vallies of Caucasus are alone capable of cultivation: the moun taineers live by their cattle and the chase.

"According to accurate estimates, it is said that the Caucasus is inhabited by nearly a million of men fit to bear arms; making an immense population, when you superadd the aged, the women and children. These people form many tribes, speaking divers languages, and their manners are distinct; but their general character is bravery, a spirit of independence, a passion for arms, and a thirst for plunder; indeed, in that respect, they are mere savages." P. 50.

*All the natives of Caucasus are either Mahometans or idolaters; there are very few Christians among them. Tamar, princess of Georgia, introduced Christianity among the greater part of these tribes, but for ages it has been displaced by Mahometanism. The ruins of churches built by Tamar are, however, still seen; they have preserved some remains of Christianity, in observing Lent with considerable strictness, and hold the feast of Easter so sacred, that, at that time, the prosecution of revenge is suspended." P. 53.

After considerable fatigue and suffering our travellers reach the Good-gara mountain, between Kashoor and Kobi. The way by which they were to pass it has been cut with great labour, in a lateral direction; and, though during the summer it was pretty secure, at this period it was covered with snow, leaving to the passenger scarcely the breadth of five feet. Near the summit of the mountain they were met by a regiment of infantry, which placed them in the most imminent peril of being hurled down the precipice, and

"No sooner," says the author, "had we escaped this peril than we were menaced by another. An unruly horse, among the followers of the regiment, pressed upon my basket, which, losing its balance, leaned towards the precipice. I still tremble at the thoughts of it, and owe the preservation of myself and children to my husband, who, being close to the vehicle, succeeded by a strength of desperation in supporting it." P. 92.

Not long after this a still more frightful adventure awaited them, which is narrated with considerable spirit.

"We had not proceeded far, before we came to descend a hill, having on the left a declivity of some depth, at the bottom of which flowed the rapid Aragua. Our guides did not allow us to get out of the carriage, but contented themselves with locking the wheels, and going at a foot-pace; but alas! they drove over a large stone, the carriage lost its balance, and rolled down the bank. At the first bound my husband was thrown upon the rocks, where he lay senseless; the next jerked out our nurse and my boy, and the last shock dashed the calêche, already broken, into the river. I, however, remained in the carriage with my other child, whom, to save from injury, I held close to my bosom. Large pieces of rock, loosened

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by our fall, rolled with a crash into the water; add to this, the cries of affright from the men remaining on the hill, the noise of the torrent breaking against the calêche, and the groans of the driver, who was dragged along with the vehicle, and had received some severe Bruises. You may form some idea of my horror, when I had sufficiently recollected myself to reflect on the circumstances of our accident. I shall not attempt to describe my own feelings, nor those of my husband, until the moment of our being convinced of each other's safety. My agony was such, that, having believed my husband and child dashed to pieces, it was some time before I regained my presence of mind, even after I heard them speak. My husband was stunned by his fall; but, upon somewhat recovering his senses, an alarming recollection of myself and the children roused all his activity; when, forgetful of his own suffering, he plunged into the water and succeeded in reaching us. The rest of the party had, în the mean time, descended the hill by a circuitous path. I ried to the bank of the river, and there discovered that my husband had hurt his right arm; but, by most unaccountable good fortune, neither I nor my little girl were at all hurt, excepting some slight contusions. Our nurse, abandoning herself to save the boy, was wounded in the head; and the sight of my child, as well as of berself, covered with blood, was at first most appalling to me. The men contrived to draw the calêche out of the water, and though much damaged, it was luckily still serviceable: the difficulty was how to get it again on the high road. The bank was more than a hundred feet high, and so steep that I and the children were drawn up with the aid of a rope; by dint, however, of great exertion, the calêche was placed again on the road; so that, after some temporary repairs, they got it to Passananoor, but not until very late. A's to ourselves, we crawled five versts, the remainder of the way, with a good deal of pain; particularly my husband whose arm swelled very much." -P. 96.nizol doidwoslead y noqi bozorg nomigor of to ano arignodt ert in sidmont flita Iooigioong odt abrawol boanel pomal

