It is also beyond a doubt, that the bad quality of the provisions contributes powerfully to the formation of intermittent fevers. During the month of June, and a part of July, that we remained there, we saw nothing but miserable flesh of goats, sometimes of the buffalo, but even these were scarce during any of the two hundred days which compose the fasts of the Greek church. The wine was generally sour, the bread almost always made of mouldy flour. How could any one escape the fever with such food. It is fair, however, to acknowledge, that Russia has just obtained possession of this country, and that her power is continually employed in such ameliorations as can be immediately made; so that in a few years, the inconveniences I mention, will have disappeared. They have certainly more influence on the life of man than is generally suspected." Vol. i. pp. 103–105.

The commerce of Redoute-kalè, has become tolerably active since 1824. From Constantinople it receives rum, loaf sugar, coffee, and some articles originally from England and the Mediterranean; from Trebizond, wine of an indifferent quality, oranges, citron, oil, and sometimes coarse cotton-cloths; from Taganrog, iron, wool, cordage, mats, salt and smoked fish, and some wine from the Archipelago; from Kertsh, salt, dressed lamb skins, and rye flour, for the provisions of the troops stationed in the ancient Colchos; from Odessa, loaf sugar, rum, cotton and woollen cloths, silks, coarse jewellery, the sparkling wine of Champagne, liqueurs, and many other articles. It offers in exchange, wax, honey, tobacco, leather, deers' horns, furs, maize, nuts, walnut and box wood.

The number of vessels that arrived at Redoute-kalè in 1823, was eighty-six; in 1824, one hundred and thirty. Turkish weights, measures and money, are altogether used in this market.

"I accepted," says M. Gamba, "with eagerness, the offer which was made me by an engineer attached to the fortress of Redoute-kalè, to accompany him to the little post of Rionskaia, which he had constructed on the Phasis, about ten miles from its mouth. We reached there in two hours, having forded a small river, the Nabada, which runs into the sea about three miles from the Phasis. The Phasis, at this post, is about the fourth of a league wide."

The small quantity of produce which is at present carried down the Phasis, is landed at Rionskaïa, and transported to Redoute-kalè.

"It is astonishing that a country surrounded by so much celebrity, a country supposed to contain rich mines of gold-which for several ages made a part of the Roman Empire-which has been one of the most frequented and the shortest routes to Persia-that this country should

have always been among the least known and the most barbarous of Asia.

"Its fertile territory adapted to all the crops cultivated in Europe, nearly to all those of Asia, is still covered with forests, like Germany in the days of Tacitus. The Phasis, the Khopi, the Ingour, traverse Mingrelia and empty into the sea, and the inhabitants make no use of these streams for navigation. In short, Providence has been pleased to place in the ancient Colchos, the most beautiful women known, and they have never been to this country but an object of traffic or of tribute.

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Commerce, for many ages, has fled a territory, where it might have been favoured by the richest and the most varied productions.

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In presenting a picture of the resources of the ancient Colchos, and of its long misery, I have not forgotten that its lot was that of all the countries where the religion of Mahomet is professed, and of all Christian countries subjected to Mahometans. Her princes and kings, always tributary to the Turks, have sought in poverty itself, a means of placing limits to the contributions exacted from them, have preserved their forests as places of refuge against oppression."—Vol. i. p. 114.

Colchos has always had the reputation of possessing great mineral wealth.

"The desire of getting possession of the treasures of this coast, is supposed to have stimulated the Argonauts in their adventurous voyageStrabo, Pliny, and Arrian, speak of its rich mines of gold and silver. The observations of Reynegg, of Count Pouschkin, the traditions of the country, and a manuscript map sent in 1737, by king Solomon to the Empress of Russia, would seem to leave no doubt respecting the existence of these mines; nevertheless, this point is now disputed, at all events their position is unknown.

"After heavy rains, the inundations bring down pebbles and fragments of rock; the shores are covered with these fragments, and indicate to mineralogists a part of the riches which the mountains near the sources of the Phasis conceal. Nothing can be more varied than the rocks and pebbles along the strand. Porphyry and granite, of many varieties; black basalt, of great beauty; alabaster, white and yellow; statuary marble, as pure as that of Carrara, and fragments of the ores of copper, lead, and iron; specimens of coal, and beautiful jaspers are found in great abundance." Vol. i. pp. 112–119.

About a mile to the south of the Phasis, commences the province of Gouriel, governed by a Prince, subjected to Russia, or at least a tributary. This country is remarkable for its fertility, but like Mingrelia and Imerithia, it is entirely covered with forests, in which are sometimes seen magnificent pastures, and some patches of cultivated land. The habitations are, generally, placed on elevated spots that overlook the country, and are considered more healthy than the plains. The present Prince of Gouriel is very anxious to introduce European industry into his

territory. He has given land and some families of slaves to an Englishman, who is attempting the cultivation of indigo.

"Let me here mertion, adds our author, a trifling incident which may recal one related by Chardin. In the time of that traveller, an ambassador from Mingrelia arrived at Constantinople with a suite of two hundred slaves. These he sold as his necessities required, so that when he left that place, only three or four remained. In spite of the gravity of his appearance, he had retained the infantine tastes and manners of savages. One day, having bought a little trumpet, he played it through the streets, from the market to his own lodging.

"The present Prince of Gouriel, whose tastes appear to resemble those of the Mingrelian ambassador, was so much astonished with the feats which some German tumblers exhibited before him last spring, that he has granted them some land, and five families of slaves, on condition that they should come and tumble before his court three times a week, and should teach some of his slaves to dance on the tight rope." Vol. i. p. 120,

Nothing, perhaps, can shew more strongly the desolate condition to which this country is reduced than the following fact mentioned by our author. Mingrelia is separated from Abazie by the river Cador, from that river to the Ingour, the country may be considered as uninhabited; each country, as is not uncommon among the Asiatics, making its frontier a desert. M. Gamba one day asked a prince, who claimed this district, what price he would demand for a tract of land about three miles square-he smiled and replied, "if you will go and settle there, you may mark out yourself the limits of a domain, and I will require of you neither a price or any other equivalent."

