KUTAIS. 481 



Vladikafkaz. Many of tlie officers, wlio had come from 

 country posts to meet him, were still in the place, and there 

 were, besides, an unusual number of travellers awaiting the 

 departure of the next steamer from Poti. Amongst them 

 were two gentlemen, who had, like ourselves, been engaged 

 in exploring the Caucasus — Mons. Favre, the son of the 

 well-known Genevese geologist, and Mons. Desrolles, an 

 entomologist, whom the natives had facetiously nicknamed 

 the * Father of Flies.' The extent of their excursions in the 

 mountains had been to cross the Mamisson Pass and ride 

 up to Uruspieh. We also met an English gentleman and 

 his wife, who had made their way across the Caucasian 

 isthmus from Petrovsk, on the Caspian. The journey from 

 that place to Vladikafkaz, occupying three days, had to be 

 performed in ' telegas,' and is one which few ladies would 

 care to undertake. 



September 6th. — We discovered during 'the day two new 

 attractions in Kutais — its photograph shop, and its jet. 

 We purchased a considerable number of ' cartes-de-visite ' 

 of the peasantry of the surrounding districts, executed with 

 an eye to the picturesque in the grouping and accessories, 

 which did great credit to the enterprising artist. The jet, 

 which is somewhat softer in substance and more brittle, 

 but otherwise similar to that sold in England, is hawked 

 about the streets in long chaplets, and may be bought for 

 very low prices ; we were assured that all the beads are 

 hand-cut. Its native name is ' gicher,' which, in Armenian 

 phrase, also means ' night.' 



Before leaving Kutais, we had the pleasure of making the 

 acquaintance of Mons. Khatissian, an Armenian gentle- 

 man who has spent much time in exploring the neighbour- 

 hood of Kazbek, and lived for some weeks encamped at the 

 foot of the Devdorak glacier, engaged in scientific re- 

 searches, of which he means to publish the results, accom- 



II 



