I Accordingly Left Kaffa On The 4th Of June[1], Accompanied By The Consul, Who Went With Me To The River, Where Our Vessel Was In Waiting.

I had formerly agreed with the master for our passage to Phasis at seventy ducats, but on occasion of the change in our destination, I was now obliged to pay an hundred.

Being aware that I should not be able to meet with any person to serve us at the place we were going to, I used the precaution to hire nine men from Kaffa, to assist the mariners of our vessel, and to procure provisions for us in our journey through Georgia and Mingrelia.

We embarked on the 15th of June, and made sail across the Euxine, direct for Tina, but had hardly got twenty miles on our voyage, when a contrary wind sprung up from the east. Observing the mariners consulting together in an extraordinary manner, I became curious to know the purpose of their discourse. Accordingly, one Bernard, the brother-in-law of our captain, said to me that he understood we proposed going to Tina, but advised me by no means to do so; as a certain _Subassa_ roamed about that neighbourhood with a band of cavalry, who would certainly make us slaves if we fell into his hands. On this advice I changed my purpose, and the wind becoming more favourable, we made sail for Liasi and Phasis, and arrived at _Varsi_ on the 29th of June, where I disembarked my horses and baggage, and sent them from thence by land to Phasis, which is sixty miles from that place. _Varsi_ is a castle, with a small village in Mingrelia, belonging to a lord named _Gorbola_, to whom likewise _Caltichea_[2], a place of small importance on the coast of the Euxine, is subject. The inhabitants of this country are very miserable, and the only productions are hemp, wax, and silk.

On the 1st of July we arrived near Phasis, followed by a vessel filled with Mingrelians, who seemed all to be fools or drunk. Quitting the vessel, we went up the river in a boat, passing an island in the mouth of the river, where Oetes, the father of Medea the enchantress, is said to have reigned. On this island we spent the night, and were sadly infested by midges. Next day we went up the river in the boat, passing the city of Asso, which stands on its banks in the midst of a forest. I here found one Nicholas Capella, of Modena, who commanded in these parts, and a Circassian woman named Martha, who had been the slave of a person of Genoa, but was now married. This Martha received me with much kindness, and with her I staid two days. Phasis is a city of Mingrelia, subject to prince Bendian, whose dominions extend only about three days journey in length. The country is very mountainous, and full of forests. The inhabitants are so fierce and savage, that they might be accounted wild beasts. Their principal drink is beer; they have some corn and wine, but in very small quantities; boiled millet being their ordinary food, which is a very poor kind of nourishment. They sometimes procure wine and salted fish from Trebisond, and import salt from Kaffa, without which they could not exist. Their only productions consist in a small quantity of hemp and wax. If they were industrious, they might procure abundance of fish, which are very numerous in their river. They are Christians, according to the Greek ritual, to which they have added many gross superstitions.

I left Phasis on the 4th of July, accompanied by Nicholas Capella, and crossed the river _Mare_ on a float. That day and the next, we travelled through a considerable portion of Mingrelia, always among woods and mountains. Towards the evening of the 5th, we came to the habitation of prince Bendian, whom we found, with all his court, reclining on a plain, under the shade of some trees. I sent Nicholas Capella to inform him of my quality, and to ask permission to pay him my respects, which was accordingly granted. I saluted him, therefore, with great respect, as he sat on the ground with his wife and children, and he made me sit down beside him. After explaining the purpose of my journey, I requested he would have the goodness to appoint me a guide. He expressed his satisfaction at my arrival in his dominions, and granted my request. He afterwards sent me some bread, a piece of beef, and the head of a sow, but so under done, that it required the extreme necessity in which we then were to induce us to eat of his provisions; but when we cannot get what we like, we must put up with what can be had. We had to wait a whole day for the promised guide. The plain in which we found prince Bendian, is surrounded by very fine trees, resembling box, but much more lofty. The prince seemed about fifty years of age, and had a tolerably handsome countenance, but his manners were perfectly ridiculous.

On the 7th of July we continued our journey, always among woods and mountains, and next day passed the river which divides Mingrelia from Georgia, having to pass the night in the open air, and, what was worse, we had nothing to eat. On the 9th, we arrived at a small city named _Cotachis_[3], which is defended by a stone fort, and where we saw a temple that seemed very ancient. We had here to pass a bridge over a large river, before reaching the plain in which the huts of Plangion, king of Georgia, are situated. The fort and city of Cotachis belong to Plangion. I waited upon the commander of this place who invited me to dinner. He was seated on the ground, on which I, and those of my suite who accompanied me, and some friends of the governor, all sat down.

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