The New York Herald Newspaper, July 29, 1870, Page 11

r - THE CAUCASUS. From Turkey to West Asia and Scenes by the Way. How You Journey from Con- stantinople to Tiflis, Steaming in tho Euxine, or Pro- gress and the Past. SIGHTING THE CAUSASIAN RANGE. JFSASON’S TRIP. Three Thousand One Hundred and Thirty-three Years Ago. Russian Aristocracy, Amusoments, Reli- gion, Penance and the Army. From Russia and Turkey, and by mail from Eng- land, we have the following special correspond- ence from West Asia reporting the tour of a Heravo special writer in the Caucasus, It is un- necessary to particularize tho many and most useful points of interest embraced in the commu- nication, The letter isa complete triumph in the ‘way of newspaper correspondence enlightenment, and will consequently be read universally, coming 8 it does from the Europe spread.’” “fountainhead, whence Tivuis, Georgia, May 28, 1870. The last letter of your itinevating special was written from Constantinople. From Constantino- ple to Tiflis is a long stretch of a journey. It in- cludes voyaging by sea, by river, riding on horse- back and a long drive ina troick over 200 miles of ground. Though an interesting country and one not much known to Americans, itis one which imposes upon me a task of somo magnitude asIthink of the many things I have to write about, and I wonder as I am about to begin whether I shall be able to recite all I have seen; whether I shall be able to remember all the sub- jects that had or have relation to the sea, the Jand and the people I saw; whether I shall be able to do do justice to my theme. IN THE EUXINE. When I left Constantinople the good peoplo of Pera were inquiring of one another what time good weather, bright sun and early summer were fue on the Bosphorus; for they were much in doubt whether the wet days of spring and the chilly thin frost would ever cease. . But the very next morning, when the steamer which bore me Was out at sea, riding the pellucid waves of the Euxine, close inland, with the northern coast of Bithynia towering above its pebbly beach, if the people of Constantinople experienced the samo warmth and glow of that bright day which we ‘lid their surmises must have ‘been laid at rest. Early summer had dawned with that day, It is at all times pleasant and agreeable to contemplate, especially in view of verdurous heights, slopes and nooks, with white cottages gleaming through lemon and orange and mild greenuess of olive foliage. Just auch a picture as Ihave described the coast of Bithynia, laved by the plargent swf of the Black Sea, presented ; and as llooked and regarded the long, winding, cuviag frontage of the Bithynian Mountains, and cast my eyes alomg the white sea line to get views of snug little bends in the shore and the little villages, low and whitewashed, flat- roofed and minareted here and there, and read the everyday lifo of the present inhabitants, and mentally sketched the capabilities of the happy land before us, which was just as near to us and as dillicult to reach as the Paradise of the Chris- tian, I tried to think and bring out of the classical recesses of memory somaghing of its past history; something that should add reverence—the reverence of a student to my admiration of it. Woe . steamed past ruins of colonies planted by tho Milesii; of which you can only trace but a slight history, and that of not much importance, for the coast towns of Northern Bithynia were never very much celebrated. Close to the boundary line between Paphlagonia and Bithynia lived the Caucones, originally of Arcadia. Between the modern Ereglo and Oufe Kilmiole lived the Tyndaridac. In the modern Tilias river you recognize the Billaens of the ancients. A few hours after and we were gliding past the coast of Paphlagonia and came to Ineboli, where we landed a score of the natives and were both- ered for the time we stayed in port by the hope- ‘less confusion of a score of barbarous voices. Ineboli ia the ancient Tonopolis of the Iones. Leaving Ineboli we continued eastward, the same range of lofty mountains continuing on our right, which sometimes approached close to the sea and then reached a few miles inland. Sinope is the next stopping place of the Russian Steam Naviga- tion Company’s steamers. It is built near the site of tho ancient Simope, which is cele- brated in history as being the birth- Place of the cynic philosopher, Diogenes. ‘The modern Sinope has of late years been cele- ‘brated for being the scene of the descent of the Russian fleet against the Turkish, which was as * sudden and certain as death in its destruction of the Turkish ships and fort. Sinope has a good harbor, but is open to improvement. It has quite recovered the blow Russia gaye it and may bo said to be prospering. j BAMSOON, From Sinope to Samsoon is but a few hours’ distance by steamer. It lies at the base of and on the slopes of a hill, forming a wide arc. A por- tion of the town, or old Samsoon, is