Show sevastopol I 1 in a couple of ho irs after setting we came within view of seva Sev atop I 1 1 lofty white houses houff e green domed X churl menacing ba bitt teries feries stretching far land beyond the lines of nf the streets see long lines of masts rising above th ning bills As AB we passed the gated gatea I 1 Glott lobs example and puffed away ni adm he answered anaw ered whiff fotr whiff lany of our fumigations convinced d the vs that WP we were harmless peasants from man co colonies onies though to make d anoh we threw in a few words of dutch we passed without being yew even I 1 longed and I 1 f elt eit that I 1 had bad a rightful 1 the title of Sevastopol Y or con ii U sevastopol soon we were quietly dial I 1 tin an obscure inn kept by a compatriot compatriots trob blob a the only precaution of use during my stay ws was to V give i ve a chiff or two from the inseparable m whenever I 1 supposed that an officer vm looking at me and enter into an ani in german with gottlob 4 s sevastopol is ia admirably adapted for poses th tb which it has been applied the sea ea incidents the western conat coast WA mea having a mouth so narrow arrow that 18 i minded by the fortifications on the sh seq depth of water sufficient to float t I 1 ve vessels four bays set in upon thea shore of the inlet separated by high ba stone sone ridi ridges upon one of these city is built the streets generally ahl aund ie sharp jutting jotting rocta reek streetia street etis is built buffa half dav way 4 top the slope oj and runs parallel with the principal q qi are the chief buildings the adniram Ad niraH enormous portico a splendid cathe cathedra ny nv large and imposing residences c fi froni ora the multiplicity city of f blinds blinda will poor defense against atie he pr evading d tempts at intro introducing dicing trees and plant h ved fei failures lares and the city presents a wing dazzling whiteness which almost blin the str streets beets are k pt tolerably clean by lt military nili tary prisoners who are coi late d in in sw sweeping them but in spite of tbt 11 I 1 I 1 tion the air is is always full of a fine pa 1 dust which produces the most dis tressi I 1 linia imia the soldiers emple employed ed in bahit a nations I 1 for the public works have ave dreadfully from this cause not unta in four and twenty hours a after er the firtl m the eye becomes putrid and drops out evera thing here reminds reminda you vill that peaceful emporium of commerce the are lined with ves vessels hut but among the atheni solitary arv merchant flog flag ships of wit wat size open th lhoir imports ports upon you no yick IV sailors wearing the varied attire of tf countries lounge about the quay T 11 only the while uniform of the naval at service i e sentinels stand on guard at presenting present ipg arms towards their and continually grim batta every where and the only variety 0 aig obtained now into the mouth mouthy mout hj tm two 0 and now into that thai of a sixty four by bv day every thing thine presents the ordel orde onous of a fortress and the I 1 night is broken only by the tinkling fri from iiii the vessels in the the he tread and frequent challe chal lenares ages of f th fh I 1 pacing their continual rounds As ascenti summit of the city the eye wan derf line of bare limestone crags which chic li the coast the name of ak tiar rocks and posses passes slowly down to I 1 w which h i c 1 I 1 guard the harbor the enoi eno I 1 deckers of the black sea fleet t aj aa rows of condemned hulks which he hai I 1 veried into magazines and prison I 1 ordinary kopul stion of the city in I 1 military arv and naval force stationed satio ned ed d 1 1 I 1 down at forty or fifty thousand 1 I 1 amr gres great t re review vi e w is to be h he 0 ly increased yet in so an large langs a to tow such thing thin as a hotel or an inn w f I 1 name A sew few miserable dens in an c ter of the town give shelter to the J I 1 I 1 ants of the surrounding country wl then pass a night here 11 yet after all there is i some something th in this great naval station n I 1 its to fo foo I 1 i maintenance are a part of that grea gre I 1 I 1 r 1 ww FM I 1 1 policy which aims sooner or later at bringing the shores of the wi within thin the bounds of the russian empire every thing that aan con LH duce to this end is is contrived on the largest armrest ar crest t i scale the public works are ably planned and I 1 exe buted without regard to cost coit I 1 ha have ve already all ded to the aqueduct et bychich the water necessary for the careening dock has been conveyed from a distance of fur leagues fhe stone of the ring cliffs cliff is is too soft for the con st ruction