CHAPTER XVII.

THE SEA OF AZOF.

The Sea of Azof—Its extent and boundaries—Its depth continually diminishes—Its sweet water—Its rivers—Currents—The Straits of Kertch—The Russian defences of it—The eastern shores—Temróuk-Okhtor—Cape Obriv—The fishing huts—Bay and new town of Yeisk—Cape Tchimborsk—Mouths of Don—Bars of the Don—Old town of Azof—Rostof—Its commercial importance—Shallowness of water in Gulf of the Don—The Azof frozen in winter—Ruins of ancient Tana—Taganrok founded by Peter the Great—Its history—Its importance—Mariopol—Cape Bielo-Serái—Berdiansk—Its foundation—Port is filling up—Lake Moloshenska—Peninsula of Berútchi—Straits of Yénitchi.

The Sea of Azof[255] is situated from latitude 45° to 47° and in longitude 32° to 36°. From the straits of Kertch to the point of Bielo-Serái at the entrance of the gulf of the Don, is 90 miles, and from Bielo-Serái, to the mouths of the Don, is 76 miles, so that the total length of the Sea of Azof is 166 miles. Its breadth from the extremity of the Tonka, on the west, to the lagoon of Beislitz on the east, is 142 miles.

The north coast of this sea is from 84 to 132 feet in height, and is generally flat, although in some parts it is bordered by low hills and reddish cliffs. Extensive strips of land, bordered by sand banks, have formed around all the promontories, and, subjected as they are to the influence of the currents of the Don, have a tendency to move towards the west. The east coast of the Sea of Azof is inhabited by the Tchernomorski Cossacks, and, beginning at Temróuk, it is very low, often sandy, and cut up by lagoons and rushy marshes. There are also on the coast many sand banks, particularly in the gulf of the Don, which, like those of the opposite shore, incline towards the west. The Tonka,[256] a low narrow long peninsula (called also the “Streolka” or arrow, or the Arabate), forms the west coast of this sea, which by it is separated from the _Shiváshe_ or mud sea, an immense lagoon, into which all the rivers of the western side of the Crimea flow. The Sea of Azof is bounded on the south by the Crimea and the peninsula of Taman, on the east by the country of the Tchernomorski Cossacks, and the Don Cossacks, on the north by the country of the Don Cossacks and governments of Ekaterinoslaf and the Tauride, and on the west by the Tonka. Its greatest depth at present is 46 feet between the straits of Kertch and the point of Bielo-Serái, where the passage is narrow, on account of two vast sand banks. A little further on the depth diminishes to 26 feet and there are but 8 or 10 feet water in the greater part of the roadstead of Taganrok. It extends however southwards beyond the Greek bank, where there is about 18 or 20 feet of water, and where most vessels finish taking in their cargoes.

It has been remarked that from the year 1706 to the year 1808, the depth of this sea has diminished 3 feet; and from this latter date to the year 1833, it has again diminished 3 feet, so that it has lost 6 feet of depth in 127 years. This diminution in depth is caused by the accumulation of sand and mud from the Don, and in some measure likewise by the large quantities of ballast that are yearly thrown into the sea, by vessels loading in the roadstead of Taganrok. The sand banks have increased in extent, and new ones have been formed; which render the navigation of this sea daily more difficult and perilous. The bottom is everywhere mud and shells, and the water is of a dull yellow colour. The Don sweetens this sea, and the water of it is used for the provisioning of ships as far as 20 miles to the west of Taganrok. Besides the Don, several small rivers run into it on the north and east coasts, beyond the lagoon of Temróuk.

The current is not so rapid in the Sea of Azof as it is in the straits of Kertch. In the sea it rarely runs beyond one knot an hour, even with a violent north-east wind, and with a south wind it runs in an opposite direction. From the Don to the point of Bielo-Serái, it runs west, and then divides into two; the largest portion of the water runs direct for the straits of Kertch, and the other portion round the north coast, until it meets the waters of the Shiváshe, and, uniting with them, flows down the steep shore of the Tonka, and along the coast of the Crimea to Kertch. During the winter the ice renders this sea unnavigable, and it is available to shipping only from the middle of April to the latter end of October. When a vessel approaches the straits of Kertch, with a view of passing them from the Black Sea, she steers at about equal distances between Cape Panaghia on her right, and Cape Takli Coolári on her left. The latter cape is crowned with a lighthouse. The distance between the two capes is about 8 miles, and the depth of the water 55 feet. The course of the vessel is then nearly due north for about 8 miles, till she reaches Cape Karaboroun, which is remarkable for several hillocks and buildings which precede it. Here there is a sandy beach at a quarter of a mile distance, and 20 feet of water. About a mile and a half further on is Cape Kamishboroun, where there is a good anchorage, and a small lake near it, which has 12 feet water and communicates with the sea by a channel 5 or 6 feet deep.

