that, in the French charts, even Cape Kerempe is set down fifteen miles too far north, whilst Cape Aria, or Careza, Kriu-Metopou, in the Crimea, is placed twenty-two miles too far south. This, of course, makes a difference in the width of the sea at this place of thirty-seven miles. (Macgill’s Travels, i. 195.)

According to the best authorities, which Mr Arrowsmith has followed in his maps of this sea, it lies between 41 and 46^ degrees of north latitude (the bottom of the Bay of Sansoun penetrating nearly to the 40th degree, and Cape Kerempe stretchingout nearly to the 42d), and between 28 and 41~∙ degrees of east longitude from Greenwich. This will give for its extreme breadth, from Cape Baba in Anatolia to Odessa, about 380 miles, and for its extreme length, from the coast of Rumelia to the mouth of the Phasis, 932 miles. The Black Sea, however, may be considered as divided into two parts, by Cape Ana on the south of the Crimea, and Cape Kerempe on the coast of Paphlagonia; the former lying in about 44⅜, and the latter in about 42 degrees of north latitude. Both these capes being high land, vessels sailing between them can discover the coast on either side. The circumference of the Black Sea is about 3800 miles. .

The first navigators of Greece who ventured into this sea having been repulsed or massacred by some of the fierce tribes inhabiting its coasts, their countrymen gav e it the name of Pontus Axenos, or “sea unfriendly to strangers.” But when the repeated visits of the Greeks had rendered these tribes more familiar with strangers, [7:4:659]and commercial intercourse had softened down the original ferocity of their character, Grecian colonies were established at different points on the shores of this sea, and the epithet Axenus was changed into Euxinus, which has a direct contrary import, and means “friendly to strangers.” It derives its modern name either from the dense fogs which frequently cover it, or from the dangers of its navigation arising from these fogs; from the sudden and violent storms to which it is exposed; and from the shallows hitherto unnoticed in any chart.

The opinion of the ancients, that the Black Sea was formerly much more extensive than it is at present, and that it did not originally communicate with the Mediterranean, is adopted by many modern authors of note, particularly by Tournefort, Buffon, Pallas, and Dr Clarke, and seems to be confirmed by several circumstances. Immense strata of limestone, consisting almost entirely of mineralized sea-shells, may be traced from the Black Sea to the northward as far as the 48th degree of latitude, or about a degree and a half beyond the most northerly point of its northern shore; and Pallas, in the third and seventh volumes of his Travels, has pointed out traces of its having formerly extended over the whole desert of Astracan and Jaik. The evidences derived from the appearance of the present coast of this sea are still less equivocal in support of the diminution of its waters. Pliny expressly states that Taurida or the Crimea was not only once surrounded by the sea, but that the sea covered all that portion of it which is at present champaign country. Now, from the mouths of the Dnieper to those of the Don there are found continuous layers of marine shells; and if we suppose the waters of the Black Sea to be restored only to the level of these layers, the Crimea will again appear as an island. The alluvial nature of more than three fourths of the soil of Crimea Proper to the north, the numerous salt lakes and marshes, and the remains of marine productions of various kinds which are found there, sufficiently confirm the latter part of Pliny’s statement.

The ancients also believed that the communication between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and the consequent diminution of the waters of the former, was effected by the bursting of the Thracian Bosphorus, at the period of the great deluge which inundated Greece; and this tradition seems to be confirmed by a reference to existing natural phenomena. The cliffs and hills at the mouth of the Bosphorus are composed of enormous pebbles, which appear to have undergone the action of fire, and afterwards to have been rounded by long attrition in water. On the point of the European light-house there are immense masses of hard and compact lava; and the rock of which the Cyanean Isles consist appears to have been more or less modified by fire, and to have been cemented during the boiling of a volcano. On the Asiatic side of the strait, a little to the eastward of the Anatolian light-house, there is also a range of basaltic pillars, exhibiting very regular prismatic forms. From the consideration of all these circumstances, and from comparing events recorded in history with the phenomena of nature, Dr Clarke considers it more than a conjectural position, “that the bursting of the Thracian 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 consequences of earthquakes caused by subterranean fires, described as still burning at the time of the passage of the Argonauts, and the effects of which are visible even at this hour.” (Vol. i. p. 680.) It is proper to mention, that Olivier does not coincide with other naturalists respecting the former extent of the Black Sea, or the bursting of the Thracian Bosphorus.

