The Jews all speak bad German, and how great is the confusion of
The dust in summer, in Odessa, is a greater ntiisance than in any city in the world that ever I visited. This dust is extremely light and fine ; is raised' by the slightest breatii of wind in immense clouds ; hangs suspended in the air like smoke ; and is so excessively penetrating, that it will make its way into the interior of a house, however carefully doors and ^sdudows may be kept closed.
tongues may be imagined from the circumstance of amateur performances being given in the same theatre in five different languages. In the streets one hears Russian, EngHsh, Italian, German, Tartar, Polish, Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Moldavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Dalmatian, French, Swedish, and Spanish, and these are not spoken merely by passing strangers, but by the regular inhabitants ; in short, the confusion of tongues which prevails, more or less, all over Russia, reaches in Odessa the true Babylonish extreme.
The buildings of Odessa are all, more or less, in the Italian style, with only two stories, flat roofs, and an abundance of columns and balconies ; and as they have always plenty of room to show themselves, they produce a very good effect. One sees nowhere the deformed misshapen houses so frequent in narrow German tow^ns ; but what struck me as especially pleasing were the corn-magazines, through whose handsome airy windows the golden blessings of the fields might be seen heaped up in rich masses. These magazines are built with the same elegance as the dwelling-houses, and indeed are frequently metamorphosed into them. Some are really magnificent ; in particular, those of Count Potocki, and those which, before the Polish insurrection, belonged to the Count Sabanski. The latter have since become the property of the crown, and Sabanski, who took a leading part in that unfortunate struggle, has fled his country. Many of the Poles have also disappeared from Odessa, and its trade has suffered in consequence.