142 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



Lachamul, but there is no coal in Svanetia. 

 You will be told probably at Tiflis and Kutais 

 that valuable jewels are to be picked up, set 

 in the roug-h rino-s of the Svans of Ushkiil, 

 Lachamul, and other remote villages ; but 

 though Frank and I urged Platon to bring to 

 us all people possessed of jewellery of any de- 

 scription, we never saw anything more like a 

 a precious stone than a few beautiful rock 

 crystals, which the owners did not care to 

 part with, believing them to be diamonds of 

 immense value. 



Really so far as I could ascertain the only 

 exports of Svanetia are the grand horns of 

 the tur, which are made into drinking cups at 

 Kutais, and a large number of marten skins, 

 taken for the most part in the forest of Lekera 

 during the winter. 



