98 TRANSCAUCASIA. 



many of the kings of Georgia are buried. A castle on an 

 opposite lieight commands the pass. When the hills retire, 

 and the Kur bends southwards, Tiflis comes into sight for 

 the first time. A bare dull-coloured basin opened out 

 before us, at the end of which, about eight miles off, we 

 could see the buildings of the city, apparently crowded 

 into a narrow space beneath the steep ridges which bounded 

 the view. A more unlovely spot at first sight it is impos- 

 sible to imagine. The road was nearly finished, but, with 

 the usual Eussian habit of leaving difiiculties till the last, 

 several steep- sided gullies remained unbridged. Just 

 at the entrance to the town we passed a monument 

 which records the upset of a Czar, caused by one of these 

 perilous descents. Rain began to fall heavily as we drove 

 down the long wide German-looking boulevard. A sharp 

 turn to the left brought us up to the door of the Hotel 

 d'Europe, which stands in an open square at the back of 

 the opera-house, nearly in the centre of the town. 



We had always looked on Tiflis as our depot and base 

 of operations during the summer months, and we were 

 naturally anxious to ascertain what sort of quarters we 

 should meet with, as the hotels in Russian towns are not 

 always pleasant resting-places for those unaccustomed to 

 the ways of the country. We were therefore delighted to 

 find that our host and his wife were French, and that the 

 house was fitted up in European style. The bedrooms 

 were large and amply furnished, and the beds had good 

 spring mattrasses, instead of being (as usual in Russia) 

 mere sofas with hard leathern cushions, and a sheet 

 spread over them. Moreover, the master of the hotel was 

 also the head-cook, and many of our dinners would have 

 done credit to a restaurateur of the Palais Royal ; while 

 ' Madame,' besides constantly attending to our comforts, 

 was always ready to help us in our final struggle with 