constructed on a square platform projecting from the hill behind it, and is surrounded by a wall, turreted and towered. The houses of the new town stretch, suburban-like, on either flank far up the hill and along the beach. Some very fine houses are seen, with perpendicular fronts, sirrounded by gardens and orchards. The great road to Lirvas and Dierbekir—brown and dusty—is seen shooting up the slopo and far over the jumble of hills beyond. To its right and left are lofty mountains. Through those to the right the Kayzil Irmak, the ancicat Halys, makes its way, Pouring into the Black Sea and muddying its waters for miles around its mouth. The Halys, a8 many of your readers will remember, is the Beene of Croesus’ defeat, who misinterpreted the oracles words:—“If Croesus passes over the Halys he shall destroy a great empire ;” which Proved to be no other than hig own, which, on his defeat, was reduced toa Persian province. Two small batteries of six guns each are all that pro- tect this important harbor, which is the entrepot for the rich grain fields of the interior of Avia Minor. Samsoon has not what may be exactly valled a harbor, it being nothing but an open bay probably two miles from end to end. The ships and steamers rido abreast of the town, The bay night easily be rendered safe and commodions, but Mt present it is very insecure, for on the approach ee Se eee NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1870.-TRIPLE SHEET. of a gale the steamers and ships slip their cables and proceed to sea, rather than risk the danger of being driven on shore. There is beautiful scenery in the vicinity, an abundance of woody recesses, glens, wildernesses of shrubs, and on the ridges of the mountains the trees stand out like the teeth of a fine comb. si KERASUNDE, ad The next port at which the Russian} the Aus- trian and French steamers stop is Kerasunde, the ancient Cerasus, from whence Lucullus imported his cherries to Rome. It lies on the slope of a solitary hill, which seems to have been shot for- ward apart from the wilderness of hills which sur- round it by some internal agency of the earth. Its slopes become green long before the other hills inthe neighborhood have assumed their spring verdure, and on these, as at Samsoon, the wealthy citizens have hedged their houses round with opulent groves of the olive, lemon and orange. Tho town has beon awakened into life by the fre- quent visits of the steamers plying along the coast and straggies outside its fortified wall along the gravel beach in many brown and white lines overlapping tho sides of the hill, fronting east and west. Deep frondiose gullies may be seen on the eastern and western flanks, through which the streams murmur their way to the sea. Fishing sloops are seen drawn upon the beach, witha myriad of small boats, There are remains of Genoese fortifications on a jutting knoll at the east- ern end, TREBIZOND, The next fort is Trebizond, which is seen on a clear day a3 soon as you pass Cape Voros, It is identified with the ancient Trapezus, in Porateas, built by a colony from Sudope. Its harbor went under the name of Daphnus, and was formed by a projecting rock, which had a large cave be- neath. On the summit of the rock stood tho Acropolis. The ruins of a castle, which are seen now, are evidently Genoese, Trapezus was famous under the emperors of the Eastern empires, of which it was for some time the magnificent capi- tal. There remains enough of the Trebizond of those days to give the casual traveller an idea of what its strength was. The old town looks strong and formidable even to-day. It is strongly situ- ated on a rocky platform covering an area of probably @ square half mile to the west of thd bay, with deop ravines, artificially widened, sepa- rating it on the east and west sides from the hills around. Its northorn side faces the sea, where it presents an upright frowning mass of rock topped by a castellated wall of great strength. On the south it must always have been weakest, where there was only the wall unaided by natural obsta- cles other than the unevenness peculiar to rocky ground. The bridges spanning the ravines on its eastern and western flank are gray and hoary with ago, and a glimpse from the top of any one of them will gratify the traveller in search of the romantic and picturesque. He will be able to see traces of the castle described by Procopius as having been built by Justinian, whose ditches were hewn out of tho solid rock, This is the place where Xenophon reached the sea with his 10,000 after the defeat and” death of Cyrus at Cunaxa. The pass frequented now by the caravans to Erzeroum must have been the one used by the Greeks. Some fine old frescoes of the twelfth century, portraits of Byzantine princes, mosaics, and @ monument to Solomon, King of Georgia, under a canopy of stone, are shown the stranger in the old Byzantine churches. Santa Sophia, 4 church now used as a mosque, a mile west of the