A ' PAKACLODNAIA.' 109 



Our ice-axes, however, of wliicli we had brought out only 

 the heads and spikes from England, had, under Francois' 

 supervision, been mounted by a French workman, and 

 were now ready for use. The weather was not brilliant, 

 we were annoyed at the non-arrival of our luggage, and 

 the appearance of the trap provided for us by the post- 

 master of the Transcaucasian capital was admirably 

 adapted to render still more surly the ' winter of our 

 discontent.' 



A ' paraclodnaia ' (so great a name does the country 

 cart bear in the Caucasus ; in Russia proper it is oftenor 

 called a 'telega ') is the ordinary conveyance of the Rus- 

 sian posts, and the only one to be obtained at any but 

 the largest towns ; even at so considerable a jAace as 

 Erivan, nothing else was procurable. This hateful vehicle 

 is so bad as to be almost beyond description. The body 

 of the cart is sometimes flat-bottomed, like a punt — some- 

 times rounded, like a tub boat ; the boards of which it is 

 composed are ordinarily rotten, and nails stick out wher- 

 ever they have a chance of injuring the clothes or flesh 

 of the occupant. The driver sits on a plank in front, while 

 the travellers, if they have any experience, carefully draw 

 and tighten a piece of rope, through holes left for the 

 purpose, until a sort of cat's-cradle is contrived at the 

 back of the cart, on which they spread their rugs and 

 seat themselves. None but a nativpi could bear to lie on 

 a quantity of hay at the bottom, and allow himself to be 

 jolted like a pea in a rattle. The body of the cart rests 

 on two blocks of wood, which are in their turn directly 

 supported, without any intervening springs, by four 

 wheels of the rudest construction. There are, however, 

 degrees of badness even in the framework of a 'para- 

 clodnaia ' ; if the framework and the road are ordinarily 

 bad, the jolting is painful ; if either is ver}- bad, it is 