Aftery these disasters, however, they arrive in Georgia without any thing occurring particularly worthy of note. We are vexed to find several long letters taken up with uninteresting details of the past history of the country a communication which might well have been spared. Such a procedure resembles the evidence occasionally adduced in our courts of judicature; where a witness takes upon himself to state what he has heard others say, without remembering that all his value rests upon his own individual knowledge. Lady Mary W. Montague, of whom the present writer may be considered a very humble copy, had greater judgment. I could with very little trouble," she observes,das turnover Knolles and Sir Paul Rycaut to give you a list of Turkish emperors, but I will not tell you what you may find in every author that has writ of this country. I am more inclined, out

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of a true female spirit of contradiction, to tell you the false hood of a great part of what you find in authors;" and it had been much more to the credit of this writer, had she pursued the same course. There is, however, one thing to be said for her, and we say it with real pleasure. The German ladies, in general, are little attached to books, and know no more of other countries than they seek to know of their own. There, fore the present exception, so far as it relates to the individual, is praiseworthy; but, we think, that the translator. who assumes somewhat unwarrantably the curtailment of passages, and alteration of remarks, which the "authors own revision would probably have expunged as immaterial" " might have omitted this historical jumble without injury to the book.

2.

Of the present state of literature in Georgia, too little is said. Many schools have been established, and several works translated but what they relate to, does not appear. Georgia has her poets also; and, a poem, in praise of the Princess Tamar, is held in high estimation." Whether by the lady, or the ladies, is a point undecided, and, moreover, too abstruse for us to argue. The Georgian language is divided into the ecclesiastical and civil dialects, which "bear the same reference to each other, that the Sclavonian does to the Russian," p. 125. The former of these dialects is de rived from the Greek and Armenian, and the latter from the Persian and Turkish. Since their conversion to Christianity, the inhabitants have followed the Greek ritual, under an ecclésiastical superior, who is styled Catholicos. The country contains three thousand churches, chiefly, however, in a dilapidated condition, owing to the devastation under which, at various times, it has suffered. Its fruits, and flowers, and beautiful women, have each been culled at the will of the spoiler; and the luxuriant earth has too often been saturated with the blood of her sons. The harp and the trumpet are native instruments; but the tambourine, now in constant use, they received from the Persians, and the cymbals and flute from the Russians.

At Tiflis, which our author tells us, is a heap of ruins, the caravansaries, or warehouses, attracted her attention. They are built in the form of piazzas round large courts, into which you enter through the bazaars. Here the traders, from various nations exhibit their merchandize; and the fair writer thinks that a lover of shawls might derive a fund of amusement from lounging about these places. We hope it was not

* Preface, p. 7.

for such a purpose that she crossed the Caucasus! The Asiatics await their customers sitting with crossed legs, and smoaking the kaleoon, which is "composed of a china, glass, or gold enamelled vase, filled with water, through which the smoke passes, being inhaled by a pipe, that with some is many yards in length; to this vase is attached a small metal vessel, wherein the tobacco burns upon hot coals." P. 133. The principal Georgian manufacture, is silk stuffs, which they export, and small quantities of honey, wax, horses, and skins.

The account of an entertainment given by the Khan of Scheki, Jaffis Kooli, is curious.