The course of the ship is now nearly due east, and the narrowest part of the whole straits is approached. In them the water is 26 feet deep, the passage is very confined, and ships are obliged to pass near the western shore. This spot has therefore been chosen for the defence of the straits, and a battery, called the battery of Paul, has been placed there. It is a little to the northward of this narrow passage that thirty-three ships have been sunk to defend it, in the same mode that has been adopted at Sevastopol. The ships were only sunk in May 1854, two months after our declaration of war with Russia; and while our enormous fleet was inactive in the Black Sea, this passage was free and undefended, except by a few hundred invalids, who formed the garrison of Kertch. Cape Akboroun ends the passage, and immediately afterwards there opens on the left the snug little bay of Kertch, around which, as has been related, were situated the Greek colonies of Nymphæum, Panticapæum, and Myrmékium. When a vessel has passed Cape Akboroun, if she wish to continue her course to the Sea of Azof, without stopping at Kertch, she steers nearly due east, and having passed in 14 feet water the little town of Yenicáleh, about six miles from Kertch and further on the Cape Poritálo, on which there is a lighthouse, the water deepens to 30 feet, and the muddy expanse of the Sea of Azof opens before her. It is to be observed that the very shallow part of the straits does not occur till after Kertch, which is by far the most important place on the straits, and which is undefended by any fortifications.

The shores on both sides of the straits are very thinly inhabited: on the Asiatic side by the Tchernomorski Cossacks, the descendants of the famous Zaporogues, who were transplanted here by Catherine II., and on the European side by remnants of the broken nation of the Tatars, and a mixed population of Russians, Greeks, and Levantines, who only occupy the towns.

I will now make a periplus of the Sea of Azof, pointing out the most important places in the desolate countries that for the most part surround it. Beginning to the east, we first come to Temróuk, occupied by the Tchernomorski Cossacks, which is only a small village, situated on the border of a lagoon, celebrated for the immense quantities of fish caught in it. Vessels coming for their cargoes of fish anchor to the north at the mouth of the lagoon, in 17 feet water, with a sandy bottom. At 53 miles further up the coast is Okhtor, situated on the banks of a wide and shallow bay. In its vicinity there are salt lakes and fisheries. The bay terminates in Cape Kamishavát,[257] which is 36½ miles from Bielo-Serái,[258] on the opposite coast, and 56 miles from Kertch. At 12 miles further north is Cape Obriv,[259] where there are two extensive sandbanks jutting out like horns, on the northernmost of which, that of Dolgoi,[260] there is a beacon. At 9½ miles hence is seen the lighthouse on Bielo-Serái point, and the church of Mariopol almost due north.

