Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia performed in the years 1807 and 1808 ... Translated from the German by F. Shoberl

Front matter

TRAVELS IN THE CAUCASUS AND GEORGIA, PERFORMED IN THE YEARS 1807 AND 1803, BY COMMAND OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, BY JULIUS VON KLAPROTH, AULIC COUNSELLOR TO HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF ST. PETERSBURGHj ETC. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN »r F. SHOBERL. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN, BstITISH A5D FOREIGN PUBLIC LIBRARY, CONDUIT STREET, HANOVER SQUARE; AND SOLD BY G, GOLDIE, EDINBURGH; AND J, CAMMING, DUBWJT. 1814. Printed /'j/ Rickard a*id Arthur Taylor, Shoe Lane, London.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. The ample preliminary details given by the Author of this work re specting the motives of his expedition, the plan which he pursued, and the labours of preceding travellers, render any observations on that subject from me wholly unnecessary. There are, however, on© or two points on which I shall beg leave to offer a few remarks. In the perusal of this volume, the reader will not fail to remark the inconsistencies in the mode of spelling several of the names, which he will probably be disposed to charge to the account of negligence either in the printer or the translator. I can attest on the contrary that a jealous care has been exercised by both in regard to this par ticular, and that these inaccuracies rest solely with the Author, who, perhaps unaccustomed to the task of correcting the press, may not have been aware of the importance of a vigilant attention to such minutiæ.

Preface

. If it be asked why the narrative of these Travels has been withheld from the Public so long after my return from them ; I shall reply, that the delay has been occasioned by the difficulty of distributing a work printed in Russia over the rest of the world, as most of the books published there are absolutely inaccessible to the literati of other countries. I considered it therefore indispensably necessary to publish my work in Germany, and to take the superintendence of the press upon myself. To give the reader a preliminary idea of the Plan of these Travels, I shall here subjoin a general outline of them. In the middle of September 1807 I left St. Petersburg, and proceeded by way of Moskwa and Charkow to Old Tscherkassk, the capital of the Don Cossacks, where I continued some time for the purpose of making observations on the neighbouring Calmucks.

On this occasion I completed the accounts relative to the religious customs ofthe followers of the Lama religion, which I had collected in Siberia and elsewhere, and which are introduced into this first volume of my Travels. In November of the same year I pursued my route to the south through the Steppe ofthe Don to Georgiewsk, the capital of the Government of the Caucasus, where I procured information respecting the Tscherkessians and the tribes resident on the other side of the Ckuban. I examined the ruins of Madshar on the Kuma, the mineral springs of the first Caucasian hills, and the Besch-tau ; visited the English Missionary establishment on that mountain, and collected specimens ofthe language and antiquities of those regions. According to my original plan, I designed first to traverse the northern part ofthe Caucasus ; but as the Governor of the province represented that I should be incessantly detained by the rigid quaran- VI

PREFACE.

. tine regulations, which were not expected to be revoked till the following year, I determined to proceed the same winter to Tiflis, and repaired to Mosdok to await the departure of a numerous convoy destined for that city. At Mosdok I procured the best information relative to the Ossetes and Kisls, partly from natives themselves, and partly through the obliging interference of the Jesuits, who have a house there, and officiate in the Catholic church. From Mosdok my route led through the Little Kabardah to Wladikawkas on the Terek, and thence along both sides of that river through the narrow valley in which it flows, and which was formerly closed by the celebrated Caucasian Gate. I left theTerek at the Ossetian village of Kobi, and on the 26th of December passed the snow-covered range of mountains called Gud, and likewise the Cross-mountain.

Beyond these I proceeded through the valley in which the Aragwi runs to meet the Kur, by way of Ananuri to Mzchetha, the ancient capital of Georgia, whose very ruins have disappeared, and on whose site stands a convent now appropriated to the purpose of a c[uarantine. On the 14th of January 1808 I arrived at Tiflis, where I remained till the beginning of March, as well to procure intelligence respecting Georgia, and a translation of the History of that country, as to wait for more favourable weather to prosecute my journey. Here I formed an acquaintance with many Georgians of distinction, whose advice proved of great advantage to me in my enterprise. On the other hand, I could not help observing that the officers ofthe Russian Government would not give themselves the smallest trouble to promote the object of my journey, though en joined to afford me every assistance in their power by a public order of the Minister of the Interior.