"A flat cake of bread, as large as the table upon which it was laid, served for table-cloth and napkins. The Khan made use of a smaller cake, of the same description, for the purposes of plate and napkin. We were first helped to sweatmeats, and then to the Persian soup bosbach: I was curious to see how the Khan might manage his soup, and would have wagered that he could not have gotten through it; but I was mistaken. His bread-plate answered also for a spoon; he dropped a piece of it into the bowl before him, took it out with his fingers, and swallowed it; he had even finished his portion before us, who had plates and spoons. This mode of eating appeared to me still less inviting, as the Persian gentry have their hands died yellow as saffron, and their nails of a deep red. After this soup, we had other dishes, sweetened with a great deal of sugar; these were followed by ragouts highly seasoned with pepper and saffron; then appeared at least six different kinds of pilaw, the favourite dish of Asiatics, and the only one in my opinion which is eatable." P. 163.-" To form a just idea of the Persian method of eating, you ought to see one of them helping himself to a dish of pilaw, the Persian plunges his fingers into the mess, stirs it about, squeezes it within his hand, which having filled he conveys to his mouth, and swallows the contents. Not knowing how to use either a knife or fork, he wipes his disgustingly greasy hand upon his napkin, that is to say upon the bread which covers his table; and finishes the meal by eating his napkin." P. 165.—“ After dinner, a kaleoon was brought in; this was first smoaked by the Khan, and then given by him with the same tube to the person he wished to distinguish. The Persians have another strange mode of doing honor to their guests; but it is really so far from inviting, that I am half unwilling to relate it. While at meals they will sometimes take a dainty bit, invariably a greasy morsel, and hold it for some time, kneading it as it were in the hand, after which they put it into the mouth of the person who may be the object of their peculiar regard." P. 166.

-In speaking of the Georgian women, we have some rather stale declamation respecting the rigid seclusion which they

are compelled to observe. The consequences resulting from it are sufficiently apparent.

Of a much better character is the narration relative to the sacred fire of the Ghebers, which is really interesting, and our readers will thank us for the extract.

"The place where they still keep up the perpetual flame, is about fifteen versts from Badkoo. In that neighbourhood is an immense cavern, where the cattle are conducted during the greatest heat, and where the noted and formidable robber Stenko-Basin had his haunt. Formerly there was a stone building near the sacred fire; it consisted of six rooms, wherein twelve Ghebers resided: two of these priests were daily employed by turns invoking the sun and studying their holy writings. According to these, as well as most ancient traditions, the sacred fire has been burning on this spot for millions of years. Satan, they relate, was cast by God, out of pity for mankind whom he had been tormenting, into this deep gulph; whence a blaze immediately arose, and has ever since been fed by the grease of this devil, who was enormously fat and of a prodigious size: but, in order that the malicious fiend might never escape, through any of his infernal tricks, the Ghebers are enjoined to watch the fire and invoke the aid of heaven day and night. This perpetual flame used formerly to burn within a trench, a hundred and twenty feet in length, and twelve deep; the flame rises to about the height of eighteen feet. The foundations of the cavern are rock; yet it is surprising that, from the time the flame has existed, the trench has not become deeper, particularly as it is employed to burn calcareous stones, found in the vicinity. These they convert into lime in the following manner:-Having made a heap of stones upon the spot, they surround it with lighted straw; the flame then rises with a noise out of the ground, and penetrates the stones, that after three days burning, are reduced to lime, which is transported to Badkoo. This fire is fed by naphtha, which springs in abundance from the earth in the neigh bourhood: farther off there are fountains of the same, whence at certain periods a valuable quantity is obtained. When lighted, it sends forth a thick black smoke and a disagreeable smell; yet the sacred fire has neither of these effects. The Ghebers make use of this flame in their dwellings; they have small trenches, upon which they put the kettle that boils their food; then light a little straw and throw it under the kettle; when the whole trench is immediately in a blaze, and their meals are much sooner prepared than by a wood fire. Whenever they wish to extinguish the flame, they throw over it a piece of wet felt, and it does not rekindle without some external aid. These trenches serve to warm them in winter, and they can keep up the fire as long as they please: it answers also as a light; for which purpose they stick a cane, secured with clay, in the ground in front of their beds, and upon the top fix a clay stopper, so that when this is taken out, and the top of the