TIFLIS. 195 



As I sat on my balcony at six o'clock in the 

 morning, with my glass of tea and that leathery 

 ring of bread they call a ' bublik,' which forms 

 the regular breakfast of a Russian, the only things 

 stirring in the streets below were the ' dworniks ' 

 (watchmen), and a few lumbering peasants' carts 

 coming into the bazaar. I was thankful, when 

 the day grew older and the streets more lively, 

 to leave my room and go in search of some- 

 thing more like an English breakfast, before begin- 

 ning the business of the day ; and though I had 

 some difficulty in getting the waiter to supply me 

 with anything more solid than aerated bread at 

 such an early hour, I did eventually succeed in a 

 capital hotel (the name of which I am sorry to have 

 forgotten), which I thenceforth made my home. 



My first business was, of course, to find out our 

 English consul a duty which, if travelling Eng- 

 lishmen always observed, would conduce materially 

 to their comfort. It is besides a piece of courtesy 

 which ought not to be neglected. To a Londoner, 

 who does not know the way to any place, the first 

 thing that suggests itself is to hail a cabman, whom 

 he looks upon as an unfailing pilot. Acting on this 

 belief in the unerring topographical knowledge of 

 the race of Jehus, I hailed a droshky, and having 

 carefully explained to the driver where I wanted 

 to go, sank back in the cab, giving myself up in 

 perfect trust to the guidance of my pilot, and 



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