and perpetually shifting their allegiance from one to the other
of these three Powers, till the policy and good fortune of Peter
the Great and Catherine II. extended the sway of Russia over the
whole territory.

At the close of the last century, and contemporaneously with the
foundation of Odessa (1794), the bountiful nature of the soil of
this region became known, and the country was overrun by colonists
from "Great" or "Northern Russia," from Germany, and from Bulgaria
and Wallachia; and its rich harvests were soon sufficient, not
only to satisfy, but to exceed the wants of the whole Empire.

Odessa, endowed by its founder, Catherine II., with the privilege
of a free port, which it enjoyed till after the war of the Crimea,
monopolized during that time the export of the produce of this
southern land, consisting chiefly of grain and wool; and its prosperity
went on, always on the increase--affected only temporarily by wars
and bad harvests--to such an extent that the total value of the
exports, which was, in round numbers, about 52,000,000 roubles in
1871, rose to 86,000,000 roubles in 1878, to 88,000,000 roubles
in 1879, and fell, owing to the bad harvest, to 56,000,000 roubles
in 1880.

The Odessa trade was for a long time in the hands of Greek and Italian
merchants, the original settlers in the town at its foundation, the
produce being, before the invention of steamers, conveyed to Italy,
France and England in Italian bottoms. But, of late years, preference
being given to steamers over sailing vessels, and the Italians,
either failing to perceive the value of time and the importance
of the revolution that steam had effected, or lacking capital to
profit by it, allowed the English to have the lion's share of the
Black Sea trade, so that, in 1879, the English vessels entering
the port of Odessa were 549 steamers and four sailing vessels, with
500,000 tons, while the Italians had only fifty steamers and 119
sailing vessels, with 85,700 tons. Next to the English were, in
the same year, the Austrians (eighty-seven steam and 119 sailing
vessels, 119,000 tons). The Russians, at home here, had 150 steam
and eight sailing vessels and 180,000 tons.

Odessa, however, though she had so much of the trade to herself,
had not of late years the whole of it. As the means of land and
water conveyance improved, and especially after the construction of
railways, a number of minor rivals arose all along the coast--Rostov,
at the