64 CASUALS IN THE CAUCASUS 



with my cousin, it was thrown into a panic by the 

 proximity of so many small people. Indian falconers 

 always say that hawks stand in hereditary awe of 

 children, because they mistake them for their enemies of 

 the jungle, the monkey tribe ! The error, in this case, 

 was really almost justifiable. 



The Persian population of Tiflis is a very large 

 one. Many are thriving merchants, descendants, 

 perhaps, of the one-time Iranian rulers, who preside 

 over cave-like dark rooms where you may see in 

 shaded perfection the glorious glow of carpets from 

 Tavriz and Khorassan, Shemakha and Kurdistan, or 

 handle lumps of turquoise shot with the greeny-blue 

 effects of a William Morris. 



The saddlers are mostly Persians, too, and the 

 craftsmen ply their trade in the open doors, which 

 enables you to see Caucasian leather-work in every 

 stage of transition. Bits of horse jewellery hang on 

 pegs around the dirty little shops, stirrups which out- 

 stirrup any ever invented, and saddles, from the 

 prehistoric example to ornate specimens adorned with 

 bosses of silver and tooled red leather. 



Everywhere the wrought and inlaid silver-work of 

 the country attracts the roving eye. Every Caucasian 

 wears a kinjal at his waist, and the beautiful scabbard 

 in which the better-class native sheathes his weapon 

 displays the art of the metal manipulator at his best. 

 Often the dagger hangs from a belt of Orion-like 

 splendour, traced and deeply cut into designs of 

 extraordinary grace and freedom of line. 



We were inveigled into a tiny shop by the attractions 



