DR. Roues CRIMEA. AND ODESSA. * THE same circumstances prompted the

publication and the trans- lation of this work—the interest attaching to the semblance of in- formation respecting the seat of war; for Dr. Koch's journey was made as long ago as 1844. The physical features, and the nature of the country as modified by soil and climate, are the only points that can attach value to The Crimea and Odessa beyond a com- mon book of travels ; since ten months, much more ten years, have made a wonderful difference in all that art and labour can effect respecting the military defences of the country.

Dr. Koch's journey was the continuation of travels undertaken with scientific objects in and beyond the Caucasus. It commenced at Kertch ; embraced the Crimea from Kedah to Sebastopol, and from Aloushta through Simferopol to Perekop, including a close examination of the line of coast from Sebastopol to Alonshta. The

• The Crimea and Odessa: Journal of a Tour, with an Account of the Climate and vegetation. By Dr. Charles Koch, Author of "Travels in the Caucasus." Trans- lated by Joanna B. Homer. With a Map of the Crimea. Published by !Surrey.

remainder of the journey was along the Southern steppes to Odessa, terminating at Bender, celebrated in the history of Charles the Twelfth.

Beyond certain difficulties arising through the loss of Dr. Koch's passport there is no incident in the book ; neither are the common

occurrences by the way numerous. The traveller describes his lodg- ings and his living, the troubles or the pleasures of his daily journey, and mentions with polite recognition those persons who rendered him assistance or furnished him with information, which, as he travelledunder Prussian Royal and Russian Imperial patronage, was felt' rendered. The Doctor investigates the antiquities of a place, visits its museum if it has one, and succinctly runs over its history with occasional allusions to the ethnology of the people. These things are well enough, but not very striking. The best subject of the book, is that which seems to have been the object of the travel- ler, natural science—the geology, botany, climate, and physical

features of the country : and these are the topics that have most interest for the reader. The description of Sebastopol as it was in 1844 is nothing. We have had much later descriptions than that; though our describers seem to have been as erroneous as Dr. Koch

in asserting that there were no land defences. Even' the land defences are now in a very different state from what they were in September last, when the Allied armies first appeared before the place. So that old descriptions have lost their in- terest. The physical features are unchanged ; not only of the country round Sebastopol, but throughout the line of road that may become a field of future operations in the spring or summer, should the great maritime arsenal hold out. It may be said that we have the descriptions of the country in the letters of the news- paper correspondents. But, in the first place, their view is limited to the ground the armies have passed over. In the second place, truth is not the reporter's object, but effect. Accurate representation may be fiat or heavy. " Our own correspondent" must have something telling. There may be no absolute falsehood, but there will be colour, and what the limners of " views from nature" call " cooking." Few who have any pretension to critical judgment derive the same impression from the reality as they wouldlo from a reporter's account of it. But even if the reporter gave an exact representation of what is before him, he often wants the know- ledge requisite to describe properly. Ignorant of natural science, he can only depict what his acquirements allow him to see, and that probably goes no further than the mere surface, or appearance at the moment. On the other hand, Dr. Koch not only sees what is before him ; he knows why it is so, and what it is likely to be at another time of year, from the geological formation, the cha- racter of the vegetation, the nourishment plants can derive from the particular kind of soil, and how that will furnish means of nourishment from its power of retaining or losing moisture. According to Koch, the fertility of the Crimea has been much overrated ; chiefly, he thinks, through the artifices of Potemkin, when Catherine visited it after the conquest, and the system of exaggerated praise which is bestowed upon everything connected with the Imperial wishes. A portion of the country is not capable of production at all; other parts are only adapted for pasture, and

in the plains only during the spring and early summer, from the absence of springs. The hilly regions furnish pasture in the

summer and till late in the year, but rarely if ever admit of re- munerative cultivation. The extreme Eastern portion of the Crimea appears to be the worst, from the geological causes men- tioned by the author.

" On the 17th of September I quitted Bench, and made the best of my way to Theodosia, about sixty-seven English miles distant. The road leads

directly West, across a steppe interrupted by low hills. It differed, how- ever, essentially from the steppes in Cis-Caucasus, and bore a stronger re- semblance to the American Pampas. In South America, this name applies to either a flat or very undulating tract of country, which in general is

wanting in springs of water. On this account it is only during the rainy season that any amount of vegetation is to be seen, while during the hot

summer months the country is transformed into a complete desert, and-can hardly support a few herbs and scattered shrubs, neither of which exhibit the ordinary verdure of plants. The ground on the whole of the Eastern side of the tkimea consists chiefly of limestone and marl, and belongs to the newest tertiary or diluvial period; while here, as in the true desert, a con- siderable amount of salt in the ground forms an impediment to the growth of plants. , The steppe of this country has also a grey appearance. The plants are all somewhat stunted, have more or less a grey colour, and on an average

are not above a foot high. There is very little variety, but those that grow here occupy large tracts of country, thereby increasing the uniformity of the scenery ; as, for example, the senecionete, asters, scabii, mallows, umbelli- ferte, &c. Plante which, upon the steppes in the Cis-Caucasus, form the larger description of weeds, are totally wanting here."

The country gets still worse towards Simferopol as the town is approached from the Eastward. In the immediate vicinity the land improves a little, but gets nearly as bad in passing Northwards to Perekoil.

