JEW HOESEDEALEES. 75 



the Jew of the diamond studs, was sent out 

 of the hotel a trifle faster than he entered it. 



Once more the business of finding a 

 horseboy and making a contract had to be 

 undergone, but with a somewhat better result , 

 for about midday (the fellow having agreed to 

 find four horses and a guide who could speak 

 Kussian by 9 a.m.) a Jew, speaking only 

 Georgian, with three (not four) of the 

 sorriest steeds since Rosmante, arrived at our 

 hotel. But we had had enouo-h of baro^aininof 

 with Jew horsedealers, so we said nothing-, 

 but packing ourselves and saddle-bags on 

 the miserable screws, turned our backs on 

 Kutais. 



It was a day of insufferable heat, the sun 

 beating down on the low hills round the town 

 in a way that made my head ache in spite of 

 the green leaves inside my helmet and the 

 white towel bound round the outside. The 

 only things with life in them that looked 



