THE male population of the Tatars* inhabitingthe Crimea amounts, according to the last revision, to one hundred and eighty-six thousand souls ; of these about six hundred only are Murzas (noblemen), the number of noble families being so materially reduced, that they are not supposed to exceed sixty.
The whole population of the Crimea, includ- * I received these statements from a Tatar sacerdatal, or secretary of the Land Tribunal, and am therefore disposed to believe them correct.
ing all descriptions of people, is estimated at two hundred and sixty thousand.
Akmetchet, and Theodosia or Kaffa, contain each of them about three thousand inhabitants. Sevastopol, or Aktiar, does not surpass that amount in stationary residents ; but as this port is the rendezvous of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, its population, including sailors, soldiers, shipwrights, &c. is computed at from fourteen to fifteen thousand. According to the revision of 1820, the population of Akmetchet was estimated at upwards of six thousand, exclusive of the military stationed there. Aktiar is stated to have nine thousand inhabitants ; and including all that are attached to the navy, with their families, the amount is supposed to be little short of twenty thousand.
Karasubazar is larger than any ofthese towns, and its inhabitants are almost entirely Tatars.
It possesses the cheapest and most abundant market for provisions, and indeed for every article which is usually sold in the Crimea.
The old town ofStarai Krim, once the capital of the peninsula, isnow little better than a heap of ruins*. Its few inhabitants are Armenian shopkeepers, who are said to occupy not less than two hundred shops : a number apparently equal to that of all the houses in the place. These gain a scanty subsistence from the neighbouring villages, and chiefly from those which are too distant to have frequent intercourse with the larger towns.
The trade of Kaffa is at present very inconsiderable, having two formidable rivals in Odessa and Taganrog, which are both more conveniently situated for inland communication.
The Kaffa merchants, however, anticipate the time when the sea of Azoff will be no longer navigable, and the commerce now enjoyed by Taganrog be driven back into its former channel.
Besides the Tatar population, the Crimea contains large colonies of Germans, who have been greatly favoured by government, andowe it to their own idleness and drunkenness, that they * These ruins are very extensive, and we know that at the first conquest of the country by the Russians, it was a flourishing town, though not to be compared to what it was when held by the Genoese.
are not in the most flourishing circumstances ; colonies of Bulgarians, who are the best farmers andmost industrious inhabitants ofthepeninsula ; Jews in abundance, many of whom are of the Karaite sect, and are every where much respected ; Armenian shopkeepers in every town ; and Greeks both in the towns and villages. Some large villages of Russian crown peasants, in addition to the Tatars, form the principal population of the Stepp ; but in the towns, particularly Kaffa, may be found the descendants ofmore than fifteen different nations.
The law respecting property in the Crimea remains precisely, or with little variation, the same as originally established by the Russians at the time of the subjugation. Every male soul settling on an estate, is bound to give to the proprietor of it eight days' labour in the year ; in return for this he has the privilege ofgrazing all his horses, cattle, &c. For whatsoever land he may plough, he gives one-tenth of the produce to the proprietor of the soil ; and for hay, according to the abundance of the season, from one-third to one-half. Both hay and corn must be carried home to the yard of the proprietor, who goes himself into the field to see them^sent. Notwithstanding the Tatars of the different villages in the Crimea plough, in fact, whereever they please, and as much as they like, upon payment of the aforesaid tithe, and are liable to very few out-goings (labour excepted), yet so great is their natural aversion to industry, that multitudes of them, rather than plough and sow, will buy corn to feed their families; others grow enough only for a part of the year, and exchange the rest for wool, sheep, &c.