ed brass models of all the best and most famous statues, ancient as well as modern, now extant. In this apartment they remained a long time, for although they were informed that there were six others yet from the description they received of them, they felt convinced that they should receive but an inferior pleasure from the inspection of their contents, when compared to that confirmed by the contemplation of the Venus de Medici, the Apollo Belvidere, the Laocoon, the dying Gladiator, &c. &c. The second room contains specimens of curious workmanship in ivory, and the third in silver; the fourth contains a large collection of gold and silver plate; in the fifth is a magnificent display of precious stones; in the sixth are deposited the arms of all the Saxon States, and the imperial regalia of the former kings of Poland; and the seventh displays a profusion of jewels.

Dresden was a great sufferer during the late war; indeed it is scarcely possible to travel from one German city to another, without recalling the former position of hostile armies.

At a table d'Hôte where our travellers dined, they met an Austrian gentleman who was inclined to be particularly sociable. He was amused with the ingenuous remarks made by Edward upon the scene before him; and when they separated, he entreated he might be permitted to call upon them. Dr. Walker readily assented, and on the following day the stranger paid his respects to them, and offered to accompany them to Prague, and even to Vienna, if it were agreeable. "As however," continued he, "I am aware that a stranger should have some introduction, permit me to refer you for enquiries as to who I am, to the chief banker in this city, with whom I know you have connection."

The society of this gentleman was a considerable advantage to our travellers; and he advised them by all means, to pursue their journey to Prague by water. "The views on each side the Elbe between this and Meissen are, I do assure you," said he, "quite beautiful." Upon embarking just by the bridge, which divides the city into the old and new town, they were struck with its peculiar beauty. It is built of stone, and is six hundred and eighty-five paces long, and

* Table d'Hôte,; so called, because the host presides and carves. The name is often retained when the host does not appear, and it then simply means, a table where a mixed society dine.

seventeen broad, consisting of eighteen arches. "This part of Saxony," said M. M," is called the Italy of Germany from its wonderous fertility, and the luxuriance of its woods and hills. You observe that beautiful bridge in the distance, it is that of Merseim; the piers are composed of stone, but the upper part is wood, and its great curiosity is this, the middle arch, which is seventy-five paces wide, is kept together by one single wooden peg.'

"

Having inspected the manufactures of porcelain and of cloth, both of which are very flourishing in this town, they again embarked on the Elbe, and continued their aquatic excursion until they reached Milnick, which is seated at the confluence of the rivers Elbe and Moldau. It was late when they took up their quarters at the principal inn, and an interesting conversation took place between the accommodating and happy trio of which we shall give a brief sketch.

M. M." You have never, I think you say been in Hungary, nor indeed farther in the interior of Russia than Moscow. You have not then visited the most beautiful part of that country, for in the south it is rich and fertile, alalthough there is much want of culture. I have made several excursions to the Crimea, and as I made use both of my eyes and understanding, perhaps a short sketch of the most remarkable scenes I met with, may amuse that young gentleman."

Edward assured him he should be greatly obliged by his communication, and the stranger proceeded, as follows:

M. M.-"I shall then describe to you some of those singular and beautiful scenes with which the Crimea abounds. The promontory of Parthenium, lying between the cities Chersonesus and Eupatorium, is an object that has excited much speculative opinion. Ancient historians mention, that in the city of Chersonesus, there was a temple erected to a virgin dæmon, upon which was her fane and image. Some persons place this temple on the perpendicular rock bearing the name of the Promontory of Parthenium, while others imagine it stood on a very remarkable black rock, which stretches itself into the sea and upon the top of which are the remains of a building of an oblong form. The extraordinary and magnificent appearance of this rock, from the sea is beyond description. Its natural and lofty arch forms. a dark and gloomy cave, under which fishing boats can pass. The whole of this coast is particularly grand; a little

farther to the south is the monastery of St. George, placed among sloping rocks, so as to appear almost inaccessible, overlooks a lovely bay. The monks have here formed their little gardens on terraces, one above the other, and the whole presents a scene so wild, so grand, and so beautiful, as scarcely to be imagined..

"Having staid some time in this enchanting neighbourhood, I visited the valley of Balaclava. The wild gigantic landscape which surrounds the southern extremity of the town; its mountains, its ruins, and its harbour, possess every requisite for exercising the pencil of a Salvator Rosa; while its houses, covered by vines and flowers, and overshadowed by the thick foliage of mulberry and walnut trees, present a most enchanting and lovely view. The port of Balaclava is one of the most remarkable of the Crimea. From the town it resembles some of the northern lakes, but the entrance to it is so narrow, that it has the appearance of being completely surrounded by precipitous mountains. It requires some skill to navigate the vessels through this confined channel, but when this is accomplished, the largest ships may find sufficient depth of water, and ample shelter from the dreadful storms of the Black sea within its harbour.

