Having collected together the jewels, gems, and curious clocks and watches which he had been commissioned to purchase for the King of Persia, he repaired to Leghorn, where he embarked with his mercantile companion for Smyrna. Owing to the unskilfulness of the mariners, the variableness of the winds, and the badness of the weather, this short voyage was not performed in less than three months, during which the passengers endured all the privation and misery which such a voyage could inflict. From Smyrna he proceeded to Constantinople, where, through the aid of M. de Nointel, the ambassador of France, he was initiated in all the mysteries of diplomacy, which he unveils in his travels with infinite skill and naïveté for the amusement of his readers.
In other respects his connexion with the French ambassador was rather prejudicial than useful to him; for M. de Nointel having conducted himself in all his negotiations with the Turks in a puerile and fluctuating manner, passing by turns from extreme haughtiness to extreme cringing and servility, the anger of the Porte was roused, and directed against the whole French nation; and Chardin, when he became desirous of departing, was denied a passport. From this difficult and somewhat dangerous position he was delivered by the ingenuity of a Greek, who contrived to procure him a passage to Azoph, on the Palus Mæotis, on board of a Turkish vessel then about to set sail with the new commandant and fresh troops which the Porte sent every year to that remote fortress. The Black Sea, which receives its appellation from the gloomy clouds and tempestuous winds which hover over and vex its waters in almost every season of the year, was now to be traversed; and considering the unskilfulness and apathy of Turkish sailors, who creep timidly along the shore, and have little knowledge of the use of the compass, our traveller was not without his apprehensions. After a voyage of eight days, however, they arrived at Caffa, in the Crimea, where, by the help of the Greek friend who had enabled him to laugh at the sultan’s beard and embark without a passport, he eluded the exorbitant demands of the custom-house, and transported his merchandise on board another vessel bound for Mingrelia.
Setting sail from Caffa, where there was little to be seen but stinking Tartars and caviare, they arrived in twenty-four hours at Touzlah, or the Salt Marshes, a vast sweep of low shore, alternately covered by the waters of the sea, artificially introduced, and a white saline crust, looking like a sheet of snow from a distance. Here upwards of two hundred ships are annually freighted with salt; and it was for the purpose of taking on board a cargo of this useful merchandise that the vessel in which Chardin and his companion were embarked now touched at the place. On landing, the village was found to consist of about ten or twelve houses, with a small mosque, and a considerable number of felt-covered tents, which served for stables, kitchens, and dormitories for the slaves. Salt was by no means the only article of commerce obtained at this place. Every morning fires were observed lighted along the shore, as signals that the brigands of the country had laid violent hands upon a number of their fellow-creatures, and had them conveyed thither, chained together like cattle, for sale. These fires being observed, boats were immediately sent on shore; and when they returned, crowds of women and children, half-naked, or covered with rags and filth, but resplendent with beauty, were hoisted on board, where their wretched apparel was exchanged for clean neat garments, and where, perhaps, for the first time in their lives they tasted bread. The men and boys were chained two and two every night; the women, from whom no danger was apprehended, were permitted the free use of their limbs. These Circassians did not fetch a great price. A Greek merchant, whose cabin was contiguous to that of Chardin, purchased for twelve crowns a woman of extraordinary beauty, with an infant at the breast. What chiefly surprised our traveller in the circumstances of this affair was, the coolness and serenity with which these honest people submitted to their fate. Had not the women, much against their will, been compelled to occupy themselves with needlework, and the men with such little matters as they could perform on board, they would have been perfectly happy. Idleness was their summum bonum; and this the most beautiful among the women knew they were about to enjoy in the harems of Turkey.
On arriving at Isgaour, in Mingrelia, the place where the general market of the country is held, Chardin naturally expected to find human dwellings, with provisions, and such other necessaries as in civilized countries are everywhere attainable for money. In this hope he went on shore, accompanied by the Greek merchant, who had hitherto been in a manner his guardian angel; but on entering the place, they indeed found two long rows of huts formed of the branches of trees, where merchandise and provisions had once been exposed for sale, but now empty and deserted. In the vicinity of the place neither house nor habitation appeared as far as the eye could reach. Two or three peasants, however, who flitted about like spectres among the deserted huts, engaged to bring on the morrow a quantity of that species of grain called gom, which is bruised, boiled, and eaten instead of bread, together with wine and other provisions. There being no alternative, they were compelled to rely on the promises of these men, as they were nearly in want of every necessary of life; but their presents failing them, it became necessary to dissemble with his servants, who already began to murmur aloud and curse the persons by whose advice he had taken the route of the Black Sea, relying for the future upon the bounty of Providence. The reason why the market of Isgaour was thus deserted was, that the Abcas, a neighbouring people of savage character and barbarous manners, having made an irruption into the country, were now ravaging it with fire and sword, while the peasantry and their lords were flying before them in dismay, or plunging for refuge into the deepest recesses of their forests. Ten days after their arrival these savages passed along the shore in search of plunder; and finding none in this celebrated market, set the huts on fire and reduced them to ashes.
In this dilemma, Chardin had much difficulty in determining what course to take. He had immediately on landing applied for aid to the Catholic missionaries of Colchis, the chief of whom promised in reply to be with him by a certain day, but failed in his engagement; and when after a second application he repaired to the place of rendezvous, it was less with the design of forwarding our traveller’s views than of dissuading him from attempting the journey at all. Perceiving, however, that his advice could not be followed, he rendered the travellers every service in his power with alacrity, but without in the least concealing the magnitude of the danger they were about to incur.
