The rivers, such as
the Mirabka are crossed in miserable ferry boats, those which are
shallower must be forded. In time of rain, or sudden thaw in the
snow mountains, the rivers are overflowed, and travellers must then
either wait some days or risk their lives. What a tremendous
difference between the colonies of Russia and England!
Late in the evening, I arrived, wet through and covered with mud, at
the station, two wersti from Kutais. It is remarkable that the
post-houses are generally one or two wersti from the villages or
towns. A traveller, in consequence of this custom, is exposed to
the inconvenience of making a special journey if he has anything to
attend to in those places.
9th September. Kutais contains 10,000 inhabitants, and lies in a
natural park; all round is the most luxuriant vegetation. The
houses are neat and ornamental; the green painted church towers and
barracks peep invitingly from between. The large river Ribon {314}
separates the town from the large citadel which very picturesquely
occupies a neighbouring hill.
The dresses of the people are as various as round Tiflis; the
headgear of the Mingrelian peasants appears truly comic. They wear
round black felt caps, in the shape of a plate, fastened by a string
under the chin. The women frequently wear the Tartarian schaube,
over which they throw a veil, which, however, is put back so that
the face is seen. The men wear, in the mornings, and in rainy
weather, large black collars (called burki) of sheep's wool, or
felt, which reach below the knees. I must here mention that the
beauty for which the Georgians are so famous must not be sought for
among the common people. I did not find them particularly handsome.
The carts which the peasants use are remarkable, the front part
rests upon curved pieces of wood, or sledge-bars; the hinder part
upon two small thick discs of wood.
My stay in Kutais was caused by the want of horses; it was not till
2 o'clock in the afternoon that I could continue my journey. I had
two stages to reach the village of Marand, which lies on the river
Ribon, where the post-cars are changed for a boat, by which the
journey to Redutkale, on the Black Sea, is made.
The first stage passes chiefly through fine woods, the second
presents an open view over fields and meadows; the houses and huts
are quite buried beneath bushes and trees. We met a number of
peasants who, although they had only a few fowls, eggs, fruits,
etc., to carry to the town for sale, were nevertheless on horseback.
There was abundance of grass and willow trees, and consequently of
horses and horned cattle.
At Marand I stopped, for want of an inn, with a Cossack. These
people, who also live here as settlers, have pretty wooden cottages,
with two or three rooms, and a piece of land which they use as field
and garden. Some of them receive travellers, and know how to charge
enough for the miserable accommodation they afford. I paid twenty
kopecs (8d.) for a dirty room without a bed, and as much for a
chicken. Beyond that I had nothing, for the people are too lazy to
fetch what they have not by them. If I wanted bread, or anything
that my hosts had not got, I might seek for it myself. As I have
said before, it is only for an officer that they will make any
exertion.
I had left Tiflis about 3 in the afternoon of the 5th of September,
and reached this place in the evening of the 9th, five days to
travel 274 wersti (195 miles). I call that a respectable Russian
post!
The boat did not start for Redutkale, a distance of eighty wersti,
until the morning of the 11th. It was bad weather; and the Ribon,
otherwise a fine river, cannot be navigated during a strong wind, on
account of the projecting trunks of trees and logs. The scenery
still continued beautiful and picturesque. The stream flows between
woods, maize, and millet fields, and the view extends over hills and
mountains to the distant and gigantic Caucasus. Their singular
forms, peaks, sunken plateaus, split domes, etc. appear sometimes on
the right, sometimes on the left, in front, and behind, according to
the ever-changing windings of the river. We frequently halted and
landed, every one running to the trees. Grapes and figs were
abundant, but the former were as sour as vinegar, and the latter
hard and small. I found a single one ripe, and that I threw away
when I had tasted it. The fig-trees were of a size such as I had
never seen, either in India or Sicily. I believe the whole sap is
here converted into wood and leaves. In the same way, the great
height of the vines may be the cause of the grapes being so small
and bad. There must certainly be a great field for improved
cultivation here.
12th September. Our boat did not go far. There was a smart breeze,
and as we were already near the Black Sea, we were obliged to remain
at anchor.
13th September. The wind had dropped, and we could, without danger,
trust ourselves on the sea, upon which we had to sail for some
hours, from the principal arm of the Ribon to that on which
Redutkale was situated. There was indeed a canal leading from the
one to the other, but it can only be passed at very high water, as
it is much filled with drift sand.
In Redutkale, a speculating Cossack host also received me, who had
three little rooms for guests.
