Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1851-07-03
CAUCASUS.

n {. .
i The plains and declivities which extent
along the southern decliviiy ofthe Caucasu,
are admitted 10 be amongst the finest region.
of the earth. Forests OF magnificent tim
Der whose, abounding luxuriance and varie.,
OF vegetation can only be compared To the
Iprimeval forests on The Orinoco and ,h,
Amazon rivers. stretch along the side.of the
mounlains--,he pomegranale, the peach, III
necmrino grow wild, and the vine lllourishes
/ in, such gigantic vigor and richness OF growth
that even the vines Of Italy seem poor and
puny in comparison. II winds itself like a
huge serpent abou, The larges, trees, ,ossos
jus wrealhed branches or every side, ,wines
trunk alier trunk within lis coils, and hangs
liss garlands. with theirY elowipg fruits, Oven
Iup 10 the highest branches,IWbere .sarbiais
i'only can feast on I.Ieir nec,arean juices a Il
kinds Of corn, as we'll as hemp and fax
when cultivated, yield abundant harvests
in many districts rice, and even cotton can
be grown with succcss--indeed The latter is
often found growing wild; The horses, and
other cattle, equal the fines. breeds of Eu-
rope The woods abound in almost countless
varieties; The mineral produces, (though as
yet they have no. been thoroughly explored
there is reason to believe, arc plentiful yet.
SO liule have all these gifts of nature done
for the country, or, rather 10 such an exlen,
have their benefits been nou,raIized by other
causes, tina, large proportion of The inhab.
itants are scarcely above the reach of famine,
whenever any accident. such as that of a
visitation Of locusis, occur 10 diminish their
harvest. The peasan.ry live with their cat
tic in holes bur;owed in the ground, with a
hole in the top to admi, light and afford
egress to smoke; they are almost wholly ig-
norant Of the simplest art Of life; they spoil
their wine by their method Of keeping il in
skins smeared with nap,ha; they pow their
deep rich soil with clumsy machine made
of wood sheathed with iron; they know
nothing of the use Of flax, bu, burn their
fine crops as soon as they have gathered the
seed, for which alone they value il; and, so
miserably degraded are they, by ignorance
and pover,y combined, rs TO regard their
beautiful daughters in the light Of an ar.i-
Gle Of expor TO The Turkish harems; yet
more than Two thousand years ago, these re-
gions were the seat Of considerable ciyilza-
,ion. While Western Europe was as ye,
an untrodden, marshy wilderness. the haunt
Of bears and bisons, the valley Of the river
Phasis was the abode ofa people, rich, pow
erful, beautiful. las they still are.) and, for
The time, intellectually cultivated, A. the
mouth Of the Phasis, or, MS i, is now called
the Rioni, rose city Of the same name,
a Greek colony, in which trade and industry
fourished, and which kept up an active in.
tercourse with the interior, and with the
mother country. lis stated by S,rabo that,
along the whole course of this river il Yves
crossed by hundred and fifty bridges
but these things have all vanished, and their
place knows them no more. The whole pro.
vinces of Georgia, lmeretia, and Mngrela,
do not now, contain, according TO The last es.
mates. much more than 100000 people
for the Russian force, which il is considered
necessary 10 maintain in them, provisions
have continually 10 be sent across the noun.
,ains and the revenues fall 50 far short Of
the expenses that russia has to remit TO them
annually no less a sum than 100000 Of
francs. The very gifts Of naluro, The gen.
al warmth and the luxurian. vegetation,
have been turned, by neglec. and wan, Of
cleanliness, into curses and breeders of pes.
thence. 1t would be interesting and instruct
i've to trace the history Of civilization in
such country. The causes that led TO its
first rapid advance, then TO its becoming sta.
lionary. then, while the rest Of the world
moved on to its slowly re,rograding almos
utter barbarism. Westminster ReUiew.