" On leaving Simferopol the nummulitic limestone disappears, and is re- placed by a still more recent tertiary limestone. This also gives place soon afterwards to the newest tertiary formations, the so-called steppe limestone, which, under the name of Kedah limestone, forms a ridge, though not a lofty one, near the town itself. After this point there is no longer any ap- pearance of bare rock ; it is everywhere covered by soil, exhibiting very dif- ferent amounts of thickness, which rests on the alluvium. A few miles from Simferopol the ground becomes so level that there is not even the slightest

undulation. The same wearisome uniformity, without any interruption, continues the whole way to Perekop. We did not see a single village be- tween the two towns, and the miserable appearance of the five post-stations formed hardly any break to the tiresome monotony of the scene. I will mention their names, as they are in general written falsely on the maps, although they have nothing further to recommend them to notice. Sara- bouss, Trekablem, Aibar, Dyurmenek, and Yushun, are ,situated seventeen, twenty-four, twenty-two, twenty-fgur, and twenty-one versta apart. We

did not even meet a single herd of cattle or flock of sheep, and human beings were only visible at the stations. "Travellers often compare these entire days of monotonous travelling to the sea, where there is nothing but the sky above and the water beneath : but in the latter case the slightest wind occasions an uneven surface in the water, the ship is pursued by porpoises eager to snap up any scraps that may fall, and some vanety is produced by other marine creatures; while a plain like that in the North of the Crimea and in the South of Russia, in the au- tumn, presents a most dreary aspect, all vegetation having nearly disap- peared, except the hoary kinds of mugwort and white horehound, and now and then perhaps a few knapweede. The beautiful blue autumnal sky which arched over us formed a disagreeable contrast with the greyish-black ground. The withered stalks, without a green or even dried-up leaf, and the cracks in the ground, could scarcely be called variety ; and the only idea it was possible to entertain was the constant, and, even in this dreary wilder- ness, the grand image of eternity. In whichever direction we turned there was nothing to bound the view, not a single object to arrest the eye even for a moment.

"Although the Crimea is now inhabited by only one-third of its former numbers, these plains exhibit somewhat more animation at other seasons of the year, and in the spring-time there is even a certain amount of activity and intercourse visible. The variegated steppe is then traversed by thou- sands of sheep and cattle, which feed upon the herbs, at that season full of sap, and are led by shepherds and dogs."

Of Perekop the notice is scant.

"Perekop has played an important part since very ancient times, when the place existed under another name. A wall with towers, which were carefully guarded against the invasions of the savage Scythians, was built in a slanting direction across the isthmus by the civilized inhabitants of the Crimea ; it is not above two English miles and a half broad, and connects the peninsula with the main land. Perekop of the Tartars was unques- tionably on the same site, but the isthmus is no longer intercepted by a wall,

but by a deep ditch defended by towers. •

"The Perekop of the present day, usually marked on the map as a con- siderable fortress, has few claims upon our notice. Although still the chief town of a circle, the place is of no importance, and never will become so while the North and the Crimea obey one master."

The cause of this total or partial barrenness is want of water. As in Persia, South Africa, and some other countries, a continuous sup- ply of water produces great fertility, so the Crimea is fruitful where a supply is found, as in certain valleys. A good deal of cultivation is carried on along the Southern coast, but a great part is villa cul-

tivation, undertaken at the country seats of the noble.and wealthy,

and without reference to profit; perhaps to please the Emperor, who is anxious upon the subject, as was his brother Alexander. There is a peculiarity in the region which seems to change the nature of some plants, though they may apparently flourish. Great expense has been incurred in procuring specimens of vines, not only from the Russian dominions and the most celebrated vine- growing countries, but from more distant places. Great care has been taken with the cultivation. The grapes seem to flourish, but they change their nature ; and though some few noblemen produce a very good wine by great care in the management, the cost is greater than that of an imported article of equal quality. The learned Doctor seems to have a taste in this way, and he rarely omits to chronicle his experience. He entertains the question at the first German innkeeper's he comes to, sitting in judgment upon a vast variety, and sticking by the case as long as any evidence could be procured. We have had a glimpse of the effects of spring upon home hun- dred miles of country from Simferopol to Perekop ; this is the character of the season towards the South.

"The Southern coast has properly speaking no autumn, but, as we may say, a double spring, if our idea of that season is revived vegetation. The true spring agrees with ours in time and sometimes lasts from the beginning or middle of April to the middle of June, or more frequently begins in March and ends in May ; it is not, as with us, the finest season of the year, but is subject here to the greatest variability. The South coast has this peculiarity in common with many countries of the East. There is often particularly fine weather in the early part of March, and the vegetation begins to deve- lop itself luxuriantly ; when in April there is a sudden spell of cool, or even cold weather, the thermometer falling below zero, and it seems as if it were only now the beginning of winter."

It would seem that the season for active operations in the in- terior will shortly commence, and continue till the end of June. After that month the country is a barren and in some places a very dusty steppe, furnishing little for the subsistence of animals, and indeed nothing for the subsistence of either men or animals if large numbers are concentrated in a small space., Strategy and fighting being put aside, the advantage would seem to rest with that army whose commissariat and transport are the best.