On the 5th of March I left Tiflis and returned to Mzchetha, and then proceeded by way of Muchrani and Achalgori to the source of the river Ksani, at the foot of the snowy mountain of Chochi, on the east side of which are also the sources of the Terek. I had to en counter inconceivable difficulties in my passage over the snow-clefts and precipices of this mountain before I could reach those sources.

PREFACE.

. VII The glory of having been the first who discovered and visited the origin of the Terek belongs therefore to me, and not to the two stu dents of Dorpat, by whom they were some years afterwards explored. In this neighbourhood reside the Tirsau or Turso, a savage but yet hospitable race of the Ossetes, through whose country I travelled along the Terek to Kobi, and thence returned by way of the Cross mountain, Ananuri, and Mzchetha, to Tiflis. On the 29th of May I left that place for Thianethi, on the river Jori in K'achethi, to collect particulars respecting the Lesgi, Tuschi, and Pschawi, and till the end of May was engaged in several tours in Georgia. I then went back through the valley of Aragwi, over the snowy mountains, to Wladikawkas ; whence I once more returned on the 12th of June to Tiflis, to receive a sum of money which had arrived for me.

Here I enlarged my collection with many extracts from public documents, and, having bidden farewell to Georgia, again arrived on the 14th of July at Mosdok on theTerek. At that place I left my sick attendants, crossed the river Kurp to Dshulat, a devastated town in the Little Kabardah, and visited the ruins of Tartartup, which, according to the report of the Tscherkessians, was formerly inhabited by Europeans. Here I crossed the Terek to Durdur, on the river of the same name, and thence proceeded higher up among the mountains to the Ossetian tribe of Dugor, who inhabit the banks of the Uruch to its sources. I followed its course to the snowy mountains, which I crossed, and beyond which 1 came to Onni in Imerethi; whence however^on account of various disturbances and hostilities against the Russians, I was obliged to return to the Dugor.

From the Tscherkessian village of Elmursina I travelled by way of Baltasch to Wladikawkas, and thence through the Little Kabardah to Mosdok. I next went to Georgiewsk, again visited Madshar and part ofthe Ckuban; and as various circumstances prevented me from exploring the eastern portion ofthe Caucasus and proceeding to Dag hestan, 1 returned in January 1809 to St. Petersburg. It will be found that, agreeably to my Instructions, I have availed

PREFACE.

. VIII myself of the accounts of my predecessors, and corrected their errors, jn order to produce as complete a Description as possible of the Cau casus and its inhabitants. In writing these Travels, I have almost always adopted the plan of describing the country lying on both sides of the road; and the particulars respecting Ossetia and the Great Kabardah alone, have, for the sake of rendering them more perfect, been deferred to the second volume. To conclude: I return thanks to all my friends who have supported me in this undertaking, and especially to M. von Diez, Privy-counsellor of Legation, &c, who, from his rich collection of oriental manuscripts, favoured me with the loan ofthe original of Abulghasi Baha dur Chan's History of the Tartars, and the Derbend-nameh. He also communicated to me his German translation of the latter, of the as sistance of which I shall avail myself in the second volume.

JULIUS VON KLAPROTH. Berlin, April 20, 1812. T»v MA 93 ..> V TABLE OF CONTENTS. A Page Advertisement m Preface v Introdbction 1 INSTRUCTIONS. I. Subjects of Investigation proposed by His Excellency Count Potocki 4 II. Questions and Observations relative to the Caucasus and its Inhabitants on occasion of the intended Travels of Mr. Von Klaproth to Georgia 9 III. To Mr. Von Klaproth on occasion of his intended Travels in Georgia 16 SUPPLEMENT.— Of the Polowzians 18 ANSWERS to some Questions proposed by Mr. Von Krug 32

