Photo from George Kennan 



THRKe ge:orgian be:i.i.i:s 



For centuries the women of Georgia have had a reputation for beauty equaled only by 

 that of the Circassians. It may be that the standard of beauty is not high in the near East, 

 for these three Georgians, even in their national costume, can hardly be described as ravishing. 



THP, HANDICAP OF A NtW LANGUAGi: 



i:ve:ry 15 miive:s 



The geography of the country, with its 

 barbarous Turkish and Tatar names, was 

 wholly unknown to me. The Russian 

 language, upon which I had chiefly relied, 

 proved to be almost useless in a region 



where the language changed every 10 or 

 15 miles. The bridle paths in southern 

 Daghestan were represented to me as 

 high "cornice" trails, difficult and dan- 

 gerous at any time and absolutely im- 

 passable in bad weather ; and the people 

 of the remote mountain valleys were said 



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