RUSSIAN SUPPER. 
246 
Rtischeff, who received me with the greatest cordiality, and said that for 
the present we should defer the discussion of business. Shortly after, 
his tent was filled with the Generals and principal officers of his camp, 
to whom I was introduced in succession. They were all decorated with 
stars, crosses, and ribands, and amongst them was a Georgian of 
distinction, a relation of the brave Prince Bagration, who was him¬ 
self also styled Prince. I found that this title was given to any 
Georgian who claimed parentage with the old families i and that it 
frequently fell to men, as the French would say, qui ne payoient pas 
d' apparence. 
Supper being announced, we walked from the General’s tent into a 
very long one that was affixed to it, in which was spread a long table; 
here, with the exception of the cloth, plates, knives and forks, glasses 
and wine, nothing was placed in the way of eating, except a brass 
tureen of soup, which, as far as it would go, the General helped with his 
own hands to all around. The table was occupied by a very numerous 
company of officers, who sat most tenaciously, according to their respec¬ 
tive ranks, from a General with a blaze of orders, to a Lieutenant of 
Cossaks, or even to a Georgian Prince. However extraordinary this 
mixture may appear to us, yet I could not help being struck with it, 
particularly when the old General, with a countenance beaming with 
goodness, exclaimed aloud to me, so as to be heard by every one, “ Well, 
‘‘ you see this company and this camp ; such as we are we possess one 
‘‘ God, one Sovereign, and one heart.” 
After the soup a succession of substantial dishes were carried round, 
which were frequently interrupted in their progress by toasts from the 
General, some being dictated by his politeness to his new guest, and 
all having a tendency to produce good harmony. 
The next morning I was awoke by the sounds of military music 
playing lively airs; and on looking abroad, instead of mules and camels, 
I saw carts and carriages ; long beards and sheep-skins were supplanted 
by laced coats and nodding plumes, and I felt a sort of renovation at the 
presence of men and things so much European ; for now almost all 
traces of Asiatic manners and people had disappeared, and it required 