Chapter I

Departure from St. Petersburg — Carriages — Post-regulations in Russia — Swiftness of the couriers- Mode of travelling and its inconveniencies — Road to Moskwa — Great Nowgorod — Origin of that city — Its present state — Bronitzkoi Yam — Remarkable Siill — Waldai — Beauty of the women of that place — Bells for travelling carriages — Wyschnei Wolotschok — Torshok — Twer — Italian merchant there — Klin — Black mud — Moskwa — Botanical garden at Gorenki — Hospitality of the Russians : 49

Chapter II

Departure from Moskwa — Podol — Sserpuchow — Trade and origin of that place — The Oka — Nature of its banks — Tula — Iron manufactures there — Inn — Mzensk — Entrance of the government of Orel — Orel — Description of that city — Convenience ofthe Russian market-houses — Conrmerceof Orel — Vessels on the Oka — Appearance of the neighbouring country — Wood-lice, or tarakans, a general plague of the Russian houses — Journey to Kurssk, the filthiest town in Russia — Dimitri Ssemonowitsch Chlaponin, a Russian merchant, who trades to Germany and China — History and description of Kurssk — Departure from that place 56

Chapter III

Obojan— Champignons, a national dish in Russia — Kotschetowska — Bjelgorod on the Donez — That town is not Ssarkel, the capital of the Chasarian dominions— Its situation and foundation — Government of Charkow — Its history 62

Chapter IV

Charkow — Its situation — Excessive dirtiness of the town — University — Condition of the German Professors — The University not much frequented — That circumstance accounted for— Mr. Von Steven— Robbery ofthe author— Departure from Charkow — Isjum— Bachmut — Akssai — Singular combat between a dog and a vulture 75 b CONTEXTS. X

Chapter V

Tscherkassk— Situation and description of die town — Inhabitants — Inundations and their conse* quences History of the place and its inhabitants — Tscherkessians — Cossacks of Little Russia — Tartar Cossacks — Asow Cossacks — Don Cossacks— Rn sent state of the Cossacks — Fertility of their country— Cultivation ofthe vine — Tlie fair sex at Tscherkassk — Principal church ofthe city Gold and silver coin — The Gymnasium— Drunkenness of the inhabitants — Nachtschiwan, a.n Armenian town — Its beauty — Shops — Golowa — Return to Tscherkassk — The Calmucks , . p. 81

Chapter VI

General observations on the Calmucks and Mongols — The whole Mongol nation formerly resided iu the eastern part of Siberia on the lake Baikal — bred great numbers of horses — The native country of Dshingis-chan— Origin of the Siberian Mongols — Physiognomy— Complexion — Felt-tents — Signification of the name of Calmuck , 88

Chapter XV

Departure from Tscherkassk — Dangerous bridge over the Don — Batayskaja — The steppe towards the Mæotis — Boundaries of the Don Cossacks and the Tschernomorzes — Entrance into the Caucasian government — Quarantine on the stinking Jegorlyk — Range of hills stretching northward from the first mountains of the Caucasus — The redoubt of Kalaly — Stone statues — Pregradnoi — Besopasnoi— -Donskaja — Stone figures in the steppe — Their origin — Inquiries respecting the Petscheneges and Romanians or Polowzians , 145

CHAPTER XVL

Donskaja— First mountains of the Caucasus — Moskowskaja — Stawropol — Tartar hordes, remains of the Nogay Tartars — Disease peculiar to them — Of the Nogays in general — Their way of living and religion — Situation of the circle of Stawropol — Nadeshda — Pokrowskoi — Beschpaghir — Nowo Grigoriewskaja — Ssewernoi — Range of sand-stone hills, a branch of the Elbrus — Alexandrow — Ssablja — Alexandria — Arrival at Georgiewsk 1 jo

Chapter XVII

Situation of Georgiewsk — Declivity of the steppe — Cossack stanitza — Style of building — Unhealthy climate — Chain of the Caucasus — Snowy mountains — Black mountains — Elbrus — Kasi-beg — Origin of the name of Caucasus — Another name of these mountains — Jalbus, or Ice-mane, is the most common — Visit to the Governor of the Caucasian government — Alteration of the author's plan- General Bulghakow — His expedition against the Tschetschenzes 167