It was now the beginning of October, and Chardin, irritated at the numerous obstacles and hinderances which had impeded his progress, was so extremely impatient to be in Persia that no dangers appeared to him so terrible as delay. He had very soon cause to repent his impetuosity. The evils he had hitherto endured dwindled to nothing when compared with those which now rushed upon him like a torrent, and threatened to swallow up in a moment his wealth, his ambitious projects, and his life. Nevertheless, with that unshrinking courage which his total ignorance of the future and the pressure of present evils bestows upon man, he hastened to put his foot upon the shores of Mingrelia; and embarking with all his merchandise on board the felucca in which the monk had arrived, set sail for Anarghia, where they next day arrived. Here his followers made themselves ample amends for the scarcity they had endured at Isgaour; for poultry, wild pigeons, pork, goats’ flesh, wine, and other provisions were abundant and cheap.
After remaining nine days at Anarghia, they departed on the 14th, two hours before day, and having sailed about six miles up the river, disembarked their merchandise and provisions, with which they loaded eight small vehicles, and proceeded on their journey by land. The report that a party of Europeans were passing with incalculable riches through the country was soon spread; and as few rich travellers ever traversed Mingrelia, this rumour immediately inflamed to the highest degree the cupidity of the hungry prince and his feudatories, who forthwith formed the design of appropriating these treasures to themselves. They arrived, however, on the evening of the same day at Sipias, the residence of the missionaries, where they proposed to remain a few days in order to prepare themselves by a little repose for the fatigues which were to come, as well as to deliberate with the monks respecting the means of escaping from the rapacity of the rulers of Mingrelia.
Four days after his arrival, the princess, or queen, as she termed herself, of Mingrelia, came to Sipias to visit our traveller, attracted by the rumours of his wealth, as vultures are attracted by the scent of a carcass. Her majesty was followed by a train of eight women and ten men, to all of whom a decent suit of clothes and a tolerable beast to ride on would have been a welcome present, for they were very badly mounted and meanly clad. In order to ward off, as far as possible, the dangerous reputation of being rich, which is elsewhere so much coveted, our travellers endeavoured to pass for Capuchin friars, and pretended that the baggage with which their vehicles were loaded consisted entirely of books. The princess believed neither of these stories. Being informed that Chardin understood Turkish and Persian, she tormented him, by means of a slave who could speak the former language, with a thousand questions, of which the greater number turned upon the subject of love. After pushing these questions beyond the verge of decency, to the great amusement of her suite, who appeared to be more delighted in proportion as her majesty became more obscene, she suddenly turned to a still more embarrassing topic—demanding to examine the effects of our traveller, and the stores of the monks. They all now trembled for their property. Whatever she should have seen would have been lost. To allay her cupidity, therefore, and at least put off the evil day, the principal monk humbly informed her that the usual present should be sent on the morrow, accompanied by another from the travellers. With this assurance she appeared to be satisfied, and departed.
On the next day our traveller and two of the monks were invited to dine with the princess, and were of course careful not to present themselves before her empty-handed, it being a crime in the East for an inferior to come into the presence of his superior without some gift, in token of dependence and homage. Her highness of Mingrelia, who had painted her face and adorned her person to the best of her ability, in order to appear to advantage in the eyes of the traveller, seemed to be highly gratified with his present, which, though tasteful and elegant, was of small value, the better to maintain a show of poverty. Some ten or twelve ragged but merry-looking wenches, and a crowd of half-naked ragamuffins, constituted the court of this princess, her maids of honour having, as she assured the traveller, taken refuge in a neighbouring fortress on account of the war! The better to enjoy the pleasure of tormenting M. Chardin, she caused him to sit near her, and commenced her attack by observing, that it was her will and pleasure that he should marry one of her friends, and settle in the country, when she promised to bestow on him houses, lands, slaves, and subjects. From all he had heard and seen of the women of Mingrelia, our traveller would have felt less repugnance to marrying a vampire than one of them, beautiful as they were; so that the bare possibility of the thing made him shudder. He was for the present delivered from the discussion of this painful topic by the appearance of dinner, during which the princess inflamed her naturally ardent temperament by copious libations of wine, which stifled whatever remains of shame might have lingered in her soul, and impelled her to exhibit all the importunity and effrontery of a courtesan.
The menaces of this princess, who gave them clearly to understand that she had determined upon visiting the monastery, for the purpose of examining their treasures, caused them to return dejected and melancholy from the castle, the monks apprehending new extortions and vexations, and Chardin the loss of all he possessed. The remainder of the day was passed in deliberating upon the present posture of affairs, and it was at length resolved, that as soon as it was night, pits should be dug, and the most valuable portion of their merchandise buried in the earth. Accordingly, the sun had no sooner set behind the mountains, than they commenced operations, first digging a pit five feet deep in the apartments of one of the monks, where they buried a large chest filled with watches and clocks set with jewels. When this had been done, and the earth smoothed over, and made to appear as before, they repaired under cover of the darkness to the church, where the principal monk advised our traveller to open the grave of one of the brotherhood, who had been interred there some six years before, and deposite among his ashes a small casket filled with the most costly gems of the East, designed for the princesses and great ladies of Persia. A secret presentiment prevented Chardin from following this advice, who selected in preference an obscure corner of the church, where accordingly a pit was sunk, and the casket carefully interred. Other costly articles, as a sabre and poniard set with jewels, were concealed in the roof of the monastery; and such articles of great value as were small and portable our travellers retained about their persons.