Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 2, 1851).djvu/112

Beyond the country of the Circassians, there are no habitations of Christian men. At the mouth of the Dnieper stands the fortress and city of Otchakov, forty miles from Circass. It was not since in the possession of the King of Taurida, who took it from the King of Poland. It is now held by the Turks. From Otchakov to Alba (anciently called Moncastro), near the mouths of the Thira, is fourteen miles. From Otchakov to Precop is also fourteen miles. Seven miles beyond Circass, going up the Dnieper, lies the town of Cainov; eighteen miles from which is Kiev, the ancient metropolis of Russia, whose magnificence and evidently royal condition are shown by the ruins of the city, and the monuments, which are still seen lying in heaps. There may still be traced to this day on the hills in the neighbourhood the remains of churches and deserted monasteries, as well as numerous caverns, in which may be seen very ancient tombs, with the bodies in them not yet decayed. I have heard from men worthy of credit, that the maidens there seldom preserve their chastity beyond seven years of age. I have heard various arguments, none of which are satisfactory to me, to show the lawfulness of merchants abusing these maidens, although they are on no account allowed to carry them away. For if any one should be detected in the act of abducting a maiden, both his life and goods are forfeited, unless he be spared through the prince's clemency. There is also a law, that the property of foreign merchants who happen to die there, is confiscated to the king or his viceroy; and the same rule, which is observed among the Tartars and Turks with respect to the natives of Kiev, is also observed by the people of Kiev with respect to the Tartars and Turks after their death. There is a certain hill at Kiev, over which the merchants have to pass by a road which is none of the easiest; if any part of the carriage should happen to be broken in the ascent, all the articles in it are confiscated to the treasury. All these details were