[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
the thirteenth century by Bybars, niler in Egypt; another noble mosque was erected in 1314 during the reign of Mahomed Khan (Ousbeck), ' by his slave Abdoul Hasy Ousouf, son of Ibrahim Esbaly.' The city received the rich produce of the distant east, even from Khiva, until the Venetians at Tana waylaid the caravans, to purchase the precious freights which they retailed to their own profit.
There are now at Esky-Crim an insignificant mosque, a Greek and an Armenian church; all has disappeared, even to the residence that was expressly built at the close of the last century for the reception of the Empress Catherine; and on the mounds of the undulating surface, beneath which lies hidden a city, are the wretched cottages of a few Armenians, Greeks, and Russians.
A little way beyond Esky-Crim, amongst the woods on the high land to the left, is the ancient monastery of Kyzyl-tash, ' redstone,' so called from the colour of the porphyry on which it stands. A church built in 1871 was consecrated to the Virgin, as the protectress of a spring which has become celebrated for its healing properties,
The road to Soudak over Mount Yaman is bad, but it mends on entering the valley of Tarak-tash, where the rivulet of the same name courses between a succession of sterile and melancholylooking heights, painful to look upon, their complete barrenness being scarcely relieved by the few tufts of the caper plant. But at the Tatar village of Tarak-tash commence the vineyards ' and orchards that overspread the valleys of Soudak and Alsava almost to the sea-shore.
' At 5ou<la.k and in the immetliate neighbourhood, 12,864,000 vines are planted ova: 3,832 acres, which produce yearly 1, 62 5, cxx} gallons of wine. In the y«ar 1873,311,000 ^llons were exporled. The wines ot Soudak conipri«e Risling, Bordeaux, Tokay, Muscat, and a variety of Burgundies.
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SOUGDAYA, SOLDAYA, OR SOUDAK. 155
The existence of Soudak is believed to date from the year 2I2A.D.; in olden times the Tatars called it Soudagh, and the Russians, Souroj; but the most ancient name, given to it, so far as is known, by the Byzantines, was Sougdaya. When a flourishing port and chief centre of commerce, the fame of Soudagh became so great, that the populations of the east were wont to call the Crimean peninsula by its name, and the Black Sea was known to them as the Sea of Soudagh. The Italians altered the name to Soldaya or Soldadia.
CHRONOLOGY OF SOUDAK.
3IZ. Foundation of Sougdaya. 787. Bishop Stephen attends the council of Nicea. 1233. The Mongols take the city; Sougda.ya becomes 3 dependency of the empire of Trebiiond. 1339. The Mongols take the city for the second time. 1253. The monk Rubruquis is Che guest of the archbishop; Sougdaya pays tribute to the Tatars. 1260. Arrival ttf' Nicolo and MaiTeo Polo.' 1382. The archbishop is raised to the dignity of metropolitan. 1287. The Venetians appoint a consuL 1322. Persecution of Christians, and remonstrance to the Khan
Ousbeck by Pope John XXII. 1327. Their fortress and churches destroyed. 1358. Cession of Soudagh to the Venetians. 136;. Cession of Soudagh and eighteen villages to the Genoese.
On taking possession of Soudagh in July 1365, the Genoese commenced the cwistruction of those defences which are the noblest monuments of their occupation on the shores of Gothia.
' 'It came to pass in the year of Christ 1260, when Baldwin wasreigningat Constan- (iDopIe, that Mcs«er Nicolas Polo, the fathei of my lord Mark, and Messer Mafleo Polo the brother of Messer Nicolas, were at the said city of Constantinople, wliither they had gone from Venice «ilh their machant's wares. Now thew two brethren, men singularly Doble, wine, and provident, took counsel ti^ther to cross ihe Greater Sea on a venture of trade; so they laid in > store af jewels, and set forth from Constantinople, crossing the tea to Soldaia.' Yole, Tkt bonk « Ser Marco Polo, &c. i. p. 2.
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They sustained a lengthened siege after the fall of Caffa to the Turks, and the last stand of the brave defenders, when their numbers were already decimated by famine, took place in a small church within the fortress, where they fought with desperation, perishing to a man. The church became their tomb, for the Turks left their bodies within it, and walled up the doors and windows.'
The fortifications of Soldaya extend along the slopes to the summit of a pyramidal mountain of rock, which rises almost perpendicularly some hundreds of feet above the sea, and is inaccessible except to the north-west. One inscription remains over the principal gate of the fortress, and on a slab to the right, inside the gate, is the following in Gothic letters: —
•Y MCCCLXXXV DIE PRIMA AUGUSTI GPRE REGIMINIS