oatlie of the basins and docks that which is i his has all been browy brought lit from a distance the fleet fr for wh se protection Z alone sevastopol exists is constructed and maintained at an ex pense altogether unparalleled not a vessel of t it has ever bowed to the gales of the ocean not on of them before the recent massacre at sin ope Ms his ever seen a hostile flig flag they are eq equipped nipped perform a few manoeuvres in the nar r nw vv sea and then quietly rot in the secar cecur harbir barbir b r t for their reception rec ephon that fleet bides a its time to appear in in the golden horn sevas 11 too topa 1 iq is for or the black sea fleet the black sea t fleet is is for the fat ure ore alth lugh the fleet has haa encountered no hostile I 1 vessels the long rows of hulks tell of a foe still more destructive the ships last only from five 1 11 to ten years year and are then condemned condemn ea as unada worthy while the vessels of other nations last 11 for twice that period ask any official t the reason and he wiil sh ke his head myrten I 1 5 onila y arid and tell you vou of a minute worm the tere do navajas bred from the shiny river that pours into the th inlet inglot or of sevastopol niclo which ati attacks eks tile the i ani and reduces them to rotten adding 1 I 1 with a sigh th that tt all attempts atte apts to prevent is ia 11 ravage have proved unavailing those better instructed instruct pd shrug their shoulders at the bare I 1 rn mention of the worm wand dirig how it manig s to work its in way through the copper sheathing I 1 d alwy will tell you van that the roal real destroyer is the system of cup caption c irruption tion which pr pravades pre vadea evades all the ial life of bial C eintract contract i for tuna r b are a awarded to the men who wh wil will I 1 bribe highes beghe ill I 1 he in in turn sah sab h lits to who bf bribe ibe him I 1 and so on oi until the money which should hive I 1 ben b en ex expended upon seasoned sea sned oak fi ids its way i m mainly finly into tile the p ekers of v nal employed emp loyes and the vesse vessels leare ire constructed of unseasoned unseal wed fir and i pine A final bribe given to the inslee inspector aar insures I 1 thit that th it ui th s miserable substitute is is accepted I 1 if w w may credit the testimony teB ot of those who g should be co an au authority hi hority rity there are not nit in the whole black sea flet a half score of vessels capable of sustaining the storms of the atlantic I 1 now aid a id then it is t ue n some anwa unwary ry ft bunc e ti inary is brought t sum nary and condign punish aint it is ia a comma report through all southern russia tint dir etly after a rec recent nt ni fi sit of the inper or to ts the soldiers the streets were e surprised at th appearance appear anc of a comrade car arade whom they di dai not rec ar nize though somehow his feature seemed not ot u if anili a r to them thein at length the runar rum r begin be wan to abroad that the new sweeper was none thin tha th governor GArer nor of the c city t y who had ben degraded from his hia post to th end to perform Ihei menia 0 i what his hii precise cr crime ine w was noboa could say sav though official corruption being the most common co innon was at once fiad up upon n as the most pv bable it is but fair to add that I 1 could near qu t satisfy in i self whether this story was well funded founded the public cuhlic has so little ae ac cess to reliable a of information that the mst m st absurd ab minors find easy credence cre cra deace at all evants the fact th thit at n obdy bidy b idy seemed Tied to find any any i ir ib ability in tile the story shows conclusively th io lov v estimate esti nite every where put upon official morality tV if ittai it wai not truy true nobody doubted that it t ra ight at adv moment be so after a pvn t vo deys stay at sevastopol gottlob and myself mys if once more replenished our meer bhanna Bhan ma spited ourselves in our our wag wagn gave ve the sentinels sentinel at thi th i gate a farewell whiff C to 0 con linew th n thit we werf were honest germans and drove bick back to B bir ehe che ture thre tu th re we rejoin d our con pinion who was awaiting our return the ime we had fixed for our uk tour had already bren bp en ex e needed so putting ourselves under till the condict of our guide we ina made de the b st of ou div 0 yalta by adoth another r route from the one by which w we had come coma we were fortunate fortunately jat in time to itch catch c the mear on which we embarked for odessa so ended our trip through the crimea a brief but bt pleasant episode in a years residence in south ern russia |