city, is avery fine relic of tho early Christian architecture. Trebizond is the principal Turkish port of the Black Sea and would spring up into a most im- portant city did the Turkish government stir themselves into competing with the Russians. The facilities which Trebizond offers are great, a quick communication into the interior of the far East of Asia Minor with the important town of Tabreez, in Persia; with Teheran, Isaphan and Ee’em Bagdad. The harbor, now very insecure— so much so that during the stormy term vessels have to go to Platina, seven miles distant—might, at small expense compared with the remunerative commerce of the place, be rendered safe. Com- merce is very brisk with Persia here. The camel caravans constantly coming in are are @ sight to see to the stranger unaccustomed to them. The principal imports from Persia aro silk goods, raw silk, wool, goldthread, arms and gold and silver filigree work. The total value of business done in the port represents about $7,000,000. The popu- lation of Trebizond is about 50,000. England, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Italy and Hol- land are represented by Consuls. The United States have no representative here. The half dozen American travellers who have visited here within so many years have, however, been always hospitably received by the English Consul. But it seems that the growing trade and commerce of Trebizond has attracted the atten- tion of office-seekers in America, for our people at Constantinople tell an amusing story of how but a short time ago a gentleman from America came to Constantinople with an appointment of consulship at Trebizond—with fees. He was véry much astonished when the American Minister, Mr. Morris, told him that the city of Trebizond, though prosperous and likely in time to be great, was visited by American ships but once in twenty years, and that probubly if he stayed there for ten years his fees in the whole course of that time would not amount to ten dollars. As Mr. Morris is a most serious man and seldom jokes upon a subject relating to business, our new Consul at Trebizond— appointed, I believe, by special favor—instantly made his resolve and said he would be ‘““d——d,”” and that thrice over, before he would go to Trebizond, and, though he had been offi- cially recognized, he immediately returned to America without seeing Trebizond, taking his exequatur with him as a sou- venir of his short consulship. Gentlemen of America, prominent for the honors of a Consul with fees, hag better study their geography or the columns of the New Yor« Heranp before apply- ing for or receiving their appointments. BATOOM. Batoom is the next port after Trebizond, and the uttermost destination of the steamers running from Constantinople along the southern coast of the Black Seca. Passengers bound for the Cau- casus change here for Poti, to which they are taken by small light tags. Batoom is the ancient Battrys Portus, and is by far the best port on the southern coast. Unimportautas the harbor and town of Batoom appear now, with but halfa dozen fishing boats at anchor, it must become sooner or later the eceno of & most ganguinary strife be- tween the Russians and the Turks for its posses- sion. To know with what envious eyes tho Russians look upon it one need but ask the first Russian captain he will see. It was only by a slight mistake in spelling that Prince W oron- off, Governor of the Caucasus, some years ago, lost this coveted acquisition to Russia, while ne- gotiating respecting the boundary line between Caucasian Russia and Armenian Turkey. There are two riyera close to Batoom, ono to the east named Tchuruk, another to the west named Tcharoukh, pronounced Charuk. Between Churuk and Charuk there isnot much difference in pro- nunciation, yet this difference had better have been noticed carefully when the treaty was made, for by this slight error the Russians lost the good port of Batoom, which was in fact the object of the negotiation and an extent of country well worth contesting for. We may imagine the dis- may of Woronzoff when he percelyed what the error cost his country. Had the word on the treaty been worded Tcharoukh Batoom had been won by Bussia.. The reason that Batoom is so ardently desired by a Power already the greatest in “territory in the world is that from Sevastopol to the uttermost boundary Ie of the Caucasus there is not a single good harbor available to large steamers, ‘They are all, like their sister ports on the northern coast of Asia Minor, either too shallow to admit of large +hipping or too exposed to the frequent gales which visit the Buxine. Those on the west- ern shore of the Caucasus are particularly bad, and Poti is about the worst, and this isa time when a good portis essentially necessary to Rus- sia, while she is builging a railroad from Poti to the Caspian Sea, and preparing for the commerce certain to flow from Persia by the Caspian Sea to Bakou, and from