SHOULAVAR. 
157 
every direction, for the purposes of irrigation. Having travelled 
fifteen wersts more, we left the fort and post of Koulagar to our 
right, and forded the Alget. The waters of this river were at 
that time no higher than our horses’ bellies : but at the seasons 
of thaw and rain, like other streams in this part of the world, 
they swell to a torrent. Two miles farther, we crossed the 
Gramm or Ktzia river, to which the Tabate is tributary ; and, 
near their junction, is the bridge mentioned by Chardin. The 
waters of the Ktzia were at this time rather shallow, though 
their rapidity reminded us of their descent from sources too 
capable of filling such channels to overflow. 
We reached Shoulavar, our long looked-for quarters, just as 
night drew round us. The hour, and the situation of the post, 
where all was in perfect silence, gave a peculiar solemnity to its 
aspect. It lay in the dark gorge of a range of mountains, run¬ 
ning due east, amongst whose deep defiles we were to pursue 
our journey in the morning. On entering this gorge, we found 
ourselves in that part of Georgia, which is called the province of 
Somhetie. An old stone fortress, black with time, and the 
shadows of the night, stood in frowning solitude, on a height near 
the mouth of the defile, and in a position to have commanded the 
pass in earlier ages. At its base, is the station of the Russian 
guard, which consists of a few Cossacks, and a small detachment 
of infantry. The ruins of some ancient religious structure, 
added, something more, to the dark solemnity of the scene. 
At eight in the morning, we ascended the mountains, which 
day-light had discovered to be sufficiently rugged, though not of 
the most formidable altitude. The road, up which we toiled for 
an hour, was scarcely so wide as an ordinary foot-path, and very 
rough all the way to the top. We then descended the opposite 