Fishing-huts are to be found on nearly all the sandy points of the Sea of Azof. These buildings are raised on posts in order to preserve them from being carried away by the inundations, and seen from a distance they have an extraordinary appearance as if floating on the water. Beyond Cape Obriv, the coast runs 19 miles to the east as far as the mouth of the bay of Yeisk, which is 13 miles in length from east to west, and 6½ from north to south. This bay would be one of the very best anchorages in the sea had it a few feet greater depth; but as it is, the lead marks only 5 feet, and its entrance is five miles wide and from 13 to 7 feet deep. This is a populous locality, and the old town of Yeisk is situated to the south-east, near the river Yé. A new town was founded here in 1848 by Prince Woronzof, at Yeisk, on the western sandy point of the bay; but it will probably not answer the expectations formed of it, as the sea is so shallow that vessels cannot approach it, and the produce of the surrounding countries is too small to induce commercial men to settle there, notwithstanding the privileges accorded to it. One of these privileges is, that merchants settled here do not pay the personal tax levied on them, which is very heavy. Merchants in Russia are divided into three guilds, and the tax on a merchant of the first guild is about 150_l._ a-year, and every partner and clerk who has a power of attorney to act for the firm must pay the tax. By being the possessor of a house at Yeisk, exemption is obtained from it. From the mouth of this bay the coast runs 6¼ miles to the north, and forms Cape Sazanitskoi, near which are several fisheries. At 17 miles further east is Cape Tchimborsk, whence it is about 18 miles to Kagalnik, situated on the southernmost branch of the Don, called Staroi[261] Don, and at the commencement of its delta. The whole country between Yeisk and the Don, and likewise all around Rostof, is cultivated with wheat. The land is similar to that on the opposite coast, and very fertile. It bears a crop of wheat once every three years, and lies fallow for the intermediate time. The inhabitants are Don Cossacks and Russian proprietors, who have bought lands and brought down peasants from the interior of Russia. There are no Calmucks or Nogais here.

The Don has several mouths between Kagalnik and Siniávka, the northernmost point of its delta, which measures 12 miles across in its widest part. The delta is uncultivated, and covered with rushes and high reeds, and the whole forms an immense lake in the month of June, when the waters rise. The climate of all this country is very dry, like that of the steppes in general, and the want of water often occasions severe injury to the crops. It is not unhealthy, although dysentery prevails in the hot weather at Rostof, which is to be attributed to imprudence in eating the melons, cucumbers, and other fruits, which grow there in wonderful abundance and perfection. Proceeding from south to north, the first mouth, called _the_ mouth of the Don, used to be the principal one, and upon it, at 6 miles inland, is the town of Azof, which is now only a large village, with the remains of an old fort. The second mouth is the Kalántcha; the third the Perevóloki; the fourth the Kasterna; and the fifth the Donetse,[262] near Siniávka. At present the only branches available for navigation are the Kalántcha and the Perevóloki.

The town of Rostof is placed on the north bank of the Don, 22½ miles from the sea before the commencement of the delta. Vessels of low draught can alone proceed to it, because of the bars at the entrance of the river. The town of Rostof is one of the most important on the shores of the Sea of Azof, and a great centre for commercial dealings with eastern Russia. A full account of it will be given in the next chapter.

In May and June the water of the Don rises to a great height, and the whole country is flooded. It then suddenly falls, although it is liable at all times to rise again when the wind blows up the river. This increases the difficulty of navigation, and a vessel of 100 tons can only take in a part of her cargo at the mouth of the river. She is obliged to take in the rest of it gradually, dropping down the gulf of the Don, followed by lighters. In this way she sometimes proceeds for 40 miles before she is completely loaded, and then she must again unload a part of her cargo at Yenicáleh if she draws more than 12 or 13 feet of water, in order to pass the straits. Shipments through the Azof are, therefore, very expensive. The bed which the waters of the Kalántcha have formed has 6 and 8 feet in depth at 2½ miles from the shore, and 9 at the mouth of the river. There are three successive bars at the entrance of the Don, but when these are passed, on nearing Rostof, the river becomes deep, and continues navigable for many hundred miles.

Taganrok is by sea about 8½ miles from the Perevóloki mouth of the Don, and the water may be said to average 8 feet. The depth of the water is, however, extremely variable in all the upper part of the gulf of the Don, and the common question asked by merchants at Taganrok and Rostof every morning is as to what is the depth of the water. South and east winds increase the depth, and north and west winds diminish it to 2 or 3 feet, so that with a strong north-east wind, the small bay to the eastward of Taganrok is sometimes quite dry. The water also varies much, according to the season of the year. When the snows have melted in Russia, and the Don becomes unfrozen, the whole country is one great lake, and this lasts for a couple of months, during which time the water is very deep, and vessels of any tonnage can come up to Rostof. Messrs. Yeames, at their wool washeries there, which are constructed on low ground, choose this season to bring the coals[263] necessary for their establishment. The lighters, when they get to a certain point, pitch the coals overboard into the water, and when the river goes down they find them ready for use. Their houses, being of wood, are uninjured by remaining under water, and the stoves are rebuilt every year. The sheep are sheared in May, the wool comes in in June, and is washed in July and September. The water of the gulf of the Don is yearly becoming more shallow, one reason of which is, the quantity of ballast yearly thrown into it. As the trade is almost entirely an export trade, and ships come up to Rostof empty, the masters are in the habit of throwing their ballast overboard when they receive their cargoes. This is strictly forbidden by the government; and every vessel is measured at Kertch, and again at Taganrok, to see that there has been no alteration in the lading. A fee, however, to the harbour-master gets rid of all difficulties; and the constant practice is to throw the ballast overboard, and it forms nuclei round which the alluvium of the Don continually accumulates.