Chapter XXI

Ruins of Madshar — Description of them — But few remains of them now exist — Opinions of Gmelin, Pallas, and Giildenstadt concerning them — Manifest indications of an extensive city — Not built by the Hungarians — Signification of the word ' Madshar' in the Nogay language — The style of the architecture is Tartar — Inscriptions and coins discovered there — Accounts of this city by tlie Asiatic historians 224 b CONTENTS. XII

Chapter XXII

The river Ckuban— Its ancient names— Source— Streams that discharge themselves into it—Places situated on it— Nations dwelling beyond the Ckuban, the Tscherkessians, Tartars, and Abasses — Particulars respecting the Abasses— Little Abasa, or the Six Tribes ( Alti Kesek Abassi)— Beschilbai— Nogays of the family of iManzur— Beslenie— Midawi or Madowch— Barrakai— Kasilbeg-- Tschegreh and Bagh— Muchosch— Naurus Aul— Tubi and Ubuch— Bsubbth— Abasech— Keniurquuhe or Temirgoi— Bsheduch— Hattiquahe or Hattukai— Schapschik — Netschquadsha or Nantuchasch— Shani— S'chegakeh— Adaley— Nations inhabiting the country to the south of the Caucasus towards the Black Sea : Ubuch, Schaschi, Ibsip, Aratchowass, Bah, and Nalkupi-Madshawi — Descendants of the Krjm Ssulthans — Anapa — Sudshuk-ckala'h — Sochum-ckala'h - Mode of punishing the Transkubanians — Commodities with which they require to be supplied by the Russians — Means proposed for keeping them in order p« 241

Chapter XXIII

Beschtau, or ths Five Mountains — Excursion to the Warm Bath — Ckarass and the English Mission there — Its present state — 'Works printed at that place — Springs of mineral water in the Caucasus — Kuma and Podkuma — Ancient communication between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Asow — The river Kuma the Udon of Ptolemy 269

Chapter XXIV

Tartar tribes in the slate and lime-stone mountains of the Caucasus, denominated by the Georgians Bassiani — They are said to have formerly dwelt in the steppe of the Kuma and at Madjar ; and are now under the authority of the Kabardians — The language of all the tribes is alike, and corresponds with the Nogay-Tartar — The Ckaratschai, at the source of the Ckuban — They are now Mohammedans — Frankish burial-place among them — Princes, nobles, and vassals — Shape and features of the Ckaratschai — They are not intermixed with Mongols — Their females and marriages — Natural children — Education, habits, and manners — Dress and weapons — Oaths and sorcery Wood-goblins — Disposition — Occupations, productions, and traffic with their neighbours — Road over the snowy mountains to Imerethi, probably the Porta Cumana of Pliny — Fables concerning the abundance of metals in these parts — Families among the Ckaratschai — Districts of Baksan— Tschegem and Balkar — The Ssuanes to the north of the Caucasus in the village of Chulam 280

Chapter XXV

Arrangements for a journey on horseback — Pack-horses — Requisite convoy — Neglect ofthe Cossacks assigned as an escort — Danger of travelling on the Line — Cause of it — Departure from Georgiewsk ■for Mosdok — Mariinskaja — Pawlowskaja — Valley in which the Kura flows — Course of that river — Conjecture respecting the mouth of the Malka — Error in the Podrobnaja Karta respecting the course of the Kura — Tartar sepulchral chapels, called Bjeloi Messdshet by the Russians — Ssolenoi Brod — Saldatskaja Malka — Prochladnoi — Jekaterinograd, formerly the capital of the Caucasian province — Mosdok — Its various inhabitants — Jesuits — Armenians — Their nuptial ceremonies — Religious tenets — The river Terek — Its different species of fish — Culture of silk on the Terek — Vineyards — Kislar brandy — Melons and water-melons — Badleshan — Departure of a convoy of pro~ visions for Georgia , CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter XXVI