Tabreez to Tiflis by land. Every parcel of goods has to be shipped in small steamers to Batoom, and the distance between Poti and Batoom {s but twenty-five miles, which might easily be connected py ra! SIGHTING THE CAUCASUS. The immense and grand range of the Caucasus is first seen from Batgom, resembling, with every portion of its vastness covered deepty with snow, an infinite boundary of snow heaped up from the earth to the sky. .The serrated tops are at this season softened out of their extreme ruggedness into a gentle outline, Batoom is but a small town of some three thousand inhabitants. There are Con- suls from England, Russia, Austria and France re- siding there. In looking at the stupendous moun- tains behind it, rising like an everlasting barrier between the interior and the seacoast, it would be difficult to imagine that a road existed which penetrated the heart of them. Yet it is a fact that a road does exist between Batoom and Kars, but it is dangerous, being a mere mule path, overhanging deep precipices, and winding in the most crooked manner through numerous passes until it reaches the lofty tableland of Armenia, A good road would benefit Batoom and the | interior, and the corn, barley, &c., of the peasants of the highlands might be exchanged for some necessaries of agriculture and a thousand other things which they stand fn much need of. The harbor of Batoom is formed by a project- ing slope of @ mountain, and the detritus washed down from the mountains by the rapid Tcharoukh, which has formed into a small cape of lowland. Asmart revenue cutter of the Turkish Govern- ment plies between here and Samsoon, keeping watch over smugglers, of whom it is said there are @ great many. LANDED. After shifting our berths from the comfortable Russian steamer into a tug we were conveyed to Poti in four hours, Poti has no harbor, The ships lie outside, three, four and five miles from the mouth of the Rion, which rolls its volume of muddy water a couple of miles below the strag- gling town of Poti, situated on the left bank of the river, But the little tug, scarcely drawing more than five feet, feels its way among tho white crests, caused by meeting of tide and flow, and dashes up the river, which is something like fifty yards wide, bounded by low, swampy banks, upon which grow an entanglement of rank weeds and shrub jungle, suggestive of fever and ague. Poti, since Batoom cannot bo had, is likely to grow to an important place. It is even now spreading it- self ambitiously, has half a dozen brick buildings, of large dimensions, a couple of pretty good hotels, and any number of wooden cabins, which aro similar in shingle, log and mode of building to our wooden cab- ins out West. The traveller needs to be sharp at these hotels, and order his bills before retiring to bed if he intends to travel next morning, as the landlord of the Hotel Colchide has an esurient palm and an avaricious pen when making bills. I narrowly escaped being victim- ized out of a considerable sum. Poti has a fort mounting a dozen guns, and has an old Gouriel fortification now in ruins, The lighthonge stands on the Mingrelia side of the river Rion, and the railroad commences from near that point. The Mingrelian side of the Rion is far more interesting than the Gouriel side, though Poti stands in Gou- riel. For many reasons Mingrelia pleased me as much as it pleases all traveilers. One was the beauty of the women, the extraordinary beauty or the children of both sexes, the noble forests of ash, mulberry and sycamore, and the number of game of the tamer kind which present themselves most innocently to the hunter, RAILROADS, The railroad to Bakou progresses very slowly, but it may be well attributed to the fashion that the Russian government has taken to build it. They have engaged alot of English engineers — some forty or fifty, | believe—to superintend the construction of the line at very good salaries per year, Men short of employment at home need not wonder that the engineers, regarding them- selves before the interest of their work, endeavor to extend the time and delay the work as much as possible, as a too energetic construction of the railroad would cause the work to be too soon finished, by which means they would injure them- selves. One cannot blame the engineers for thus regarding their interests, but the government is to blame that it tock this method of constructing an important railroad. Added to this reluctance of the English engineers to finish up quick, they have under them a body of workmen who regard their — multitudinous Setes and fasts with more than exemplary exactness, which reduces over 300 working days into 200 days, thus clogging the endeavors of a government trying to keep pace with the other railroad-building States. While I was in Min- grelia the nayvies of the country were keeping up an eight days’ fast with great religious zeal. THE PLACE OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE. The