with from the moschitoes. A thief had approached them when their master was asleep beside them; but as he happened to awake, the thief rode off without deigning to answer him as he exclaimed, Who are you, and what do you want?

Left our lodging place about half past four. About nine the Astrachan mail for Kisliar passed us. Halted a little before the sun had reached his zenith, nearly a verst beyond the seventh post-house, having passed the sixth in the course of the morning; was informed by the arbatchi, that at a small distance beyond the rising ground, on the northern declivity of which we had dined, there was a considerable lake, the shores of which were, in a manner, covered by the skeletons of fish, which it was supposed had been wafted thither a few years ago in the waters of the Caspian, when, in consequence of a mighty wind from the east, it rose so far above its ordinary level, as to inundate a vast extent of country on its western shores, where it left multitudes of the finny race to expire on the steppe, or in fresh water lakes, and retired to its ancient bed. Impelled by curiosity, I repaired to the spot, and viewed with astonishment the relics of the tenants of the Caspian, scattered along the shore in the manner reported by the arbatchi. Soon after leaving the lake, observed a dark cloud, which gradually thickened and extended itself

as we advanced, till it overspread the sky, and began about sun-set to distil its watery treasure on the parched earth.

Oct. 12. On looking out of the kibitki, was gratified to find the sky clear, and the morning promising. Passed the eighth post-house at an early hour, and having reached within musquet shot of the ninth one, struck off from the Kisliar road, and pursued our course westward for the Cuma. Dined a short way beyond the post-house. About three in the afternoon passed from six to eight clusters of Calmuc kibitkis or tents, situated on our left; and as we advanced through a large plain, were delighted by the prospect of numerous flocks of black cattle and sheep, with a great many camels grazing all around us. As a whole, it was one of the finest pictures of pastoral scenery, quite in the eastern style, that had ever met my eye; and on viewing it, the mind was naturally led to think of the beauti ful allusions made to pastoral scenery and manners, by Moses and the prophets, and by Christ the chief shepherd, and his apostles. The grass, too, on which the cattle were feeding, was much superior to any thing we had met with in the steppe till now; a circumstance which, by the influence of contrast, tended in no small degree to enhance the effect produced on the mind by the prospect before us. Travelled

till about seven without reaching water, though the arbatchi believed he was at no great distance from it; and as the moon was not expected to rise till near midnight, he halted, and deferred going in quest of it till the morning,

Oct. 18. In the course of the night, overheard John calling out to the deacons that the arbatchi, horses and all, had disappeared. Having met in council, they resolved to go in quest of him; a resolution to which I made no objection, forgetful that the moment they did so, I was left alone in the midst of the desert; and though the pistols were in the kibitki, I believe I should have been able to make but a feeble resistance had I been assailed even by unarmed banditti, before their return; but as the idea did not strike me at the time, it gave me no uneasiness. The result of the search was, that the arbatchi was found, in a sequestered spot at a little distance, fast asleep, with the horses grazing beside him. John went past him very softly, in the first instance, that his slumbers might not be disturbed; but being less cautious in coming back, the arbatchi started up in a fright, supposing it to be a thief on the point of seizing his horses. His alarm subsided, however, on recognizing him to be one of our own party; and after finding

water, he returned to our quarters and prepared for renewing our journey. The morning was so foggy, that, when on the point of departing, about eight o'clock, one of the deacons, mistaking the direction, had set his face towards Astrachan, in the view of taking a short excursion, as he frequently did, in advance of the arbas. To ascertain the direction we were about to take, I had recourse to a small pocket compass with which I had been presented by a friend in Astrachan, and found it to be nearly due west.

Having the compass in my hand, I shewed it to the deacon, who, by this time, had been called back, and to his companion; both of whom were mightily amused with its movements, the one of them never having seen an apparatus of the kind, and neither having much knowledge of its nature and use till they were explained to them. For about two hours after our departure, the road was at times very heavy, owing to the rain water which had collected in the flats between the gentle ascents with which the surface was diversified, but afterwards it became light and smooth as a bowling green. Before, and on either side of us, the surface was apparently level, and thinly covered with the remains of herbage which, a few days before, had been nipped to the roots, very probably by the flocks we passed yesterday; it being customary for the Calmucs to move with their whole sub

stance from one part of the steppe to another, and to pitch their tents where they find a new supply of good pasturage for their cattle.

· About two o'clock observed, a little in advance of us, a range of small sand hills, the texture of which, like that of the wreaths we had passed on the 10th, seemed to be quite loose. On coming within about a stone cast of them, John leaped out of the arba with a view to take an excursion on foot, but in a few minutes returned in haste, and took his seat, finding it almost impossible to advance, on account of the sand which was drifted about, by a stiff breeze, like snow, than which, it was much more offensive to the eyes. Hav ing crossed the sand hills, we observed a lake before us, a little to the left, to the banks of which we repaired and halted for dinner; during which, two Calmucs made up to us and conversed a while with the arbatchi. They were the only human beings we had seen since we left our halting place in the morning. After dinner, continued our course westward till about ten o'clock, when we prepared for retiring to rest, in the hope that in the course of to-morrow we might get within sight of the Cuma.

-Oct. 14. Left our quarters soon after daybreak, and having past the salt mines, (if the name can be given to depositions of that mine