Year: 1870

good harbor available to large steamers. They
are all, like their sister ports the northern coast
OF Asia Minor either too shallow to admit Of
large shipping or too exposed to the frequent
gales which visit the Euxine. Those on the west
ern shore Of the Caucasus are particularly bad,
and Poti is about the worst, and this is time
when good port is essentially necessary to Rus
sia, while she is building railroad from Poti to
the Caspian Sea, and preparing for the commerce
certain to flow from Persia by the Caspian Sea to
Bakou, and from Tabreez to Tiais by land. Every
parcel of goods has to be shipped in small
steamers to Batoom, and the distance between
Poti and Batoom is but twenty-five miles which
might easily be connected by rail.


SIGHTING THE CAUCASUS.


The immense and grand range of the Caucasus
is first seen from Bat0om, resembling, with every
portion of its vastness covered deeply with snow,
an infinite boundary of snow heaped up from the
earth to the sky. The serrated tops are at this
season softened out of their extreme ruggedness
into gentle outline. Batoom is but small town
OF some three thousand inhabitants There are Con-
suls from England, Russia, Austria and France re-
siding there. In looking at the stupendous noun
tans behind it, rising like an everlasting barrier





be difficult to imagine that road existed which
penetrated the heart of them Yet it is a fact
that road does exist between Batoom and Kars,
but 1t is dangerous, being mere mule path,
overhangng deep precipices and winding in the
most crooked manner through numerous passes
until it reaches the lofty tableland Of Armenia.
good road would benefit Batoom and the
interior, and the corn barley &C., of the peasants
of the highlands might be exchanged for some
necessaries of agriculture and thousand other
things which they stand in much need of.


The harbor of Batoom is formed by project
ing slope of mountain, and the detritus washed
down from the mountains by the rapid Tcharoukh,
which has formed into small cape of lowland.
smart revenue cutter of the Turkish Govern
ment plies between here and SAMSON, keeping
watch over smugglers, of whom it is said there are
great many.


After shifting our berths from the comfortable
Russian steamer into tug we were conveyed to
Poti in four hours. Poti has no harbor. The
ships lilo outside, three, four and five miles from
the mouth of the Rion, which rolls its volume Of
muddy water couple of miles below the strag.
Cling town Of Poti, situated the left bank of the
river. But the little tug, scarcely drawing more
than five feet, feels its way among the white
crests, caused by meeting of tide and Cow, and
dashes up the river, which is something like fifty
yards wide, bounded by low, swampy banks, upon
which grow an ENHANCEMENT Of rank weeds and
shrub jungle, suggestive of fever and ague. Poti,
since Batoom cannot be had, is likely to grow to
an important place. 1t is even now spreading it.
self ambitiously, has haf dozen brick buildings,
Of large dimensions, couple Of pretty good
hotels, and any number of wooden cabins,
which are similar in shingle, log and
mode of building to our wooden cab
ins out West. The traveller needs to
be sharp at these hotels, and order his bills
before retiring to bed if he intends to travel next
morning, the landlord Of the Hotel Colchide has
an esurient palm and an avaricious pen when
making bills. / narrowly escaped being victim
lied out Of considerable sum. Poh has q fort
mounting dozen guns, and has an old Gouriel
fortifcation now in ruins. The lighthouse stands
on the Mingrelia side Of the river Ron, and the
railroad commences from near that point. The
Mingrelian side of the Rion is far more interesting
than the Gouriel side, though Pot stands in Gou.
rel. For many reasons Mingrelia pleased me as
much as it pleases all travellers. One was the





the children of both sexes, the noble forests OF
ash, mulberry and sycamore, and the number of
game Of the tanner kind which present themselves
most innocently to the hunter.


RAILROADS.


The railroad to Bakou progresses very slowly,
but it may be well attributed to the fashion that
the Russian government has taken to build it.
They have engaged lot of English engineers -
some forty or fifty, believe-to superntend the
construction Of the line at very good salaries per
year. Men short of employment at home need
not wonder that the engineers regarding them
selves before the interest of their work. endeavor
to extend the time and delay the work as much
as possible, as too energetic construction of the
railroad would cause the work to be too soon
finished, by which means they would injure them
selves. One cannot blame the engineers for thus
regarding their interests but the government is to
blame that it took this method of constructing an
important railroad. Added to this reluctance of
the English engineers to finish up quick, they
have under them body of workmen
who regard their mutitudinous fetes
and fasts with more than exemplary
exactness, which reduces over 800 working day IS
into 200 days, thus clogging the endeavors of a
government trying to keep pace with the other
railroad building States. While ] was in Min
grelia the navvies of the country were keeping up
an eight days fast with great religious zeal.


THE PLACE OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE.


The Rion is the ancient Phasis, up which the
argonauts glided to obtain the golden fleece,
and Phass runs through Colchis. Mingrelia,
Inertia and Gourel compose ancient Colchis.
There was lovely goddess in Colchis named
Ea in the far off golden age and Phasis was in
love with her. To rescue her from the pursuit Of
her lover the gods turned her into an island.
believe you may see that island still at the mouth
of the river, where Phass has continued to love
her and offer his offerings at her feet, which take
to be q remarkable instance of steadfast love.


Three thousand one hundred and thirty y-thre e
years ago, to be exact, Jason proceeded up the
Phasis. He came from Argo with band of