Rion is the ancient Phasiz, up which the argonauts glided to obtain the golden fleece, and Phasis runs through Colchis. Mingrelia, Imeritia and Gouriel compose ancient Colchis. There was a lovely goddess in Colchis named Ea in the far off golden age, and Phasis was in love with her. To rescue her from the pursuit of her lover the gods turned her into an island. I believe you may see thatisland still at the mouth of the river, where Phasis has continued to love her and offer his offerings at her feet, which I take to be a remarkable instance of steadfast love. Three thousand one hundred and thirty-three years ago, to be exact, Jason proceeded up the Phasis. He came from Argo with a band of noble Grecian adventurers in search of the golden fleece of a ram which bore away Phryxus and Helle as they were going to be sacrificed by the infuriate populace of Thebes. As the ram was flying through the air Helle became giddy just as they were about crossing the strait which sepa- rates Europe from Asia and fell headlong into it, by which the strait has become known as the Hel- lespont ever since. After the arrival of Phryxus at Colchis he, the last of Nephele’s children, fell a victim to the avarice of EHetes, the King of Colchis, who envied him the possession of the golden fleece. Pelias, King of Tolchos, unjustly seized that kingdom from Jason, and when Jason caime to demand it from him he imposed upon him as a condition that Jason should procure for him the golden fleece, which was in the possession of Eetes, the King of Colchis, On the Island 3f Ea, above mentioned, lived the Colchian King, with his daughter Medea, famous, as we know through history, in the knowledge of magic and herbs, of which there were plenty and those of a most poisonous kind in Colchis, JASON’S BAND. Apollodones is most exact in mentioning the names of the gallant band who accompanied Jason. Among the most celebrated of them were those whose names we are most acquainted with—Admetus, whose flocks Apollo once tended; Aisculaplus, the great physician; Argus, the builder of the good ship Argo which carried the adventurers; Atalanta, the fleet-footed daugh- ter of Shoenus; Hercules, Laocoon, Nestor, Pelens, father of Achilles, and Telamon, sire of Great Ajax, Theseus and thirty-five other princes. Those who have read Pindar and studied Strabo of course know the manner in which Jason per- formed his mission, and the after history of the brave adventurers more startling than romance, Then why should I recapitulate the story to people who already know it better than I do myself. Nevertheless, consider it how you may, I regarded the island of Ea—as I am pleased to call it until servants show me where it is—in the early morn- ing of that day the steamer glided up the Phasis with myselfon board, with something of the same reverence I bestowed upon Mennin and his mate as I quitted Thebes for Philac. THE IERALD'S MISSION. Three thousand one hundred and thirty-three years ago! And the Heraup correspondent, called Hadji for short in this country, saw strata of light mist and thick fog press heavily upon Ea, envelope the mouth of the Phasis and sink deep, deep among the branches of the Mingrelian forest as he left Poti for Orperi. Though the morn- ing was chilly I should have forgotten it but for that mist—that floating sea of dense fog— for Twas busy with memories of college life, and imagined myself, as I cast my eyes vacantly upon La and Colchis forest and golden surface of the Phasis, to be reciting my classical task to my reverend teacher. Under the flower leaf there often lurks aut asp; the honey of Pontus is polson; so under the green ‘leaves, thick as clouds of foli- age, with the spring coloring and their population of warblers, there are green-surfaced congeries of reedy marshes, exhaling the most sickly miasma, productive of tenacious ague, which will cling to you despite the virtue of ever so much quin-quina, The road also is like a lane of very thin mud, with deep puddle holes in the middle of it, aud in the slime live a thousand thousand froga, who seemed to swear at mo as if their existence depended upon it, and whose harsh, monotonous notes came up to my cars with the force of a tempest. We got at the end of the railroad after a jour- ney of cight miles, And these eight miles only of railway completed has been the work of nearly two years! The engineers told me that the em- bankment was finished all the way to Tiflis, and that the railroad would be acroas the Rion at Kn- tais before September -next. As I looked upon the sluggish movements of the natives, and the all-the-same-to-me air of my English cousins, my mind, bent upon secking comparisons, traversed the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Atlan- tic Ocean, besides a good part of the American Continent, to that trained and disciplined army of workmen under Casement, working like one mind, with one hand, with one will upon the