Both the Don and the Volga are frozen up in winter, and this is the case with the greater part of the Sea of Azof, which is then used as a means of communication between the opposite shores, considerably further down than Cape Obriv. The ice is very irregular, and, while in some places there are smooth plains many miles long, in others it is what is called “hummocky,” or raised in ridges as high as a house. The year before last year there was a regular mountain-chain of ice for many miles in length, between Cape Obriv and Yeisk; and an English vessel which was lost there, whose position was accurately known, was searched for in vain for many weeks, and at last only discovered by one of her masts that was seen sticking out of the ridge of ice.

Russians never skate, and communication is carried on by horses and carts, as on the land. At Medvidovka, on the Donetse mouth, some ancient ruins have been discovered on the estate of an enterprising gentleman who has excavated them; and they are supposed to be those of the ancient city of Tana, which was formerly considered to have stood near Azof. A commission of antiquaries has been appointed at Petersburg to investigate the matter, but their report, I believe, has not yet been received.

The town of Taganrok is prettily situated on high ground, on the cape of the same name, and contains 27,000 inhabitants, of whom one-third are Greeks. It stands in the government of Ekaterinoslaf, and is about 300 miles distant from the town of that name, and 50 miles from Rostof. It forms, however, with a small territory round it, a separate government of its own, and pays in taxes of all kinds a total sum of about 360,000_l._ Peter the Great laid the first foundations of it in 1706, after the capture of Azof, on the spot where there was at that time a lighthouse. The town was demolished in 1711, according to an article in the disastrous treaty of the Pruth. It was only rebuilt in 1769, at the commencement of the war between Russia and the Turks. The port was then deepened, and the place fortified. The fortress is constructed on the end of the tongue of land on which the town is built. The Emperor Alexander died here in 1824, and his bedroom is kept exactly as he left it, and is lighted with tapers, and shown to the public.

“The port of Taganrok,” says Vsevolovski, “is an absolute necessity for the Russians, independent of all commercial considerations, because this is the only means of procuring the masts,[264] iron, and all stores which come down the Don and Volga from Russia and Siberia for Kherson, Nicolaief, Odessa, and Sevastopol. A coal of good quality is also exported from here, which comes from the sources of the Kryneka and Severny Donetse, at a distance of about 80 miles.”[265]

The greatest depth of the basin of Taganrok is 10, 11, and 18 feet; but all measurements are very uncertain, and sometimes there is no water at all in the bay, and vessels stick in the mud for a length of time. At all the ports of the Sea of Azof the water is too shallow to admit loaded vessels to approach near the shore, and cargoes are, therefore, taken in with the aid of lighters in the manner that has been described. At the extremity of Cape Taganrok exist the remains of a port, 570 yards in length and 220 in breadth, constructed by Peter the Great: it offers at present but 2 feet water. Near this port, towards the north, a great quay has been constructed since 1847, ending in a mole resting on piles, which now forms the east side of Peter the Great’s port. The water which runs from the rivulet of Sambek, four miles beyond, into the bay of Taganrok, gives at its extremity a depth of 7 feet, and sometimes more, during high water.

Mariopol is eighty miles from Taganrok, on the right bank of the river Kalmiousse, and at two miles from the shore is an anchoring ground, in 15 feet water, with a muddy bottom. The mouth of the Kalmiousse forms a port for the lighters, which load and discharge the vessels in the roads. The port might be made a few feet deeper, if measures were taken for dredging the bar which obstructs the mouth of the river, where the water has only a depth of 3 or 4 feet. Mariopol is exclusively a Greek town, and was founded for the Greeks of the Crimea, who were induced to emigrate by the Russians in 1778, five years before its conquest. It is difficult to conceive how the Russian Government could ever have induced them to leave their beautiful seats for this dreary and comfortless town, or why since that period they have not made an effort to return to their old haunts, which they have never ceased to regret. Commercial considerations probably keep them at Mariopol, as the town has a good deal of business, and the wheat exported hence is the finest Russian wheat that comes to the English market, and bears the highest price.