Of the Tscherkessians — Their name and origin — Former settlements of that people — Kabardah — Genealogy of their princes — Remarkable tradition — Various classes — Princes, nobles, and boors- Relations between the princes and the nobles — Former prerogatives of the princes — Propagation of Mohammedanism among them — They are but nominal vassals to Russia — Their way of living — Revenge — Pride of birth — Marriage — Divorce — Conjugal relations — Education of children- Burial ceremonies — Punishment of theft — Extension of the Tscherkessian nation — Figure and complexion — Dress — Arms — Trades — Style of building — Domestic animals — Agriculture — Food — Bees — Language of the Tscherkessians — Of their secret languages — Names of men and women — Appellations given by them to their neighbours p. 310

Chapter XXVII

George Interiano's account of the Tscherkessians — They are called Zychi by the Greeks — Situation of their country — Christianity — Different classes among them — Manners and customs — Many Tscherkessians sold as slaves are carried to Egypt — Dress — Customs in war — Generosity and hospitality — Wars with the Tartars — Their personal beauty — Their habitations and settlements— Burials— Extraordinary ceremonies on those occasions 332

Chapter XXVIII

The author's departure from Mosdok — Passage of the Terek — Hills of Arack— Achlau Ckaback — Grigoripol, a fortress on the river Kumbalei — Schalcha, a colony of the Ingusches on the Kumbalei — Settlements of the Ingusches — Their simple water-mills — Way of life and manners — The Great or Old Ingusches — Narrow pass — Road to the Upper Terek — Galga, the original abode of the Ingusches — Sacred rock on the river Assai — Road to the Ingusches in the valley of Schalcha —Cavern with an iron cross — Beauty of the valley — Their agriculture and domestic ceconomy — ■ Manners— Their intrepidity, temperance, oaths — Marriages after death — The fair sex, and their dress — Dances of the Ingusches — Their aversion to foreign religions — Religious ceremonies performed at an ancient church on the Upper Assai — Description of the edifice — High-priests of the Ingusches — Manners of the Great Ingusches — Names given by the Ingusches to themselves and their neighbours — Their seven tribes 338

Chapter XXIX

Departure from Grigoripol, or Kumbalei — Potemkin redoubt, now demolished — Arrival at the Terek — Stones in that river — Its different Georgian names — Tergi — Lomekiss-Mdinare — Aragwi — Singularity of the latter appellation — Wladikawkas, or Terkckalla — Count Iwelitsch — Proposed establishment of a new military line along the Ckuban and the Ssundsha — The Little Kabardah described — Double chain of mountains intersecting it — Rivers — Elevation of the Steppe and its fertility — Villages in the Little Kabardah — Frequent changes of their sites and names — Their former situation — Narrow pass on the river Nassiran and the Ssundsha — Preserved corpses — Ancient Tartar sepulchre on the Jaman-ckul CONTENTS, XIV

Chapter XXX

The Meremedik not the Mcrmadalis of the ancients— Of the Amazons— Account of the Amazons by Herodotus— They were of Sarmatian extraction, and returned with their husbands to Sarmatia —The Sarmatians and Mæotians were, according to the testimony of the ancients, one and the same nation, to which the Amazons belonged— Their settlements in the Kabardah and in the steppe of the Kuma Mela's account of the manners of the Amazons and Ssauromatians— Similar instances in America— in the Caucasus— Tradition respecting the Amazons as reported by Reineggs and by Count John Potocki— Explanation of the term Ayor Pata— Thermodon— Departure from Wladikawkas— The Inguschian village of Ssaukqua or Ssaurowa— Buschua— Mineralogical particulars concerning the valley of the Terek— Bridge over the Terek— Baltasch or Balta— Description of the valley to the south of Baltasch— Dormice— Houses at Baltasch p. 361

