PUEITY OF XATIVE WIXE. 71 



have been unsafe for less privileged persons 

 to court. 



There is one thing; at least to be said in 

 extenuation of the Caucasian's love of his 

 native wine, whicli is that it is so pure as to 

 do little or no damage to the drinker, and is 

 not only not a producer of gout in its devo- 

 tees, but is credited with great healing powers 

 over those afflicted with this disease. I at 

 least can safely say I never met with a gouty 

 man in the Caucasus except such as had 

 come from Russia to cure themselves with 

 ' a hair of the doi? that bit them.' 



