The service over, a large dish of rice, covered with raisins and sugar, is passed to the priest, who applies the spoon, and it then goes the rounds, the boys and idlers coming in for the balance.
CXXXVII.
Tiflis, Capital of Georgia, June 6, 1858.
From Yalta, I embarked for Theodosie and Kertch, upon the Straits of Azoff. The former place is designated as the terminus of the railroad from Moscow, as its harbor never freezes.
Kertch was partly burned by the allies during the war. Its population is some fifteen thousand. It has a good harbor for vessels bound either for ports in the Black Sea, or going up the Sea of Azoff for cargoes of grain. There were some fifty sail of all kinds at anchor.
In company with the French and English consuls I rode some fifteen miles to the Sea of Azoff, visiting also some extensive Tumuli, or mounds for cemeteries, in which have been found very interesting relics, supposed to be from the reign of king Mithridates, 132 years before Christ. They are quite similar to those I once found in Upsal, in Sweden. The masonry is in a perfect state of preservation. The prairie country extends for miles about the city, and hares are found in great abundance. Our horses and dogs gave them a fine chase.
I took a steamer at Kertch for the Asiatic side of the Black Sea, passing along the Circassian coast with its towering snow-capped mountains. The small ports or roadsteads are occupied by the Russian military, which cannot get a foothold in the interior.
Heavy weather prevented our arrival at Soukum Kale until the second day. It is a bad roadstead, but beautifully situated amid the greenest and most luxuriant vegetation, reminding me of the West Indies or the coast of Venezuela, by its prolific growth. The little colony being among roses and acacias in full bloom, the air is odoriferous with perfume. The inhabitants are, however, virtually imprisoned, the heights being occupied by barracks, and troops who cannot go beyond a certain limit.
The villages of the Abasiens are seen in the distance, and we would fain have taken horses for a ride thither, but were warned not to walk even, beyond a certain point, under the penalty of a ball from the enemy. Notwithstanding the chief of the tribe is friendly and under pay from the Russian government, and we saw him and his harem on board of a steamer put at his disposal, still his people are not reliable, and the Russians cannot penetrate the country, but are obliged to make a detour by Redout Kale, where we landed the following day.
It is bad, like all the other roadsteads along the coast, and frequently the semi-monthly steamers cannot land, and passengers are obliged to wait a month to embark. The breakers were rolling strongly, but we landed at the mouth of the little river Orion, at the miserable town, among such a rough, bandit-looking race as one seldom sees. The captain of the post was very civil, and invited my companion and myself, to dine and occupy part of his miserable quarters, until we could lay in a stock of provisions and supplies for voyage in the interior.