"The inhabitants of this town are principally Greeks, a set of corsairs, to whom the Empress Catharine assigned it as a reward for their services during her war with the Turks. The variety of nations, or rather, I should say, of people, living in the Crimea, forms one of its most amusing and prominent features. Tartars and Turks, Jews and Greeks, Anatolians and Armenians, Nagoys, Gypsies, and Calmucks, inhabit different parts of it. Each living according to the fashion of his own country, without intermixing with each other more than they are compelled from absolute neces、 sity.

"The mountains which surround the port are of red and white marble, full of cracks and fissures; but calculated for ample quarries, if worked beyond the surface. The shore is in some parts covered with fine glittering sand, the particles of which consist. wholly of gold coloured mica, in a state of extreme division; making the most beautiful writing sand that can be imagined; and as it may be obtained in any quantity, would answer very well, I should think, as an article of commerce. There has been nothing yet sold by

stationers, to be compared to the sand of Balaclava; for when scattered over fresh writing it produces an effect as if the ink had been covered with minute scales of polished gold, which it will retain for any number of years.'

"I am surprised," said Dr. Walker, "that when the Genoese had possession of the fortress of Mankoop, that they should not have profited by this as an article of trade. Did you visit the remains of this celebrated fortress?"

M. M.-"Yes, I did; and a very extraordinary object it is. It may, indeed, be described as towering above the clouds, but you shall have more than a general description of it; for I was so delighted with my excursion to its summit, that upon arriving at the cottage where I had taken up my abode, I wrote an account of it while it was fresh in my memory, and I this morning put it in my pocket.

[He reads.] "The fortress of Mankoop is of a very extraordinary magnitude, and may be described as literally in the clouds. It covers the summit of a semicircular insulated mountain; this from its frightful aspect, its altitude, and craggy perpendicular sides, independent of every other consideration than as a surprising work of nature, fills the mind with wonder upon entering the defile leading to it. In this singular situation, where there were no visible means of ascent towards any of the heights, much less for conveying the materials for the astonishing work they completed, did the Genoese construct a citadel, perhaps, without a parallel in the world; the result of their wealth, address, and enterprise.

History does not mention for what especial purpose those works were carried on by the Greeks or Genoese in the interior of the country, at such a distance from the coast: but it is natural to conjecture their use, in curbing the hostile spirit of the natives towards the maritime colonial possessions. The last persons who held Mankoop were Jews. Ruined tombs of marble and stone were lying beneath the trees in the cemetery of their colony, which we passed in our ascent. The whole of our passage up the mountain was steep and difficult, nor was it rendered more practicable by the amazing labours of its former possessors, whose dilapidated works rather served to impede than facilitate our progress. The ascent had once been paved the whole way, and stairs formed, the remains of which were still in some parts visible.

"When we reached the summit we found it entirely covered with ruins of the citadel, caverns and gloomy galleries perforated in the rock, whose original uses are now unknown, present on every side their gloomy apertures. On the most elevated part of this extraordinary eminence, is a beautiful plain, covered with fine turf, among which we found the rose pygmæ of Pallas, blooming in great beauty. This plain is partly fenced in by the mouldering wall of the fortress, but otherwise open to the surrounding precipices. All the other mountains, may be discerned from this spot as well as every wood, village, or hill in the Crimea. While with dismay and caution we crept upon our hands and knees, to look over the brink of these fearful heights, a half-clad Tartar, wild as the winds of the north, mounted, without any saddle or bridle, except the twisted stem of a wild vine, on a colt equally wild as himself, galloped to the very edge of the precipice, and there while his horse pranced and curveted, he with the utmost composure, amused himself in pointing out to us the different places in the extensive scene before us. We entered one of the excavated chambers, it was a small square apartment, leading to another on our right hand, while the left conducted us along a narrow passage, which opened to a balcony formed in the solid rock, and defended by a parapet. From this, as it was in the very face of one of the principal precipices, we contemplated in security the vast depth below. Vultures gliding over the vallies appeared no larger than sparrows, while the villages, woods, and undulating hills beneath them, were seen at such a vast distance, that our heads grew giddy, and with a chilling sensation, bordering almost upon faintness, we turned from the dizzy height. We afterwards found the remains of churches, and other public buildings among the ruins, and in a more perfect state than might have been expected in the Russian empire.

"At length, being conducted to the north eastern point of the crescent, which is the shape of the summit on which the fortress of Mankoop was constructed, and, descending a few stone steps neatly hewn in the rock, we entered by a square door into a cavern, called by the Tartars, the cape of the winds; it has been chiselled like the rest, out of the solid stone, but it is open on four sides. From the amazing prospect here commanded of all the surrounding country, it probably served as a military post of observation. The