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294 JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF THE CRIMEA,

well as by the encroachments of the fea, and the inundationsof the river Kuban. Thefe caufes havc produccd variouschanges, and are likely to be attended with many others. Thedifferent branches of the Kuban, with feveral large bays andinundated low tracts, completely infulate this country; which,extending weftward on the Afiatic fide, and having the penin-fula of the Bofphorus to the Eaft, forms the ftreight called Bof-phorus, and enclofes the Mceotis, or Sea of Azof. The creeksabove alluded to, which may be conudered as irruptions of thefea into this ifland, are the following, namely :

1. The bay of Taman, or Tamanfkoi-Saliv, appears to be

an inlet of the Bofphorus, and is faline: it has nocommunication with the Kuban.

2. The Leeman of Temruk, by the Tartars called Ak-

Tengis, or the White Sea; which, like an enclofedlake, is feparated from the fea of Azof only by a narrowbank, and from the bay of Taman by a broader one :it receives from the Kuban feveral fmall ftreams, thatappear to have formerly been navigable; difemboguesitfelf into the fea of Azof, towards the bay of Temruk ;and contains frefli water.

3. The Youlhnoi-Kubanikoi-Leeman, or the fouthern bay

of the Kuban, is the largeft, and is fupplied by theprincipal channel of that river: its efflux into theBlack Sea is through a narrow paflage between twoinconfiderable necks of land, called the Bugas, andwhich is fo fhallow that it may be forded; but towardsthe Weft it forms a diftinct bay, namely,

4. The