100 TRANSCAUCASIA. 



owner will not deign to interrupt the enjoyment of his 

 pipe until you take the first step by enquiring the price of 

 some article. No such notions of etiquette restrain the 

 hungry-faced Georgian or Armenian artificers. After our 

 first visit to the Silver Eow, our appearance was hailed by 

 a crowd of eager merchants, and we were exhorted, and 

 beckoned to on all sides, by rivals for our custom. The 

 shop-fronts are about the size of a small cupboard, and in 

 dark recesses behind, the workmen may be seen hammer- 

 ing out objects similar to those which the master offers 

 you for sale. These are of a varied and attractive charac- 

 ter : there are silver-belts — some for men, consisting of 

 handsome links of solid silver — others for women, of lighter 

 and more delicate workmanship. A common conceit is to 

 hang from them a model of a Caucasian dagger, the size 

 of a penknife, neatly cased in its sheath. The Georgian 

 family drmking-cups are both quai]it and handsome : 

 some consist of a cocoanut, mounted in silver-work, and 

 furnished with a long straight sj)out ; others have a bowl 

 entirely of silver, and a cin-iously-twisted mouthpiece, with 

 three funnels, which must, one would fancy, be very awk- 

 ward to drink out of. They are used chiefly as loving- 

 cups at the family picnic parties, to which the Georgians 

 are much addicted. The big ladles and bowls, hammered 

 out into quaint designs of bnds, beasts, and flowers, are 

 also exceedingly handsome. The stalls belonging to one 

 trade are mostly in the same row ; close to the silversmiths, 

 the armourers and furriers display their respective wares. 

 Here we saw tiger-skins from Lenkoran, on the Caspian, 

 hung side by side with lamb-skins from Bokhara, and 

 bear-skins from the neighbouring mountains ; and had 

 offered for our inspection a choice of every size and quality 

 of dagger and sword, and every variety of flint and steel 

 pistol and gim. One of the traders boasted a medal 



