466 



TRANSCAUCASIA. 



and that of the Kur forms no exception to the general rule. 

 The road, or rather track (for made road there is none), 

 is ■wonderfully bad, when one remembers that it is the only 

 communication between the capital and summer residence 

 of the Governor of the Caucasus. It climbs up and down 

 steep hills in the most reckless manner, and if there is one 

 thing more than another its constructors appear to have 

 aimed at, it is the production of steep pitches with sharp 



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Grand-Ducal Villa at Borjom. 



corners at their feet. After waiting two hours for horses 

 at the roadside shed which serves as the halfway station, 

 we were given over to the mercies of a bumpkin, who 

 had apparently never driven anything but a cart, and who 

 was with the greatest difficulty persuaded to put on the 

 drag in going downhill, even after one of his horses had 

 fallen. 



