THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



251 



Tiflis, one of the proudest avenues in 

 the world, is owned by Armenians and 

 brightened by the presence of the Geor- 

 gians, the handsomest young people one 

 can find in Asia. 



Georgia's declaration oe independence 



On October 14, 1917, I attended the 

 investiture of the Georgian Katholikos at 

 Mtzkhet, the first in one hundred years. 

 This was the first step this militant peo- 

 ple, who had chafed under the burden of 

 Tsardom, made toward independence. 

 The affair at Mtzkhet marked their re- 

 ligious autonomy and freedom from the 

 Russian Church. On May 26, 1918, after 

 the Turks took the Batum and Kars dis- 

 tricts, thus leaving only historic Georgia 

 to the Transcaucasian Republic, the 

 Georgian Diet declared their independ- 

 ence, thus virtually ending the Trans- 

 caucasian Republic, in which Tatars had 

 had four representatives to Georgia's 

 three. 



Whether Georgia can hold out against 

 the Turks and Germans remains to be 

 seen, but of one thing w T e may be sure, 

 Georgia will never tamely submit to op- 

 pression. She flirted with Germany's 

 Pan-Turanian schemes and as late as 

 June 19, 1918, was forced to send dele- 

 gates to Constantinople to confer with the 

 Central Powers ; but Georgia has never 

 relished the idea of subservience and she 

 may hold out till relief can reach her. 



Every train entering Mtzkhet on Octo- 

 ber 14, 1917, was packed to the doors. 

 Crowds of young men from Tiflis rode 

 on the roofs in order to see the colorful 

 drama of the rebirth of a proud nation. 

 It was not until the procession between 

 the tiny station and the stately church 

 was formed that order appeared in the 

 kaleidoscopic scene. 



A PICTURESQUE PROCESSION 



At the head of the line was a hand- 

 some Georgian, bearing aloft a blue silk 

 banner inscribed in silver with Georgian 

 characters and surmounted by a silver 

 disc which bore the picture of some great 

 saint. He was dressed in soft black 

 boots, a dark-brown tcherkeska, with its 

 narrow waist and flowing skirts and 

 cartridge cases across the breast, and 

 wore the small Georgian skull cap ; but as 



necessary as his dress were the sword and 

 dagger and, strange anachronism, an au- 

 tomatic pistol in a brand-new russet case 

 at his hip. Death-dealing weapons are 

 still articles of ordinary dress in Georgia. 



The color-bearer was flanked by two 

 swordsmen in wine-colored plush doub- 

 lets edged in soft fur, scarlet trousers, 

 soft wmite-leather boots with gold tassels, 

 and anklets of soft white leather with* 

 narrow stripes of red leather trimming. 



Behind them came thirty or more male 

 singers, gaily dressed and followed by a 

 band of young women wearing Mar- 

 guerite braids which reached below the 

 knees. Over their close-fitting bodices of 

 figured silk in soft tints of gray and blue 

 they wore flowing velvet cloaks of deli- 

 cate blue edged in fur. Their skirts, of 

 queenly length, were paneled in the same 

 soft tinted material as composed their 

 bodices and their soft boots were hidden 

 except for the shapely toes. 



Then came a huge motor-car, crawling 

 along with all the dignity due its chief 

 occupant, the Katholikos-to-be. Form- 

 ing a daisy chain about this ecclesiastical 

 chariot were forty or more young Geor- 

 gian girls, their smooth cheeks flushed 

 beyond their usual fine color by the ex- 

 citement. Most were dressed in simple 

 white, against which their raven hair and 

 rosy cheeks showed lively contrast, but a 

 few wore tailored suits and small hats in 

 the latest European style. 



OBSERVERS OF THREE HOEY DAYS EACH 

 WEEK 



Behind these lovely ladies came gaunt 

 Khevsurs, wearing chain coats of mail 

 and chain helmets. Their straight swords 

 were double-edged and each carried a 

 small shield decorated with applique fig- 

 ures. Their small, wiry horses sniffed 

 restively at the fumes of the motor-cars, 

 resenting more than did their ruddy- 

 haired masters this anachronism of eight 

 centuries gap. 



The Khevsurs wear the cross on their 

 clothing and are the champion religion- 

 ists of the world, for they observe the 

 Christian Sabbath, the Jewish Saturday, 

 and the Mohammedan Friday, and their 

 religion is a strange mixture of all three 

 beliefs with paganism. An early French 

 traveler started the story that they were 



