108 TRANSCAUCASIA. 



which it was useless to make enquii-ies at the post. Moiis. 

 Barthelemi kindly came to our aid, and offered, to intro- 

 duce us to the Governor of Tiflis, who received us most 

 cordially, and promised that all necessary documents 

 should be prepared forthwith. In due time, we received 

 special passports for leaving and re-entering Eussia, a 

 ' crown-podorojno,' good for all Trans-Caucasia, and an 

 order for a Cossack escort wherever it might be needful. 



On Monday morning I sent Paul to the post, to order 

 horses for the next day, and to ask some questions about 

 the different kinds of carriages and their cost. He 

 returned with a message, that we might perhaps have 

 horses in two days, and no answer to my enquiries about 

 carriages. I immediately drove to the post; the post- 

 master was for once at home, but was excessively off- 

 hand in his manner, and tried to walk away while I was 

 talking to him, a mana3uvre only prevented by my placing 

 myself between him and the door. Fortunately, I had 

 occasion to see the Governor that evening, and I took the 

 opportunity of calling his attention to the way in which a 

 crown-order was treated by minor officials. My remon- 

 strance at head-quarters had its effect, and no further 

 difficulty was made in providing us with horses ; but as to 

 a carriage, our Eussian acquaintances agreed in advising 

 us to reconcile ourselves to the carts of the country, and 

 their reason afterwards appeared in the fact, that the 

 road, halfway to Erivan, was for the present impassable 

 for spring-vehicles, and that we should, therefore, accord- 

 ing to the rules of the post, have paid for our carriage 

 without having the use of it. Meantime day after day 

 had passed, and still oui- luggage did not arrive from 

 Kutais. We were consequently obliged to make up our 

 minds to start without our tent or our mountaineering 

 boots, which we had hoped to make use of on Ararat. 



