74 JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUTH-WESTERN QUARTER

in the time of Strabo. When the Crimea became a Ruflianprovince, there ftill remained the greater part of the wall raifedof handfome free-ftone, as well as of the fine gate leading to thecity, and a confiderable portion of the two ftrong towers, oneof which ftood contiguous to the bay, and was in a tolerableftate of prefervation in 1794; but the rife of Akhtiar has com-pleted the ruin of that ancient city. Modern builders, care-lefs about the gigantic plans and noble defigns of their anceftors,have removed thofe handfome fquare ftones from the veryfoundations, and employed them in eredting new houfes, with-out evincing the leaft curiofity for drawing a fingle view, ortaking the flighteft architeclural Iketch: at leaft, I have notbeen able to procure any information on the fubjecl:. I had anopportunity, however, of infpecting one beautiful infcriptionon white marble, communicated in the fifth plate, and relatingto fome repairs that had taken place in the fortifications, duringthe reign of the Emperor Zeno: it is faid to have been at-tached to one of the towers, but is now in the pofleflion of myfriend Hablitzl. Another infcription, found in the fame place,together with monograms, or characters compounded of feveralletters, is reprefented in the third Vignette. I alfo obtained afew other trivial infcriptions at Akhtiar, where a bafs-relief ofrüde workmanfhip is ftill preferved in the church : it repre-fents the figure of a man in attire, holding a roller in hishand, and is furnifhed with an epitaph. From the followingLatin, though imperfecl, infcription on ftone, of which onehalf only has been found,

it