The northern and western coasts of this sea have under gone, and are still undergoing, considerable changes; but the southern coast, consisting chiefly of calcareous rocks, is nearly in the same state in which it was in the time of the ancients. According to Valerius Flaccus, the gulfs and bays in the northern and western coasts were extremely deep; most of these, however, are now all either entirely filled up or very much contracted. In proof that the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof are still sustaining a diminution of their waters, it may be stated that ships which formerly sailed to Taganrog and the mouths of the Don, are now unable to approach either the one or the other; that the Sea of Azof has become so shallow, that, during certain winds, a passage may be effected by land from Taganrog to Azof, through the bed of the sea; and that the isthmus connecting the Cyanean Isles with the Continent, which does not appear to have existed in the time of Strabo, appears to be increasing. On the southern coast of the Black Sea there is, as far as we know, only one instance of a recession of the waters: the channel which formerly divided the village of Amasrah, Amastris, is now entirely filled up, and forms a low isthmus.

A rapid current, which generally flows at the rate of a league an hour, the influence of which is felt at the distance of ten miles from land, where it begins to take another direction, sets from the Black Sea into the Bosphorus. Sometimes, however, the long continuance of a strong south-westerly wind effectually counteracts this current. The Black Sea, from its particular form, being like a basin, into which many large rivers pour their streams, is full of currents, particularly in summer, when the rivers are increased by the melting of the snows; and when strong winds act against these currents, a high sea is produced. North-east winds prevail from June to August inclusive; but the most prevalent winds at other seasons of the year are from the south and south-west. The general climate of the Black Sea is cold and humid; the winters are long, and frequently very severe; but the navigation is free of impediment from ice till the beginning of November, and often much later. The quantity of fresh water conveyed into this sea renders it brackish, and liable to freeze with a moderate degree of cold. It is calculated by some authors, particularly Tournefort (ii. 404), and the abbé Barthélemy (Voyage d’Anacharse, tome i. c. 1), that the volume of water it receives is much greater than that which it discharges into the Mediterranean. Dr Clarke, however, is of opinion that the rivers which fall into the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof do not communicate more water than flows through the canal of Constantinople; and hence he concludes, that, admitting the effect of evaporation, the level of the Black Sea is insensibly falling.

The Black Sea receives a considerable portion of the fresh waters of Europe, as well as of Asia Minor. The Danube collects the waters of a great part of Germany, Hungary, Bosnia, Servia, Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria. The Dniester, Bog, Don, and Dnieper, discharge into it those of a part of Russia and Poland. The Phasis collects those of Mingrelia; and the Sangaris, and Kisil-Irmak, or Halys, part of those of Anatolia.

In the Black Sea are found the tunny fish, which enters it to spawn; sturgeon, sterlet, porpoise, mackarel, sole, turbot of two kinds, whiting, and roach. Some writers also speak of herrings entering this sea in shoals, but it is probable that they are only large sprats. Their appearance, however, is considered symptomatic of a good sturgeon season. It abounds with a species of sea-worm, four or five inches long, with a head like an arrow, and a body consisting of a whitish mucilage. These worms are very destructive to ships.

We shall begin our survey of the coasts and ports of this [7:4:660]sea; at its entrance from the Bosphorus, and proceed along its western shores. Off each point of the entrance of the Bosphorus from the Black Sea is a group of rocky islets, which retain their ancient name of Cyanean dands. These have been already described. From the Bosphorus to Kara-Kerman, which lies within a few miles of the southernmost branch of the Danube, the coast is lined by the mountainous ridge of the Balkan or Hoemus, which terminates at Cape Emeniah, Hcεmi extrema. Thevalleysbetween these mountains form little coves, where vessels are laden with the timber of theBalkan for Constantinople. The forest of Belgrade, which takes its name from a village near Constantinople, extends along the south-western side of the Black Sea for about 100 miles. Incada, Themas, lies on this coast in 41° 52' north latitude. On the northern side of the harbour there is good anchorage; it is only exposed to winds from the east and south-east, and is sufficiently spacious to contain a fleet; but a heavy sea enters it when those winds blow to which it is exposed. Its chief export is charcoal to Constantinople. At the head of the Gulf of Foros, which is bounded on the south by Cape Emeniah, and runs into the land nearly the same distance, is Bourgas, which exports a considerable quantity of wool, iron, corn, butter, cheese, and wine, to Constantinople. The Gulf of Foros, which is four or five leagues wide, contains several roads fit for the largest ships.

