THE BOTANICAL GARDEN. 105 



head are the rahied towers of the old Georgian castle ; be- 

 low, a stream, scanty in summer, has worn a deep ravine, 

 the bare hillside on the further bank of which lends a charm, 

 by contrast, to the fresh vegetation and shade of the 

 garden. There are several shallow caves in the rocks 

 which support the castle ruins, where the townspeople used 

 frequently to resort for family picnics, a kind of entertain- 

 ment beginning with a light meal and frequent passage of 

 the loving-cup, and carried on by story-telling, music, and 

 dancing, until late in the evening.'^" The return home was 

 a service of some danger, since the road is exceedingly 

 steep, and the drivers were apt to refresh themselves at a 

 wine-shoj) near the gates of the garden. Upsets and acci- 

 dents used to be of frequent occurrence, and perhaps this, 

 in conjunction with the making of the new gardens near 

 the Grand Ducal palace, has served to render this pleasant 

 retreat no longer fashionable. A zigzag ]3ath leads up to 

 the ridge, on the outmost crags of which the castle stands. 

 A wall runs along the top, and when the door in it was un- 

 locked, a grand general view of the city burst upon us. 

 Directly below were the straight streets and gaily-coloured 

 houses of the Russian quarter, the bright roofs of which 

 formed a pleasant contrast to the cool grey of unbaked 

 bricks in the Persian town. In the distance we looked 

 straight up the valley of the Kur, to the wooded hills be- 

 hind Mscheti, and (had it been clear) to the snows of the 

 great chain. Whenever this is free from clouds the double 

 head of Kazbek is a conspicuous object from Tiflis. It is 

 seen, together with several lower snow-peaks on its left, 

 from the boulevard, and from many of the houses in the 

 town. General Chodzko pointed out the watercourses, 

 made partially for irrigation, but also to check the floods, to 



* The Czar has a very pretty watercolour drawing of ouo of tliesc parties in 

 his study at Livadia, the Empress's Crimean villa. 