"A few inhabitants are scattered along the frontiers in the mountainous districts. These mountaineers are distinguished for their courageous but vindictive character. About five years ago, one of the princes made a journey into Turkey. On his return, he learned that a princess to whom he had been affianced, had married another. Giving way to his resentment, he went first to the father of her who had abandoned him, and put him to death; he disfigured, afterwards, the princess herself, cutting off her nose and ears; not satisfied with this vengeance, he assassinated, successively, the priest who had consecrated the marriage, and one of the witnesses who had assisted at it. He then retired into his mountains, where he continues to live tranquilly, without ever having been disturbed on account of these transactions."-Vol. i. p. 181.

The family of Dadian, which holds a nominal sovereignty over Mingrelia, under the protection of Russia, has been in possession of this rank for upwards of two hundred years. Levan George, the present occupant, is of a delicate form and consti

VOL. II. NO. 3.

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tution, of a mild and agreeable physiognomy. He inhabits the castle of Zougdidi, where his ancestors resided in the time of Chardin.

From Redoute-kalè, M. Gamba travelled through Mingrelia and Imerithia to Georgia. His route was first along the Khopi, then crossing the forests to the Tskeniskal, a large branch of the Phasis, he descended along that stream until its junction with the Phasis; from thence to Kotais, the capital of Imerithia. Afterwards, ascending along the Quirila, he crossed the mountains separating Imerithia from Georgia. From Kotais, where he halted some time, he made excursions in several directions, to visit the adjacent districts. We shall follow him in this journey, noticing, very briefly, such incidents, as in addition to our preceding remarks, will give some accurate idea of the country and its inhabitants.

As soon as the travellers left Redoute-kalè, they entered into extensive forests. Those on the south of the Khopi belonged to Dadian, the sovereign of the country; those on the north, to Prince Djayan, one of his relations, who having made him advances of money, held this property in pledge. So little value, however, did they place upon it, that no limits had ever been marked out between their respective possessions. This forest extends about sixty miles, interspersed with some pastures and patches of ground, cleared for the cultivation of millet, maize, and tobacco.

At twelve or fourteen miles, they met the first houses of the village of Khorga. This village extends about five mileseach house separated by woods and fields from its neighbourall of these houses are built of wood, and covered with cornstalks or reeds. They have two doors, one opposite the other; no windows or chimneys; the fire-place occupies the centre of the room, and the smoke escapes through the badly thatched roof, or through the doors. In these houses, Persian or Tartar carpets were very common, contrasting strangely with the absence of all other furniture, except narrow benches, which are used as tables.

The trees which were seen in the forests and on the farms, were of many kinds, and enormous in their size-bearing a fair comparison with those seen in our western wildernesses. Alder was the predominant tree, intermingled with beech, oak, ash, and the hornbeam. Linden trees, from twenty to twenty-five feet in circumference, and a cherry tree, fifteen feet in girth at five feet from the ground. They also saw mulberry, chesnut, plum, pear, apricot, peach, quince, medlar, and walnut trees of

great size, and vines of a luxuriant growth surrounded the largest trees, and extended themselves over their summits.

The Khopi, though navigable for some distance, is not usedthey met only a few small boats carrying bricks and tile, manufactured near the monastery of Khopi for the use of the government. The bricks, badly made, and badly burned, were about eight inches square, and only one inch, four lines thick-this is the form of all the bricks of Asia, of those which were used in the construction of the most ancient monuments, whose ruins now remain.

In proceeding from Khorga to Sakharbet, they encountered difficulties not unusual to travellers on new roads, over a rich soil, in a moist climate. Bogs, almost impassable, covered, sometimes, by round poles, which not being secured, rendered their progress more troublesome to their horses; bridges swept away by the rain which was falling in torrents, and all made worse by the roughness of a road, out of which the stumps had not been cleared away. A good many Mingrelians were pressed into their service, and after consuming seven hours in travelling fifteen miles, they reached their halting place late at night.

"The noble Mingrelian who filled the station of chief of the village, received us with great hospitality; he was remarkable for his size and his strength; his features were regular, but amidst an expression of kindness, which he manifested to us, he had rather the air of a feudal lord than of a peaceful cultivator.

"His house, built of wood, was neat. It contained, as usual, but one room; it was large, and was provided with two beds, which were covered with carpets and cushions. Enormous logs of oak, heaped on the fire that occupied the centre of the chamber, had been long burning. We found it the more comfortable, as we all felt desirous to dry ourselves after having been for six hours in a continued rain.

"The name of our host was Georgighia. He presented to us his wife, who was large, well formed, and handsome; although she had a daughter twelve years old, she was herself only twenty-six-as it is the custom in Mingrelia for girls to marry at the age of twelve. She accosted us in the most affable manner, and preserved, during our residence, an air of ease which surprised us.

"Having offered them some tea, we were about to make use of our own stores, when our interpreter informed us that supper was preparing for us. Accordingly, in a short time, they placed before us a long bench, on which the domestics, in great numbers, arranged the provisions. These consisted of three large vessels, containing a paste of ground millet, which they call gomi, and which was taken with a wooden trowel out of the iron cauldrons; then was brought in, two roast fowls, and a great wooden bowl, coarsely wrought, containing joints of goats' flesh, with a sauce of cold water; and, finally, white cheese, made from the milk of goats. Large cakes of corn flour served us for plates