On the coast of Bulgaria is Varna, or Barna, anciently Odessas, or, as some think, Dionysiopolis, situated at the mouth of a river, which forms a large lake called Dewina, and extensive marshes. This town, which derives its modern name from the small river that discharges itself into the sea below its ramparts, anciently Ziras, is celebrated for the siege it sustained, and the long and gallant defence it made, during the late war between Russia and Turkey. The possession of the place was indispensable to the Russians, in order to insure their communications by sea; but, had it not been for the treason of Jussuf Pasha, the second in command, there is no reason to believe they would ever have succeeded in making themselves masters of it. Varna formerly exported provisions to Constantinople. Kara-Kerman, Istropolis, is a large village on the beach, off which lie several shoals that oblige vessels to anchor about a league to the south. Its principal export is corn.

From Kara-Kerman to Actiar, in the Crimea, the coast is very low, and the shoals formed by the rivers run off to a considerable distance. The Danube discharges itself into the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Bessarabia, by seven mouths, among swampy islands and shifting banks. The most frequented mouth is abouta hundred fathoms wide and three fathoms deep; its stream runs out at the rate of three miles an hour. So great is the extent over which the waters of this river diffuse themselves, from the shallowness of the sea, that at the distance of three leagues from its mouth the water is almost fresh, and within one league it is perfectly fit for use. A very singular appearancetakes place near the mouths of the Danube: The porpoise, which everywhere else exhibits a dark colour, is there perfectly white; and hence, as soon as the Greek mariners descry the white porpoise, they have no doubt that they are in the current of the Danube, although in thirty fathoms water, and many leagues distant from its mouth. Opposite the mouths of this river is Serpents Island, already noticed. Kilia-nova is a port of small consequence, at one of the mouths: it might, however, be rendered highly important for exporting the productions of Hungary, if the navigation of the river were not obstructed by the jealousy of the Turks.

į The Russian province of Cherson is divided from Bessarabia by the Dniester, anciently Tyras. A bank before it forms two channels; that on the west being called the channel of Constantinople, and that on the east the] channel of Ockzakoff. The one is 150 fathoms broad and the other eighty fathoms; but neither has more than eight feet water. Akerman, on the south bank of this river has some export trade in corn, wool, wine, wood, hides, and butter. Between the Dniester and Dnieper stands Odessa, the most flourishing port in the Black Sea. It owes its prosperity, not so much to any natural advantages, as to the wise administration of the Duke of Richelieu while he was governor of this province. It is situated close to the coast, which is here very lofty, and much exposed to the winds, especially from the east. In order to render it a safe and commodious port, the duke caused a harbour to be formed, in which ships of no small burden might ride secure from every storm. He also built a large mole, extending half a werst into the sea; with several small ones, and a handsome quay, a werst and a half in length. The roads without the port are safe in summer, and the anchorage is good. Odessa labours under the want of a navigable river, and a great scarcity of fresh water. In the year 1805 the number of vessels entered at this port was 595, of which twenty-seven were under the English flag, and 264 Austrian, owned by the merchants of Trieste, but employed as the carriers of Spain and Portugal. In the year 1816, up to the 28th of June, 498 ships had entered Odessa, bringing merchandise to the value of one and a half million of rubles, besides a very large quantity of specie. During the same period, there sailed 246 ships laden with Russian produce, to the amount of 15,22.0,000 rubles, including above 324,000 quarters of wheat. The principal imports are wine, chiefly French, some rum, raw silk, coffee, sugar, oil, soap, sulphur, fruit, linen cloth, &c. but all in rather limited quantities. The great article of export is wheat, which, however, in the opinion of Mr Macgill, is very far inferior to that of Taganrog, being soft, and apt to heat; besides this, grain, rye, barley, oats, tallow, and tallow candles, bees-wax, iron, hemp, &c. are exported.

