33 2 JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF THE CRIMEA,

hufbandry. There is likewife plenty of game; though phea-fants, which were formerly numerous, are now becomelefs frequent; but of fifh there is great abundance. Withbetter management, the country would afFord moft excellentpafture for cattle. The healthieft fpot is the ifland of Taman,the population of which is ftill inconfiderable, having beengreatly diminifhed by the ravages of the plague in 1796.Horfes thrive here uncommonly well. The rieh fifhery ofAtfhuef, where all kinds of fturgeon are caught, might alfobecome a fource of riches, if it were fufficiently attended to j asthe caviar, prepared by the Kozaks of Tfhernomorfki, is alreadypreferred to that of Aftrakhan, and exported in large quan-tities from Taganrog to Conftantinople.

The prineipal fettlements of the Kozaks of Tfhernomorfkiare, Taman, Temruk, and Atfhuef, together with the villages orkurens along the upper banks of the Kuban. The capital, orfeat of the Koßievot and Council of War (Foi/kovaya Kanzel/aria),is Ekaterinodar, two hundred and fixty-two verfts diftant fromTaman. In thefe places, about two-thirds of the whole bodygenerally refide ; a thoufand men oecupy the lines towards themountains, and thofe feparating the reftlefs Circaffians ; a fimilarnumber are flationed in and about Ekaterinodar, as a body ofreferve ; one thoufand are computed for manning the notilla thatlies in the Bugas, confifting of about twenty light veffels ; and,in time of war, a detachment of a thoufand men is commonlyordered to the army. They have alfo upwards of one hundredpieces of artillery, of different calibres, which are difpofed,partly on board the flotilla, and partly at various pofts.

The