Beyond Mariopol the coast for nearly 10 miles is bold, until it reaches Cape Bielo-Serái,[266] which forms one side of the entrance to the Gulf of the Don; there is the whole way about 14 feet water at one mile distance from the shore. At Cape Bielo-Serái there are a number of fishing huts, and previous to arriving at the point, there is a lighthouse 81 feet above the level of the sea, and 72 feet above the level of the ground. Its light is fixed, and seen at 14¾ miles distance. At 23 miles south-west of Cape Bielo-Serái, the river Berda empties itself into the sea, but its mouth is barred by a strip of sand two miles long, called the tongue of Berdiansk, at the extremity of which, jutting out into the sea, is a lighthouse 85 feet above the level of the sea, with a light which is seen from minute to minute, and which is visible at a distance of 15 miles.

The town of Berdiansk is situated near the right bank of the Berda, at seven miles from the lighthouse, and at the foot of the bold table-land which backs it. It was founded about 1840 by Prince Woronzof, and has gone on increasing in population and commercial prosperity. I can find no account of its population, but its exports were upwards of a million, and its imports about 7000_l._, in the year 1853.[267] This is the port where there is the best anchorage in the Sea of Azof, and there are 12 or 14 feet of water at a quarter of a mile from the landing place. The Bay of Obitochnia close by, with a river of the same name, is still more favourable for shipping, but no town has been founded on its shores. The land, however, gains ground every day in the roadstead of Berdiansk, which fills up, on account of the sea winds depositing great quantities of sand. A jetty, which was constructed some five or six years ago, is now completely useless, from being surrounded with sand, and a second, that has been constructed 220 yards in length, will evidently be soon in the same predicament. The commercial community of Berdiansk proposes to construct a barrier of 700 or 800 yards to protect it, and at the same time shelter coasting crafts of low draught. This will be useless, unless they previously concert means for dredging it, as the sands will accumulate all round it, and form a lagoon. At four miles to the south of Berdiansk, a large point running to the north forms a port which is the resort of coasters for wintering, where there is shelter from all winds, and 7 or 8 feet of water. Shallows extend to the west and north, and these are increasing, so that in time this port will become a salt lake, like many others that are found in the vicinity. Berdiansk is the port of shipment for the produce of the flourishing German colonies of the Moloshna, which are not distant from it.

At 33 miles from the mouth of the Berda, there is a lagoon, called Lake Moloshenska, into which the waters of the river Moloshnia Vodi have their issue. Cape Fedotov, on which several houses and windmills stand, is near it to the south. Here commences the Isthmus of the Peninsula of Berútchi, which, intercepted by a small table-land, detached from the mainland, runs to the S.S.W. for 12 miles, with a breadth of several yards. The peninsula of Berútchi, called also the tongue of Yedotov, turning to the west towards the Tonka, is 11 miles in length. At three quarters of a mile from the shore of this isthmus and peninsula, there are 18 feet of water, but much less towards the extremity of the peninsula opposite the Tonka. Between Berútchi and Vizariónov is a strong current running to the east, formed by the waters of the Shiváshe, which flow into the sea of Azof by the narrow strait of Yénitchi. This strait is 129 yards wide, and 18 feet deep, but at the entrance there is only 4 feet water. On its northern shore is the village of Yénitchi, which is eight miles from Point Berútchi, the last bold table-land which borders the sea of Azof. There is a very good roadstead between Berútchi and the Tonka, exposed only to the S.S.E. wind. The depth between the two shores at one and two miles is in 18 and 21 feet, muddy bottom. Behind the peninsula of Berútchi, and commencing just opposite the straits of Yénitchi, there is a vast gulf 20 miles long, but of its depth there are no accounts. At the bottom of the gulf there is a great lagoon, and on its western shore the Lake of Atsuanai.[268]