The Dnieper; Borysthenes, which separates the Russian provinces of Cherson and Taurida, forms, near its mouth, a shallow and marshy lake, two and a half miles broad abreast of Ockzakoff, but more at the confluence of the Bog. The entrance is almost closed by shifting sand banks, between which there are seldom more than five feet water. The river continues frozen from the middle of Decembertill the middle of February; and in the month of May it overflows its banks, leaving stagnant lagoons in all the low country. The Bog, Hypanis, falls into the Gulf of Leman, or estuary of the Dnieper. There is a very small island opposite the mouth of the latter river, almost inaccessible on account of its perpendicular cliffs of rock and clay. Ockzakoff is an inconsiderable port, lying at the junction of these rivers; its harbour is perfectly secure, but the little trade it formerly possessed has been drawn away to Odessa. Opposite to Ockzakoff is Kinburn, which, before the building of Cherson, was intended by the Russians as their principal depot for the merchandise sent from the provinces bordering on the Dnieper. The extension of the Russian dominions in the west has caused even Cherson, on the right bank of the Dnieper, to be superseded by Odessa. Yet corn, hemp, and other articles of exportation, are so much cheaper and more plentiful here, that many foreign vessels still prefer this port, though they are obliged first to perform quarantine, and unload their cargoes at Odessa. The Dnieper is five miles wide at Cherson, but only vessels drawing six feet can ascend to it. The Russians, however, have a large arsenal here, and build line-of-battle ships, which are floated down the river on machines, and afterwards conveyed to Ockzakoff to be equipped· Nicoaïer, on the Bog, a fine river, without bar or cataract, [7:4:661]and with deep, still water, is the station for vessels when built; and here they are laid up to be repaired. It has extensive marine arsenals, and, next to Sevastopol, is one of the most important naval stations on the Black Sea.

The southern coast of the Crimea is lofty and precipitous; the mountains beginning at Balacklava, Portus Symbolorum, and extending to Caffa, Theodosia. Some of these are celebrated in antiquity, and are no less remarkable for their formation and appearance. The mountain Tchedir-dagh, Trapezus, rises abruptly from the coast about Alusta to the height of 1200 or 1300 feet; it exhibits a mass of limestone very compact, of a gray colour, and, according to Pallas, yielding a slightly fetid odour on being rubbed. The most remarkable headland of the Crimea is Cape Tar-chanskoi, called by the Tartars Aya Burun, or the Sacred Promontory, probably the Parthenium of Strabo; one of the loftiest mountains in the Crimea, terminating abruptly in the sea, and forming the western point of the peninsula. It consists entirely of marble. On the southern point is Cape Aria, Kriu-Metopon, formerly noticed.

The first port of note on the western coast of the Crimea is Kosloff, or Eupatoria, from which, in 1793, 176 vessels were freighted with corn, salt, and leather; but at present its commerce is nearly annihilated. Sebastopol, formerly Actiar, Ctenus, is the chief station of the Russian Black Sea fleet, to which indeed it is exclusively appropriated, no merchant ship being allowed to enter it except in distress. The natural advantages of this harbour are very great. The largest vessels may lie within a cable’s length of the shore. The harbour is divided into three coves, something resembling that of Malta. The principal branch runs eastward, and is terminated by the valley and little river of Inkerman. Here the fleets of the world might ride in security, and have convenient anchorage; and in any of the ports, vessels find from 21 to 70 feet depth of water, and good anchorage. On a tongue of high land between the two southern creeks stands the admiralty and store-houses. The great bay of Actiar also bears the name of the roads, and here the Russian fleet is frequently at anchor. The port of Balacklava is separated from that of Actiar by a narrow peninsula. It is one of the most remarkable in the Crimea, appearing from the town landlocked by high precipitous mountains. Its entrance is so extremely narrow, that only one ship can pass at a time; but within the port it is three quarters of a mile long and 400 yards broad. It is secure from storms in all weather, and ships of war of any size or rate may find in it sufficient depth of water. The mountains which surround it are of red and white marble, and the shore in some parts is covered with gold-coloured mica, in a state of extreme division. This port is closed against the vessels of all nations, not excepting Russians, to prevent smuggling. CafFa lies on a bay capable of containing several hundred merchant vessels, but is exposed towards the east and south-west. It formerly carried on an extensive trade in the Black Sea, but it is now of very little consequence. Kert-ché, Ρonticaρeum, on a peninsula, Chersonesus Cimmeria, stretching into the strait of Taman, and Yenikale at the extremity of the same peninsula, are small ports, chiefly inhabited by fishermen.

