are chiefly of limestone, hut they are occasionally mixed with
gravel, freestone, and clay. Three of these arms may he
distinguished from the rest: the most northern penetrates
Tarku. in an easterly direction, and on its crest, near the
Caspian, stands Tarku itself, the capital of the district. The
second and central offset terminates with the city of Derbend
and the Albanian Gates; and, lastly, the southern branch
traverses Kuba, in which district it terminates near the sea
with the remarkable mountain of Bechebarmak. Derbend;
Karâkaïtakh, Tarku, and Tabasseran, are very mountainous ;
but an open country commences with the plain of Kuba :
this extends about 25 miles southward of the river Samour,
and almost 40 miles westward, from the Caspian Sea to the
mountains;1 and it presents, everywhere, a rich soil, which
bears most abundant crops. The mountains westward inclose
somé level tracts, but of very limited extent, with the exception
of the plain of Hiobdon, which is nine miles square.2
. Southward of the Mount of Bechebarmak are the mineral
districts of Baku and Apsheron. Around the capital of the
former there are nearly 100 bituminous springs, some of
which are worked, and these afford, in addition to petrolium,
an inexhaustible supply of black and white naphtha ; whilst
other fountains have, for ages, emitted a burning stream,
which is known by the name of the Indian fire.3 Over these
spots have been erected the principal temples of the Guebres ;
and Baku, in consequence, has become the Mecca and Medina
of Parsee pilgrimage.
The peninsula of Apsheron is equally remarkable for its
salt formation, the usual concomitant of bituminous beds. In
different places there are ten salt lakes, only one of which is
worked, and this yields, notwithstanding a defective management,
10,000 tons of salt annually.
The eastern shores of Daghestan are washed by the shallow
waters of the Caspian, and along the coast are numerous
small islands.
The district of Baku has but one permanent river, the
. 1 Aperçu des Provinces Russes, &c., Tome IV., p. 96, &c.
2 Ibid., pp. 96 to 98. 8 Ibid., pp. 89 to 91.
Sougâït, or Bielaïo (White Water);1 but in that of Kuba are
the Samour, or Sambour-châï, the Koussar-châï, the Koudial-
chaï, and the Karâ-châï, with their numerous affluents. The
districts of Tabasseran, Karâ-Kaïtakh, and Tarku, are still
more amply watered by the Gouriene-châï, the Bouam, the
Khamanda, the Darbakh, and the Ghemri-Ozen ; also the
Koisson, the Tarkali-Ozene, the Tcherkies Ozene, the Boni-
naki, and the Rousse Boulakb, &c.2
In the neighbourhood of Baku the soil is sandy and sterile,
and on the sides of the mountains westward it is likewise
poor, yielding a scanty supply of grain ; but in Derbend and
Kuba the plains and valleys are covered with a rich black loam.
Daghestan has three kinds of climate. That of the plains
is warm and unwholesome. The medium climate prevails
along the slopes of the mountains, which, owing to a more
moderate degree of heat, are healthy ; and this is still more
decidedly the case in the highest and coldest tracts, where
the third climate prevails.3
Exclusive of the unproductive district of Baku, and the
more arid portions of the mountains, the animal and vegetable
productions of Daghestan are nearly those of Europe, with
the addition to the former of tigers, panthers, camels, and
buffaloes ; and to the latter of silk, cotton, tobacco, madder,
naphtha, and saffron.4 These products, in addition to the
fisheries of sturgeon, turtle, &c., give a considerable export
trade to Persia and Russia ;6 the value of which, however, is
greatly exceeded hy that of the imports.6
The province contains many villages, but very few towns.
At its southern extremity is Baku, the capital of the district
of that name, which is fortified, and has a citadel on the
north-west side, containing the palace of the ancient chiefs.7
The population consists of nearly 7000 Tartars, living in
badly built houses with flat terraced roofs.
1 Aperçu, &c., Tome IV., p. 11, &c.
3 Ibid., pp. 187 to 189. 8 Ibid., pp. 96 to 99.
‘ Equal to that of Italy or India.—Ibid., pp. 21 to 36, 106 to 129, and
140 to 181. 5 About 380,0001.— Ibid., pp. 50 to 129.
8 About 700,0001.—Ibid., pp. 130 to 187.
7 Anciently Khounsar: in the tenth century it had the name of Naffaty.—
Ibid., pp. 79 to 89.