Here I found a gardener, an old German, who devoted his whole life to gardening art: he talks about nothing else, loves nothing else, and laments only one thing - that the Prince is not coming and will not see his success. We must, however, give him complete justice: his garden is beautiful; he skillfully knew how to take advantage of all the advantages of the location, and even now he is constantly digging, planting, leveling. It’s a pity that he’s old and deaf: there’s almost no way to talk to him. The part of Gaspra that belonged to Prince Meshchersky is also beautiful and worked with the greatest care.
Returning late in the evening from Gaspra to Koreiz on horseback, I lost my way among the dense bushes and overhanging rocks. The sun has already set; its rays spread across the horizon of the sea, on which the sails of sailing boats and ships were white in the distance; the shadow spread at the foot of Yayla, but the tops of the rocks still glowed with golden fire. It became completely dark. Descending into a deep ravine, I heard the noise of a stream and the screams of Tatar shepherds, who helped me get out onto the high road. I returned to Koreiz by the light of torches, where my dear hostesses had already begun to worry about my absence, and told them without embellishment, according to the right and custom of all travelers, my knightly adventure.
My second expedition was to Count Witt's Oreanda. Rich vineyards, skillfully arranged gardens, irrigated by abundant flowing water, all kinds of buildings of good architecture make up this dacha. Its location is the most romantic! Particularly beautiful is the high rock called Mogabi, on top of which there is a brilliant gilded cross. The views from everywhere are extensive and, as on the entire almost midday shore, lovely. The owner was not there: he was then in Odessa, and without stopping for long, I went again to Yayla. I found inexpressible pleasure being in the mountains! There, in solitude, surrounded by the grandeur of nature, a person forgets all the small anxieties of the world.
Countess Divova (née Countess Toll), a relative of Count Witt, lives in Oreanda and manages this vast estate. She received me with the refined courtesy of a society woman, but in her conversation it was felt that she was bored in this wonderful solitude, that household chores did not occupy her much: she seemed to feel her loneliness and was tired of worries of all kinds. She eagerly asked me about St. Petersburg news, about the court, about literature and theaters, and was apparently glad to have the opportunity to talk with a person from her former circle.
The next day, Mrs. Sabanskaya very nicely told me that my travels were depriving them of a pleasant conversation, and meanwhile my early departure threatened to end our date:
- Stay with us a little longer! - she told me. - We are spending these days so pleasantly with you! But perhaps we are not very kind, and therefore are not able to keep you with us? “If I were younger, madam, then your Koreiz would become Kalypse Island for me.” New Telemachus, without a Mentor who would have pushed me off the cliff, having seen the Phoenician ship, I would certainly have remained chained to the delights of Eucharis; but Fenelon would not have described my adventures, and then - goodbye to Rome! goodbye Constantinople! “What would posterity say?...” she smiled in response.
We decided to go as a group for a walk to Alupka - the famous estate of Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. Having left in a carriage, we first drove past Miskhor, owned by Lev Aleksandrovich Naryshkin. The location of Miskhor is charming; it has a warm climate and an abundance of spring waters. Particularly remarkable is the entire grove of laurel trees. The local vineyard produces good white wine: Riesling and Muscat Lunel. We walked around the garden for quite a long time; but with pleasant companions time flies quickly! My companion was the first to notice that it was time to move on.
The rich vineyards of Count Vorontsov begin close to here. We then drove through the village of Alupka, without stopping there, in order to leave our carriage in a hotel built on the other side of the estate and called “Two Cypresses”. Here, indeed, two huge cypress trees, once planted by Prince Potemkin of Tauride, shade the entrance of the hotel.