458 EETURX TO TIFLIS. 



rule and exactions of petty princes, and still the scene of 

 constantly-recurring robberies and murders. The evidence 

 of our Ming-relian servant, vphose prejudices were certainly 

 not Russian, was conclusive on this point. The picture 

 he drew of his native district, Sugdidi, on the Lower Ingur, 

 during the Crimean War, when Russian rule was relaxed, 

 was indeed deplorable. Robberies, as often as not 

 accompanied by murder, were of daily occurrence ; the 

 culprit in most cases escaped, shielded by the influence 

 of the petty chieftain whose vassal or serf he was. 

 A man with a reputation as a successful murderer was 

 too useful ever to feel the lack of princely favour. The 

 peasant-farmer, with the knowledge that another would 

 reap the fruits of his toil, and that a large portion of 

 his crops would go to swell the contents of the nearest 

 chieftain's barn, had no inducement to agricultural 

 improvement. 



This state of things is now at an end. Offences against 

 life and property are promptly punished, and though 

 small disputes still come before the native princes, an 

 appeal is possible to Russian oflScials. The ukase for 

 the emancipation of the serfs, the operation of which wa.s 

 specially delayed in Mingrelia, is just taking effect. In 

 return for these advantages, the inhabitants pay a house- 

 tax varying, in the mountain districts, from five to ten 

 roubles (fifteen to thirty shillings) per annum. This does 

 not seem regarded as a grievance, bat we heard complaints 

 of the increased price of imported goods, owing to the high 

 tariff maintained by the protective policy of the Moscow 

 merchants. Georgia enjoys a special immunity from the 

 conscription, founded on the terms on which it was handed 

 over to the Czar by the last of its native princes, and the 

 Caucasians are, as a rule, exempted from compulsory 

 service. 



