A strange occurrence took place at the moment of the Emperor's embarkation. It so happened, that the crowd being inclined to press forward towards where the officials were standing, a policeman, whilst exerting himself to force it back, accidentally pushed against an officer of rank. He immediately turned and as quickly saluted the officer he had inadvertently touched, to receive from him a violent blow on the face. The policeman meekly raised his hand to his cap, but only to have a second blow dealt him on the other cheek. The officer who so far forgot himself held the honourable post of aide-de-camp to His Majesty, who, it is suspected, never heard of the incident. The injured policeman dared not complain, and the offender was left to flaunt bis golden aiguillettes.
After many attempts at extortion on the part of the Tatars, and much bargaining on our side, we engaged horses for the ride over the yaylas to Baghtchasaral, at 4 roubles each, and a guide at 2 roubles, with 4 roubles for his horse. Two paths conduct over the mountains to the Tatar city, one being up the Derekyuy valley, the other from Outchan-sou is by a new carriage road in courje of construction; the former was selected as being the shortest, and our departure fixed for seven o'clock in the morning.
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We were in our saddles by the appointed hour, each of us taking a small carpet bag, heavy lu^age being booked to Sevastopol by steamer. After passing the village of Derekyuy, we had to follow in single file as our horses picked their steps over the stony and uneven ground, a dreary ride until the pine forests are reached, where grows the fresh looking and verdant Phtus Taurica. At the end of three hours we got to the top of the Basyshemnosty yayla, where we halted for some moments to enjoy the view, which comprises the little bay of Yalta and its surroundings. It is not by any means all wood and pasture about the yaylas of the mountain range on the south coast, for there is many a bold rocky summit unfrequented by man, because inaccessible by many hundreds of feet, but the eyrie of the eagle, that
Clasps the crag with crooked hands Close to the sun in lonely lands —
The yayla we traversed was of small extent, and on reaching Byouk ouzyn-bash, we rested the horses. There are two villages both called Ouzjin-bash, 'head of the stream,' from their positions near the sources of the Beibeck, which here traverses a very naked country. From the Eelbeck we got to the Katcha, and kept along its banks to Oulou-sali, and thence to Bya-saJa, where we again stopped to refresh.
Bya-sali is a neat Russian colony, but wanting in the picturesqueness of Tatar villages, perhaps owing to the absence of trees and vegetation. It is one of the earliest Russian settlements in the peninsula, and was founded by soldiers who received their discharge from the first army of occupation.
Our attention was attracted by some tombstones of great size on a hill overlooking the village, and upon reaching the ground we found ourselves in a cemetery of some antiquity There are
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no inscripLions on these monuments, but many liave sculptured on them a sword, a crook, or an artisan's tool, as if to denote the profession or trade of the deceased; a few have crosses. The largest stones are of a single block, 9 feet in length and 3 feet to 4 feet in width and height, some being intended to cover two graves. Dubois does not appear to have seen these rude monuments, but he describes others similar to them at Mangoup and Laspi,' attributing them to the more modem Greeks who inhabited the peninsula. The church in this cemetery was constructed of the materials of the ancient edilice, which was pulled down for the purpose I
A little way past Bya-5al4 is a spring on the right of the road, called by the Tatars Harem-tchoukour, ' sacred cave '; above it is a slab with a well-worn inscription in Hebrew in three lines. At a place called Shoury we turned up the valley of Syrbey, and having passed Tchyfout-Kaleh, we entered the palace of the khans at Ba^tchasaraT" at half-past seven.
There being no inns in this Tatar town, travellers are very considerately permitted to pass the night within the precincts of the palace. Colonel Shostag, the Governor, immediately responded to our application, and by his direction we were shown into an apartment fitted up with lounges, gaudy silk hangings, mirrors, and other appurtenances of an oriental* interior, and we shortly afterwards received an invitation to tea from the gallant officer and his lady, who were enjoying the cool evening air, seated under the spreading branches of an old walnut-tree in the court.