human
Well done! George; very nicely repeated indeed: you are a most promising member of our little society; and we will drink your health in some of Grandy's elder-wine to-night at supper, and not forget the honors to be added thereto. Now, is it determined how we are to proceed; whether we take the seas of Asia, or enter on the broad waves of the various oceans which wash many of the shores of Europe?
gpt
The seas first, sir. I have the list of those for consideration belonging to this most interesting division of the globe: the Caspian, between Turkey, Persia, and Tartary; the Whang-hai, or Yellow Sea, in China; the Sea of Japan; the Sea of Ochotsh or Lama; the Chinese Sea; the Bay of Bengal; the Persian Gulf; and the Arabian Gulf or Red Sea: these are the largest; but there are numbers of small seas, some of them so entirely inland that they should more properly be called lakes; of these, the largest is the Sea of Aral. The bays and gulfs around Asia are so numerous that you would be tired of hearing their names. North, are the Bays of Carskoe and Obskaia: south, Tonquin, Siam, Cambay, and Cutch; east, Macao and Petchelee; west, Balkan, Kindelnisk, and Krasnai Vodi; the latter in the Caspian.
human
Are those all, Charles? why, from your preface, I thought you would be at least ten minutes enumerating the Bays of Asia.
gpt
Were I to name _all_, I could do it in less time than ten minutes; but I should incur too great a liability for my trouble, as I should be expected to describe the situations of all, and that would be beyond my capability.
human
The Caspian falls to my share: it is usually called by the Persians, 'Derrieh Hustakhan' (Sea of Astrachan). It is likewise called the 'Derrieh Khizzar.' The absence of all shipping, save now and then a solitary Russian craft; the scarcity of sea-weed, and the want of the refreshing salt scent of the ocean, together with the general appearance of the coast, suggest the idea of an immense lake. Numbers of that large fish called 'sturgeon' are taken from the waters of the Caspian; and there is quite a colony of fishermen engaged in this occupation on the Persian coast; and during the season they catch thousands of these useful fish. No part of a sturgeon is wasted: the roe is taken out, salted, and stowed away in casks; this is known by the name of 'caviare,' and is esteemed a great luxury. From the sound or air-bladder isinglass is made, simply by being hung in the sun for a time; and the fish itself is dried, and exported to various parts of the world. Astracan is the chief seat of Caspian commerce.
gpt
And here the traveller finds collected into a focus all the picturesque items that have struck him elsewhere. Alongside of a Tartar dwelling stretches a great building blackened by time, and by its architecture and carvings carrying you back to the middle ages. A European shop displays its fashionable haberdashery opposite a caravanserai; the magnificent cathedral overshadows a pretty mosque with its fountain; a Moorish balcony contains a group of young European ladies, who set you thinking of Paris; whilst a graceful white shadow glides mysteriously under the gallery of an old palace. All contrasts are here met together; and so it happens, that in passing from one quarter to another you think you have made but a short promenade, and you have picked up a stock of observation and reminiscences belonging to all times and places. The Russians ought to be proud of this town; for, unlike others in this country, it is not of yesterday's formation, and is the only place throughout the empire where the traveller is not plagued with the cold monotonous regularity which meets him at every other city in Russia. The Caspian Sea covers an extent of 120,000 square miles, and is the largest salt lake known.