214 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



At the bridge too we were joined by 

 another party of wayfarers, bound Hke our- 

 selves for Djuaria — of which town every day 

 brought us some fresh news. Above all 

 thmgs it was the great wine market of the 

 counti'y side, and nowhere was such wine 

 made as there. Altogether it was a town to 

 be thankful for. 



Our new companions were two fine-looking 

 men and a little girl of about nine, who was 

 going from her native valley of the Ingour to 

 pay her first visit to civilisation at the home 

 of her aunt, near Kutais, and the poor little 

 maid would have to do the whole distance on 

 foot. But she was quite equal to the position, 

 and with the exception that her father carried 

 her over one or two of the worst places, and 

 over the dizziest of the rickety log bridges 

 which we came upon en route, the child did 

 the journey as well as any of us. 



The road had now become a much better 



