A FERTILE \T:LLAGE. 173 



instance, that from earliest infancy no chil- 

 dren born in it are ever allowed to go barefoot, 

 and they are more strict than the rest of the 

 world in other matters of etiquette, such as 

 their resolute refusal to incur disgrace by 

 riding a bare-backed horse. As producers 

 the Etseri people beat all their rivals, and 

 really manage to manufacture a very good 

 kind of cloth, not unlike flannel, some toler- 

 able felt, excellent soap (from grease and 

 wood ashes), abominable bees'- wax candles, 

 and worse vodka. 



Etseri is a place of considerable antiquity 

 too, having been for many hundred years the 

 place of burial for the reigning princes of the 

 province. Amongst other relics we were 

 shown a tiny toy telescope, with plam glass 

 lens, and an engraved brass cup, said to be 

 two hundred years old, found in a leaden 

 coffin, containing also a quantity of silken 

 women's garments, which had been accident 