The coast of Anatolia, on the Black Sea, extends to the Kisil-Irmak, which falls into the sea a little to the west of the Gulf of Sansoun. It is lined by high mountains, terminating in lofty promontories, and forming a steep and clean coast, with numerous little coves, into most of which small rivulets fall. The most remarkable headlands are Cape Kih∙Mili, east of Erekli; Cape Kerempe, the north point 0 * Asia Minor, very high land, with breakers off it; and tape Indji, a low point to the west of Sinope. The prin- cι pal rivers on this coast, besides the Kisil-Irmak, Halys, and the Sakaria, Sangarius, already noticed, are the Falios, 1 Billaeus, and the Barthin, Parthemus. The only port of consequence is Sinope or Sinoub, strongly situated on the narrow and low isthmus of a rocky peninsula. The mole which formed its port is nearly in ruins. The depth of water is twelve feet. There is, however, a good road for the largest ships, and Turkish vessels of war were formerly built here. Sinope is the nearest port on the Black Sea to Angora, the only place hitherto known that supplies the fine goats’ hair of commerce.

From the Kisil-Irmak to Vona the coast is named Roum ι by the Turks. The chief places are Sansoun, Amisus, on theJekyl Irmak, which falls into the deep Gulf of Sansoun; Fatsa, Polemonium, at the mouth of the Sidemus; Budjiah and Vona, Eoona, on the cape of the same name.

From Vona the coast takes the name of the tribes that« inhabit it. The Laziens, Lazi, occupy the coast from Vona ≈ to the Batouni. The principal port on this coast is Trebizond, which, although it can admit only small vessels, has nevertheless a considerable trade. One hundred and fifty or two hundred small craft annually sail to Taganrog, with nardch, a marmalade of grapes, and beckmiss, a syrup made for the use of the distilleries there. Next to the Laziens, ( the Gurions occupy the coast as far as the Rioni or Phasis. ’ At its mouth this river is sixty fathoms deep and half a 1 league broad, but there is a small island in the midst of its channel. The only port in the country of the Gurions is Poti, to which the merchants of Georgia resort. The ∣ Mingrelians occupy the country of the ancient Colchians. In this tract there is no port of consequence. The Abasses occupy the coast from Isgarur to the Strait of Yenikale, as far as Anaffa or Anapa. This coast is very elevated, the Caucassian mountains approaching close to the sea. Near Soudjuk is a very lofty promontory called Varda. From Anapa to the straits the coast is low. Some small vessels were built at Anapa by the Turks. The Kuban, Hy- < panis, receives most of the waters of the western side ofl Caucasus. Near its mouth it divides into two branches, one of which falls into the sea of Azof, and the other into the Black Sea. The marshy isle of Taman is formed by it; and on this island is Fana Jona, a place of some trade.

The commerce of the Black Sea, in ancient times, was “successively in the possession.of the Phoenicians, Egyp-< tians, Greeks, and Romans. From the last it passed to the-Greeks of the Lower Empire; and from them to the Venetians and the Genoese. Caffa was the principal entrepôt of the commerce of the Genoese with the East, and the port at which was deposited all the merchandise which had been transported to the Black Sea. By the capture of Constantinople in 1454, this commerce was nearly destroyed; and by the capture of Caffa in 1476 it was completely annihilated. One of the favourite objects of Peter the Great was to obtain a share in the commerce of this sea, which the subjects of the Porte were alone permitted to navigate. In 1699 he succeeded in subduing Azof and the country round it; but by the unfortunate battle of Pruth, in 1711, he was compelled to relinquish his conquests. His successors, however, especially Catherine IL, aimed at the same object. This enterprising sovereign, by the treaty of Kaïnardgy in 1774, and afterwards by the treaty of Jassy in 1791, completely accomplished her object; the Turks being obliged to surrender a part of Lesser Tartary and the Crimea, to allow the Russians to establish a navy in the Black Sea, and to permit their flag a free passage through the Dardanelles. In 1784 the Porte granted the privilege of navigating the Black Sea to the Austrians. But no other European nation obtained this privilege, although the French carried on a considerable trade under the Russian and Imperial flags, till after the conquest of Egypt by the French, when a treaty was concluded between[7:4:662] the French government and the Porte, by which the latter granted to the former the free navigation of this sea. At the peace of Amiens the navigation was opened to the Prussian, Spanish, Neapolitan, Dutch, Ragusan, and English merchant flags; and all these nations were allowed to have resident consuls in the Turkish ports of this sea. The English, however, by secret treaties with the Turks, in the reign of James I. and Charles I., had been allowed to navigate this sea; and in 1799 this privilege was renewed.

