886 '
by an article in the late peace, declared independent, and fubjedt to a khan, ele£ted bythe natives, though confirmed both by the Emprefs and Grand-Signor. It was the capi-tal of the Crimea; and the Tartars diftinguilhed it by the name of Half-Conftantino-pie *. The bay is capable of containing feveral hundred merchant fliips; and the inha-bitants are thericheft, and drive the mod extenfive trade in the Black Sea . The pro-duftions of Crini Tartary, exported from CafFa and the other havens of the peninfula,confift chiefly in corn, wine, wool, fine black and grey lamb-lkins, and fait. The im-ports are fine and coarfe linens, printed cottons, nankeen, Ruffian leather, fine cloths,velvets, taffeties, furs, ropes, paper, halted fifh, and caviare, tobacco leaves, copperand tin, hard-ware, gold and filver thread, beads and corals, earthen wares, a coarfefort of porcelain, and glafs-warefy &c. &c.
The port of Taman lies oppofite to Yenikale, at the extremity of the ftraits ofCaffa, on a fmall ifland in the mouth of a river Kuban: it was fubjedt to the Khan ofCrim Tartary, and traffics with the Circaffians from Mount Caucafus, the Coffacs dwel-ling near the rivers which fall into the Kuban, and the Tartars inhabiting the defert be-tween the Kuban and the Don. The exports are honey, wax, fait, wool, fox-fkins,martens, flreep, &c.; the imports nearly fimilar to thofe at Caffa.
The ports of the Ealtern and Southern coails of the Black Sea are fituated in theTurkilh provinces of Mingrelia, Georgia, and Anatolia: the principal are, j. Poti ,where the merchants of Georgia refort; 2. Trebizond ; 3. Cherfon, which is diftantonly fixty miles from Tokat , at which town the caravans from Perfia affemble and fe-parate, in order to proceed by different routes to Smyrna and Conftantinople. Sinope,the neareft port upon the Black Sea to Angora, is the only place hitherto known thatfupplies the fine goats-hair, generally called camels-hair, from which the bed camletsare manufactured, that equal if not l'urpafs thofe of Bruffels. The hair fpun into yarn,is chiefly purchafed at Tokat by the merchants of the caravans in their way to Smyrna,\from which port Europe is moltly fupplied with this commodity. The Greek and Ar-menian merchants draw from thefe parts honey, w'ax, fox-ikins, martens, and flieep,raw and manufactured filk, both Perfian and Turkilh, cotton, callicoes, rice, faffron,dried fruit, &c. They are fupplied in return with Ruffian and other European produc-tions. 4. Ties or Tilios, where the Turks have a dock for repairing fliips, and at■which place fails, cordage, anchors, and other naval (tores, are advantageoufly dif-pofed of.
The ports on the Welt era fhore of the Black Sea, befide Kinburn, are Varna inBulgaria, which is diftant about one hundred miles from Adrianople ; Kilia-Nova, atthe mouth of the Danube in Wallachia ; and Akkermen, on the mouth of the Dnief-ter, in Beffarabia, fixty miles from Bender. Thefe ports furnifh wool, dried fruits,Hungarian and Moldavian wines, buffalo fkins, &c. The traffic to Varna and Akker-men mig'ht be confiderably increafed by forming a more regular communication withAdrianople and Bender; and that of Kiiia-Nova might be rendered highly important,by vending the productions of Auftria and Hungary, if the navigation of the Danube was not obftrucied by the jealoufy of the Turks. The imports confift in European and Ruffian productions, for the moft part fimilar to thofe of Caffa.
* Nenncn fnlche di Tartary nur 'Jarim Shimlul. Kleeman’s Rcife von Wien nach Conllantinopel. Seea curious account of Caffa, in tliat work. The author obferved there feveral ruins of the buildings whichthe Genoefe conilrufled when Caffa was in their pofftffion, particularly the remains of the ancient citadel,of churches, of angels and faints grofsly carved on ftone, and feveral Latin inferiptions, p. 168, &c. Hedefer ibes Crim Tartary as a very fruitful country.
f Guldenitaedt, p 11 —14.
Conftan-