SUABIAN COLONIES IN THE CAUCASUS. 277 



and the darkness in which the earth is still veiled in 

 those Southern regions even shortly before sunrise. 



We passed the night in the Suabian colony of 

 Annenfeld. which lies or rather lay at the foot of a 

 steep declivity leading to the Kedabeg mine near the 

 Kur. in a very fertile but not salubrious region, for 

 the colonists afterwards abandoned the place, and 

 built for themselves a new village about five hundred 

 feet higher up the slope of the mountain. There exists 

 in the Caucasus a certain number of such Suabian 

 colonies. I believe six or seven, Tiflis also beino; one 



" o 



of them. They owe their origin to some rigid Luther- 

 ans from Suabia , who quitted their fatherland in 

 divers groups in the first decennium of our century, 

 and were desirous of migrating through Austria and 

 Russia to the promised land, where according to the 

 belief of their leaders earthly and heavenly joys awaited 

 them. The Russian government of the time however 

 set great store by the immigration of good German 

 husbandmen into the Caucasus, it therefore stopped 

 the columns, and induced them to send a delegation 

 under escort to Jerusalem, to make previous inquiry 

 whether land really suitable for them was to be had 

 there. When after a rather long interval the delega- 

 tion returned, it could only advise to discontinue the 

 march to the promised land , and as the Russian 

 government granted the people large and fine tracts 

 of land gratuitously, the Suabians settled there, and 

 always remained the true Suabians they were at the 

 time of the emigration. It comes upon a traveller as 



