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48 JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUTH-WESTERN QUARTER

higher ground. One of thefe batteries is built in the form of afemi-circle, and ferves, at the fatne time, to defend the entranceinto the Artillery-Bay; which, otherwife, might expofe thetown to danger. Both the great and fmall port are completelyproteüed againft all winds, by the calcareous beds which pro-greflively rife and extend into the country : occafionally, how-ever, weftern hurricanes have been obferved to penetratethrough the mouth of the bay, and to drive the foremoft fhipsfrom their anchors.

At a diftance of about 750 fathoms from the mouth of thisbay, the large foutherly port, appropriated for the reception ofmen of war, forms a collateral fmall arm in a weftern dire£tion ;and which was by the Tartars formerly called Kartaly-Koß>, orthe Vulture-Bay; but is at prefent termed the Little Harbour,or Youßmaya-Bukhta. lts water extends upwards of twoverfts and a half into the high country, though only twohundred fathoms wide at the mouth. Immediately towards theSouth, it forms a fmall narrow creek, fcarcely three hundredfathoms in length, varying in breadth and depth from fix tonine fathoms, but gradually diminifhing in both refpe&s to-wards its fouthern extremity; the whole being furroundedwith mariners' dwellings. When the fleet is difmantled, thiscreek affords perfecT: fecurity; but, when it is again fitted out,the fhips of war caft their anchors in the large harbour, wherethey are then ftationed in a line. The fmall Artillery-Bay,which is only three hundred fathoms in length, has obtainedthis appellation from the barracks erected on its {höre, for theaccommodation of that military coips. It is fomewhat nearer tothe mouth of the harbour, being feparated from the former fmall

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