OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA.

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dire&ion before ftated. There are very few fragments of awall, and of fome turrets, ftill perceptible; the latter of whichhad been partly of a round, and partly of a fquare form ;but moft of the ftones have, on account of their apparentlyhewn fbape, been carried off to Balaklava and the neighbouringvillage of Kadikoi, for the purpofe of ere&ing buildings.Thefe traces probably indicate the fite of that ancient wall,which, according to Strabo*, formerly enclofed the Cherfonefusbetween the ports of Balaklava and Akhtiar, a diftance of fortyftadia. From the commencement of this line, the whole penin-fula abounds with remains of old walls, which appear to havebeen raifed with the view of enclofing fields, or for fervingas foundations of very ancient edifices. From fuch veftiges ofantiquity we fee the original mode of building that prevailedamong the Greeks, who combined prodigious fquare ftonesfitted to each other, by means of beams inferted throughparticular holes made between the former; and the interfticeswere probably filled up with clay or mortar beaten into them,but which in procefs of time has been gradually waftied awayby rain. On taking a view from the height already mentioned,which ftill exhibits traces of a wall, we could diftin&ly feethe harbours of Balaklava and Akhtiar, together with theadjacent calcareous mountains. The diftance between thefetwo ports can fcarcely be greater than that ftated by Strabo,

* Cum autem hi [Scyth<e) et murum, quo interclufus erat ißhmus, ad Ctenuntem aggrede-rentur, ingeßifque calamis fojam impkrent ; regit, quantum ab bis interdiu, qua/t ponte faäoßratum fuerat, noäu incenderunt. — Strabo, Lib. VII. There are, however, no tracesdifcoverable of a former dkch; unlefs the hiftorian alludes in this paifege to a particularfort, then exifting contiguoufly to the wall.

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