Chapter XXXI

Departure from Baltasch— Narrow pass on the Terek, called Assinteh— Bed of the river— Ssau-don — Ossetian gravestones— Village of Dallag-kau, or Kaituchovva— Ulag Zmi-kau, or Tschim— Construction of the houses in those villages— Different species of wild-goats— The Caucasian partridge— Singular disease of horses attributed to noxious herbs— The village of Laars— Origin of the Schimitian Obsetes— Pedigree of their ciders— Bridge-tolls formerly paid to them— Their dissensions with the Tscherkessians ofthe Little Kabardah— Narrow valley of Arwckum— Dariela, or Dairan, the Caucasian gate of the ancients — Description of it by ancient writers — Village of Gelatin, and rivulet Defilaroki — Falls of snow at that place — Basalt-mountains — Village of Sto, or Psedo — Stephan-tzminda, or Kasbek — Quarantine — Bivouac 371

Chapter XXXII

Environs of Stephan-tzminda — Church near the village of Gergethi — Lofty snowy mountain of Mqinwari, erroneously denominated Kasbek by the Russians — Unpardonable mistake in the Podrobnaja Karta — Formation of Mqinwari — Caverns called Bethleemi — Fabulous accounts of them — Pretended ascent of the Mqinwari by a Georgian priest — Wall of basalt near Stephan-tzminda — Kobi — District of Chewi — Atschchotiss-chewi— -Ancient church of Garbani — Physical description ofthe valley ofthe Terek — Sources of that river in Mount Chochi — Its branches — Departure from Kobi — Tetri-tzqali, or White-water, the eastern source of the Terek — Mineral spring of Gubta — The Cross-mountain — Passage over the snowy mountains — Valley ofthe Aragwi — District of Guda — Kaischaurt-k'ari — Georgian wine — Tschurt-s'chela 381

Chapter XXXIII

Passage of the Aragwi, the Aragon of the ancients — Paschanauri — The Gudamaqari,- an ancient Georgian tribe — Their predatory disposition — Geological description of the southern declivity of the Caucasus — Comparison between it and the northern — District of Mthiulethi — Inhabitants of the mountains — Theh manners — Agriculture— Domestic animals — Houses of the mountaineers- Fortress of Ananuri — Ancient churches plundered by the Lesgians — Unnecessary detention ofthe author for three days at the Quarantine CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XXXIV

Unpleasant adventure in the Quarantine— The white Aragwi—Pschawi and Chewsuri— Church of Lascha— Dshwari— Departure from Ananuri — Ragaspiri — Church of St. George — Caverns around it — Ancient fortress of Ssaguramo — Ghartiss-k'ari — Mzchetha — History of that town — Adjacent places — Ancient church — Quarantine in the ancient fortress of Ssamthauro — Description of Mzchetha and its church — Tombs of the Georgian kings — Particulars respecting the Georgian provinces on the Black Sea '* p. 395

Chapter XXXV

The river Kur or Mtk'wari, the Kyrus of the ancients — Its source and course — Ludicrous proposal for effecting a communication between the Black and Caspian Seas — Navigation with rafts- Georgian and Tartar carts, called Arba— Another method of transporting goods — Departure from the Quarantine — Bridge over the Kur — Armasi, or Armasiss-ziche, the Armozika of the Greeks — Rocks of Dewis-Namuchli — Plain of Digomi — Weriss-chewi— Arrival at Tiflis — Description of that city 406 Appendix , » 41S TRAVELS 1 N THE CAUCASUS AND GEORGIA.

Introduction

. Among the most remarkable but least known regions of the ancient world is the Caucasus, which with its long, snow-clad ridges separating Asia from Europe, forms, as it were, the partition between those two quarters of the globe, and whose first ranges occupy the isthmus between the Caspian and the Black Sea. History affords very few examples of the passage of this chain by wandering nations, who attempted to penetrate on this side into Upper Asia. In our times it was reserved for the Russian arms, during the glorious reign of the great Catherine, to open a way over the snowy mountains into Georgia through the Caucasian gate, Dariel, so celebrated in antiquity, which since Timur 'a invasion of the Caucasus had not been trodden by any military force. At first it was only auxiliaries that Russia sent to King Irak'li (Heraclius) to assist him against the Turks and Lesgi, by whom he was hard pressed.