Soon after the peace of Amiens, the commerce of this sea increased considerably, and in 1803 no less than 815 vessels entered the Russian ports from the Mediterranean, most of them coming in ballast and returning with corn. Of these 815 vessels, 421 were Austrians, 329 Russians, 18 Ragusans, 16 Ionian Islanders, 15 French, 7 English, 6 Hydriots, and 3 Spaniards; while 552 loaded at Odessa, 210 at Taganrog, 23 at Caffa, 19 at Kosloff, 7 at Sebastopol, and 4 at Cherson; and there were destined, 186 for Trieste, 144 for Messina, 103 for Cephalonia, 72 for Genoa, 57 for Leghorn, 26 for Corfu, 24 for Barcelona, 19 for Marseilles, 10 for Naples, 8 for Malta, 7 for Tchesmé, 4 for Zante, and 155 sailed without declaring their destination, on account of the war. But in order to give a strictly accurate view of the commerce of the Black Sea at this period, the 210 vessels which loaded at Taganrog ought to be deducted from the total number of 815 above mentioned.

The Russian exports from and imports to the different places on this sea were, in
[table]

In the year 1802, thirty-six vessels, and 266 small craft, were employed by Russia in the coasting trade of this sea. There is also a considerable trade between the Russian ports and Constantinople and Smyrna, carried on entirely by Greek vessels under Russian colours.

We have not been able to procure accurate returns of the total amount of exports and imports since the year 1805, owing to the loose and inaccurate manner in which the different writers on the commerce of the Black Sea, subsequently to that period, treat of the subject; but all the particulars we have been able to. collect appear to warrant the inference, that it has latterly been greatly extended. This is clearly demonstrable in regard to the trade with Odessa; and although that with the other commercial ports may not have received a corresponding extension, it nevertheless seems reasonable to conclude that a considerable improvement has also taken place. In the year 1817 there entered the harbour of Odessa no less than 1925 vessels of all descriptions. Of these 480 were Russian, 188 Austrian, 154 English, 43 French, 18 Spanish, 7 Danish, 31 Sardinian, 7 Neapolitan, 49 Swedish, 2 Sicilian, and 65 Turkish vessels, or 1044 in all, most of which arrived in ballast; besides 881 Russian vessels employed in the coasting trade: thus making a total of 1925, as already mentioned. Those which cleared out were 420 Russian, 182 Austrian, 147 English, 43 French, 18 Spanish, 7 Danish, 31 Sardinian, 6 Neapolitan, 48 Swedish, 1 Sicilian, and 30 Turkish vessels, or 933 in all, besides 852 Russian vessels engaged in the coasting trade, which sailed for the different ports on the shores of this sea; whilst 140 wintered at Odessa. From this statement it appears, that, taking the increase in the number of ships which entered and cleared out as a rough measure of the extension of traffic, the commerce of Odessa alone, in the year 1817, more than doubled the entire commerce of the Black Sea in the year 1803;—a rapid advancement, certainly, in the short space of fourteen or fifteen years. In the coursé of the late war. between Turkey and Russia, however, this' improvement, which, up to the declaration of hostilities, had continued steadily progressing, received a severe check, and a great number of mercantile houses were in consequence completely ruined. But since the re-establishment of peace at Adrianople in 1829, trade and commerce have begun to revive, and will probably soon resume their former activity. The resources of the countries along the shores of this sea are, in fact, incalculable, and require only the security of peace and the stimulus of commercial enterprise fully to develope them.

