222 TIFLIS. 



at the next moment going at the rate of sixty 

 miles an hour in chaff and abuse of some grey- 

 beard in collision with whom their owner has 

 come. Sometimes even I have seen the gamin go 

 the length of brickbats, but even this elicits but 

 little remark and no punishment. Some of the 

 Armenian youngsters were carrying on trade on 

 their own account, one child of twelve having a 

 shop of his own, and appearing no mean rival of 

 the older men around him. But these Armenians 

 begin life early and develop rapidly, passing from 

 babyhood to manhood at a bound. Their women 

 marry at twelve I am told, and I have frequently 

 seen Armenian girls who looked old enough for 

 anything at that age. 



In one store kept by a Persian, I was im- 

 mensely amused by the owner's admiration for the 

 beard of a German friend who was with me. It 

 was too droll to see the solemn red-bearded mer- 

 chant in his high conical hut of black felt tenderly 

 stroking the astonished German's beard between 

 the palms of his hands. However, I believe my 

 friend's beard produced such an impression, that 

 the carpets shown us were of the best, arid the 

 prices asked not too exorbitant. 



Throughout the bazaar the streets are so ex- 

 tremely narrow that you could in many places 

 spring from one house to another across the street. 

 Everywhere the mud is more than ankle deep. At 