He how ever soon perceived the impossibility of opposing his enemies as an independent prince for any length of time, and therefore submitted in 1783 to the crown of Russia. His imbecile son Georgi succeeded him in the government, and on his death in 1800 several Georgian princes assembled and sent deputies to St. Peters burg, to implore the emperor to make their country a Russian province, and thus to secure it from all the hostile attacks of its neighbours. Their wish was immediately complied with, and Georgia ceased from that time to be governed by native sovereigns. v- In consequence of this submission, it was resolved at St. Petersburg to reduce by decrees the whole ofthe Caucasus, and to extend the boundaries of the empire to the river Arass (Araxes). The first step was the occupation of Daghestan and Imereti, by which the yet unsubdued mountaineers became completely surrounded by the Russian territory, and will thus probably soon be compelled to acknowledge themselves vassals of the political Colossus of the north.

No sooner was there any hope of effecting the augmentations which are actually taking place, than the court of St. Petersburg began to think of procuring accurate information relative to the Caucasus. It was not with the physical properties only of these mountains that it was desirous of becoming acquainted, but also with the manners of their inhabitants and their mutual relations. With this view it was that in 1767 the great empress issued commands that the whole empire should be visited by members of the Academy of Sciences, as well to describe the topography of its provinces as to examine their productions and inhabitants. In this important en terprise the Caucasus and Georgia fell to the share of Professor* Giildenstadt; and a fitter person could not have been chosen, for he surpassed in erudition and zeal all his colleagues sent out on similar expeditions.

For three years he resided among these celebrated mountains, or in their vicinity ; but a premature death un fortunately prevented him from publishing his observations himself. Much that was deficient in his manuscripts, and in particular all the observations which he had made on the manners and customs of the Caucasians during his long residence among them, he intended to supply from memory. His papers were committed to an editor who neither knew any thing of the countries which G iildenstadt had visited, nor entered upon the task with sufficient spirit to adopt as his own the work of another, or to be anxious to set it oft* to the best advantage. Hence it is that the part of Giildenstiidt's travels which relates to the Caucasus, though indeed syste matic and excellent in its plan, is not sufficiently digested, and that the names are disfigured by an incredible multitude of errors of the press, which are the more unpardonable as Giildenstadt wrote a very legible hand, and was particularly solici tous to give foreign words with accuracy.

After him Reineggs, the adventurer, visited the Caucasus in company with the Hungarian Count Kohary, who supported him, and whose heir he became in Tiflis : but his extremely superficial description of these mountains, in which half of his * In the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg there were formerly Professors ; but since it received a different form, that title has very properly been disused.

INTRODUCTION.

. statements are either erroneous or false, was garbled by an ignorant editor, and is in some degree useful only to such as are intimately acquainted with the Caucasus, and are capable of detecting its misrepresentations. Several travellers have since that time visited the Caucasus and its vicinity with a view to the natural history of those regions ; but we have been favoured with very few historical observations on its inhabitants, or none at all, at least through the medium of the press. The worthy Count John Potocki, who resided at the foot of the Caucasus during the winter of 1797-1798, and whom I had the honour to accompany in the Russian embassy to China, conceived that he should render a service to the sciences in causing a new expedition to be undertaken to these coun-' tries, for the purpose of elucidating their topography, history, and language alone:" and he had formed so favourable an opinion of my abilities for such an enterprise,- that he pitched upon me for the execution of the plan.

This he communicated to the then President of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, who himself submitted it to the Academy : it was adopted, as might naturally have been expected, by that body, which likewise approved the Count's choice of me to travel in the Caucasus. The Count himself had promised to draw up instructions for the purpose of direct ing the attention ofthe traveller to the most important points that were to be decided : as, however, one of the most learned members of the academical committee, Mr. Von Lehrberg, had more particularly directed his studies to the Caucasus, it was likely that he should best know what subjects yet remained to be explored there ; and he was likewise commissioned, as well as Mr. Von Krug, to propose questions which I was to answer during my journey. As I was not sufficiently conversant in the Russian language to express myself in it in writing, the Academy gave me permission to select one of the students educated at its expense in the Gymnasium of St. Petersburg, to accompany me as interpreter.