The principal articles of commerce afforded by the countries on the Black Sea are wheat, rice, tobacco, hides, tallow, hare-skins, honey, wax, iron, and yellow grains for dyeing, from Rumelia and Bulgaria, by the ports of Varna and Bourgas. The same articles, with the addition of wool, butter, hemp, masts, ship-timber, and pitch, are exported from Moldavia and Wallachia, by Rutschuk and Galatzon the Danube. From Bessarabia by Ovidopol, and from the province of Cherson by Odessa, Akermann, and Cherson, come corn, oak-timber, hides, tallow, tar, shagreen, wax, honey, hemp, sail-cloth, and wool ;—from the Crimea by the ports of Actiar, Kosloff, and Caffa, corn, wool, wax, honey, dried and salted hides, deer-skins, morocco leather, sheepskins, salted and dried fish, potash, felt, caviar, wine, silk, and saltpetre;—from the countries on the Sea of Azof by the port of Taganrog and Mariapol, iron, of which Constantinople and Smyrna require about 60,000 quintals each, dried fish, caviar, butter, hides, tallow, wheat, timber, furs, sail-cloth, cordage, hemp, linens, wax, and wool;— from Anatolia by the ports of Erekli, Amasrch, Ineboli, Sinope, and Uniah, hides, dried fruits, linens, linen thread, wax, honey, hemp, copper, and ship-timber ;—from the countries of the Laziens and Gurions, principally by Trebizond, all the above articles, except ship-timber;— and from Mingrelia, and the country of the Abasses, principally by Soudjuk and Anapa, slaves, timber, box-wood, wool, silk, furs, butter, hides, wax, and honey. The trade to those coasts is entirely carried on by a few Greeks of Constantinople, and is very insignificant.

In 1807 the Russian Black Sea fleet consisted of twelve sail of the line, four frigates, seven brigs and cutters, and eighteen small craft, besides a flotilla composed of forty gun-boats and eighty falconets. In 1829 it was composed of eleven sail of the line, of which two (the Paris and the Emperor of Erance) were of 110 guns each, being built after the model of the Poyal Sovereign, Lord Collingwood’s vessel; of three sixty gun ships; five forty-four gun frigates, a twenty-eight gun sloop, four corvettes of twenty-four guns each, eight brigs of from sixteen to twenty guns, two brigantines of ten guns, two bomb-vessels, two schooners and four cutters of twelve guns each, four yachts, four steam-vessels, and twenty-one armed transports; making a total of seventy-one sail. Every ship of this fleet was built at Nicoaïer, under the direction of Admiral Grieg. The vessels were manned in the same way as the Russian Baltic fleet; that is, an equipage or crew of a thousand men was allotted for a ship of the line, a frigate, and a brig. The officers consisted of Russians, Germans, French, Greeks, and Italians; the admiral being the only officer of British extraction on board. This force performed essential services during the late contest between Russia and Turkey; and as the fleet of the latter had been destroyed at Navarin, it enjoyed a complete and undisputed ascendency in the Black Sea. ,

See Oddy’s European Commerce, p. 169; Clarkes Lrű- vels, vol. i. 4to edition; Macgill’s Travels in Turhelh ^ c ∙ vol. i.; Coxe’s Travels, vol. iii. 8vo edition; Tuckey s J/«- ritime Statistics, vol. ii.; Essai Historique sur le Commerce [7:4:663]et la Navigation de la Mer Noire, par le Baron de Saint Joseph, Paris, 1820; Rottier, Itinéraire de Tiflis à Constantinople, 1829; and Alexander’s Travels to the Seat of War in the East through Russia and the Crimea in 1829.

Black- Tin, a denomination given by the miners to the tin-ore when dressed, stamped, washed, and ready for being smelted. It is prepared by means of beating and washing; and when it has passed through several buddles or washing-troughs, it is taken up in the form of a black powder, like fine sand, called blach-tiìi. Black- Wad, an ore of manganese, of which, according to Klaproth, it contains sixty-eight per cent. It is of a brown or black colour, opake, very sectile, and soils the fingers on being touched. Though its specific gravity is as high as 3∙706, it appears very light when lifted in the hand, but imbibes water with violence, and is no sooner immersed in it than it sinks. Mixed with linseed oil it undergoes a spontaneous combustion. The localities of black-wad are particularly Devonshire and Cornwall, where it occurs accompanying other ores of manganese. The dentritic delineations, often so beautiful upon limestone, steatite, and other substances, are supposed to derive their colouring matter from this mineral.

Black- Whytlof, in our old writers, bread of a middle fineness, between white and brown, called in some parts “ravel-bread.” In religious houses it was the bread made for ordinary guests, and distinguished from their household loaf, or panis conventualis, which was pure manchet, or white bread.

Black- Work, iron wrought by the blacksmiths, and so called in contradistinction to that wrought by whitesmiths.