INIINERAL-PRODUCIXG PROVINCE. 91 



casian tongues for Jew, appears constantly in 

 Caucasian names of places, &c., as, for ex- 

 ample, 'Gooriel.' 



Personally I can vouch for only one of his 

 statements. The inhabitants of the Caucasus 

 are wonderfully Jewish in type, and never 

 more so than when they are beautiful. A 

 beauty of Mingrelia with her raven hair, 

 rather hard black eyes, and aquiline features 

 is as purely Jewish as anj^thing can be in 

 appearance. If they are of Jewish origin, 

 their long sojourn in wild, uncivilised moun- 

 tain regions has certainly brought out many 

 of the finer traits of the race, which seem to 

 have been lost by the dwellers in towns. 



The province of Radcha is, we were told, 

 peculiarly rich in minerals, and efforts are, I 

 believe, being made to attract foreign capitalists 

 to open up mines there. Along our route from 

 Oni, which we left late the following evening, 

 beds of magnificent slate cropped up by the 



