THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



249 



the Kazan Tatars and Bulgari, the ruined 

 city where fifteen centuries ago the Bul- 

 garians had their seat. 



Of all the varied peoples who inhabit 

 that rabbit warren of humanity, the Cau- 

 casus, the Georgians are most interesting. 

 With the Armenians, they form an im- 

 portant outpost against Turanian dan- 

 gers. The great mountains that sheltered 

 Shamyl and many another patriot have 

 shut off the various tribes and races in 

 secluded valleys, where they have re- 

 tained their peculiar customs. Thus the 

 mountains of Daghestan have kept that 

 recluse among nations "an island in a sea 

 of history." 



But Georgia has been more or less for- 

 tunate, for the same pass that is now 

 used by the wonderful Georgian Military 

 Road, with its matchless views, has been 

 the pathway for innumerable historic 

 movements, and the valley which is now 

 followed by the railway from Batum to 

 Baku has been the caravan route of 

 countless traders. 



WHERE GEORGIA WAS BORN 



A few miles south of the snow ridge 

 of the Caucasus, there is a wretched little 

 village whose fame should be world-wide. 

 Mtzkhet has claims to antiquity that make 

 New England towns appear as embryos, 

 for its citizens assert that it was founded 

 by one of Noah's sons, who strolled over 

 from Mount Ararat one day after the 

 waters had subsided and chose this site 

 because of its excellent drainage. 



Beneath its terraced homes two rivers 

 unite : the clear, cold Aragwa, hastening 

 from its birthplace in the eternal snows 

 of the Caucasus to the hot depression of 

 the Caspian, and the Kura, sullied and 

 dirty, swinging in from the west to make 

 its way down the Tiflis depression and 

 across the barren Transcaucasian steppe, 

 between the mountains of Daghestan and 

 the highlands of Armenia. 



Damascus has a verdant freshness 

 about it that is as deceptive as grease 

 paint, but Mtzkhet stands out from green 

 fields and pastures new like a weathered, 

 sharp-bowed fishing smack in an emerald 

 sea. 



On a rock cliff opposite this quiet city 

 with the cat-fight name the kings of Geor- 

 gia erected their first castle, but it was in 



Mtzkhet itself that Georgia was born. 

 The Georgians admit their descent from 

 the Accadians and Sumerians, but there 

 is nothing in their appearance or person- 

 ality to indicate their descent from any- 

 thing. They seem to have ascended from 

 the plane of other men. 



Militant of appearance, handsome of 

 countenance, chivalrous, and unfamiliar 

 with hard toil, these lovers of wine, 

 women, and song are as princely in bear- 

 ing as the unwashed Bedouin before his 

 desert tent. Part of them are mountain- 

 eers — the most picturesque brigands that 

 ever carried an arsenal at their belts. 

 The rest are agricultural people, whose 

 contact with the soil does not prevent 

 them from holding their chests up like 

 soldiers in uniform. 



The Georgian women conquered the 

 Turkish rulers by the palace route, but 

 the Georgian men are handsomer than 

 their wives, and in Georgia the male 

 wears the fine plumage. But he treats 

 his wife and daughters well and never 

 allows them to act as servants. 



There is so much strength in the Geor- 

 gian face that the women lose their great- 

 est charm by the time they mature. The 

 classic nose is too noble to be pretty, the 

 straight, large mouth shows determina- 

 tion rather than a Cupid's bow, and the 

 fine eyes soon dominate a face that is 

 manly in its beauty. In the Tiflis Red 

 Cross cafes one may see scores of Geor- 

 gian women with short, curled hair who 

 could pose as Belvedere Apollos, but 

 never a Venus. 



St. Nina established a Christian church 

 in Mtzkhet about 347 A. D., which was 

 for many years a center for Christian 

 culture. The Georgians assert that they 

 were Christians before the Armenians, 

 and vice versa ; yet the princely but 

 spendthrift Georgians and the oppressed 

 but wealthy Armenians have been so 

 much mixed throughout their history that 

 there are today persons who call them- 

 selves Georgians and who speak Geor- 

 gian, but who attend the Armenian 

 church, while Armenians speaking Ar- 

 menian are often found in Georgian 

 churches. 



The Georgians are good hosts and the 

 Armenians are shrewd business men. 

 That is why the Golovinski Prospekt in 