Pacific Railroad. Spade and pick, hammer and axe timed to the sonorous grind of the locomotive which ever rolled westward. Eight miles in two- years in Mingrelia! four and a half miles a day in America ! TO ORPERI. The steamer continued on her way to Orperi, I looked about with fresh eyes for the picturesque, for the novel, for all that was new. But there is not much to write about the low banks of the Rion, the deep woods on either side, and a damp, foggy day. Ihave seen the Saline river in Arkan- sas; the state of the weather, the straight, slim, young trees on the banks of the Rion, their juicy green foliage, the possibilities of an attack of ague hanging in the perspective, whichever way I torned my eyes about, reminded me of that river. I heard a chant, a song, or a hymn which was both lively and monotone at one and the same time, increasing with wonderful harmony to the highest pitch of crescendo, then suddenly subsid- ing to the minimum of diminnendo. It was like the song of the Swiss Alps at one time, at another it was like the seguidilla of the Andalusian. The vocal music came from the boatmen of the Rion who were floating down on a barge laden with dry ach logs to Poti, ultimately destined for Europe, where they would be converted into boys’ tops, shoemakers’ lasts and wheel spokes, WHO YOU TRAVEL WITH, On board the narrow Rion steamer, among the concourse of humanity, there were many chances of observing a number of new people. The hand- some Mingrelian youth, the gazelle-eyed and well formed boy of Imeritia, the countrymen of the warrior-prophet Schamyl, the Lesglirans, moun- taineers from the far Eastern country of Doghes- tan, the Eunuch of the Skopti sect, the Russian serf, struggling to assert an independent individu- ality among the-crowd of haughty Georgians and Circassians; the sweet-faced women of Gouriel, and aristocratic officers from St. Petersburg, bound to their posts in the Caucasus; Cossacks, Tartars and Armenians, besides Persians. Even in Constantinople, or in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, not more varied physiognomies, char- acteristics and costumes were ever seen agssem- bled within so small a compass. It was hetero- genity made heterogeneous. Oat of the bun- dred ‘passengers I am sure I distinguished fifty nationalities. The costumes on board were a medley of all colors; as the tabard of a herald. The movement of the fifty different head-dresses ike a tuft of vari-colored feathers blown into tion by a strong wind. It was a riot of colors and a chitos of shapes. There were more costumes on board than there ever were within the wardrobes of Niblo’s or a Jew’s shop in Whitechapel. fartars’ woolly There was the Te cap, like a Hindostanee soup pot inverted, rim- less, bulging out in the middle; there was the Armenian priest's, like an American army coffee pot, minus its han ind lid; there was the Cos- sack’s hairy head-dress,black as the ace of spades, rising upon the soldier’s head like a Turkish watchtower above the mountaios; there was the Persian, tall as the length of a stove pipe, and black and smooth as when it is blackleaded and polished; there was the Dayhestan hat, rivalling the Persian in height, but much more terrible to look at, just as much #s the broad beamed man- of-war, with tiers of gun nozzles peeniig out from her sides, is more awful than the elegant slim fruiter of New York or Boston; there was the C an hat, like the legging tower of \: bet black and smooth as velvet, because it was of lamb’s fleece; there was the towering hat of Mingrelia, which was an at- terapt at an improvement Ge the Georgian, to relieve it of its sombre hue by making the crown of red cloth. There were many other hats there; | hats of all sorts, except the hat of Fortunatus, which no one could claim so near as I, for by good fortune alone was I on board to witness these novelties. I will not attempt to describe the cos- tumes, for they were more diverse than the hats— from the close fitting Frank pantaloon to the flow- ing pants of Persia and Turkey. But these people of the Caucasus are as fond of play of colors as our black-skinned sisters down South, and with their handsome, noble faces peeping above their cunniog embroidery and rich clothes no one can object to their tastes. Every man on board, how- m in his choice of arms, for to nan's waist, belted with a rich zone of gold ', Was slung the long pointed dagger of the Caucasus. These are the daggers which strangers buy in the bazaars of Stamboul, where they pay heavy prices for them; but’ if they but knew whence they really came, and how cheap they are in the Caucasus, they might, hes ud their journey to the “sublime land ad a imihd to stock an armory. In ail my travels in Russia | have been accomy panied by a large company of o diers. They were on board this steamer also, for they are a part of the inevitable in Russia. But they are far more polished than our officers out West—far better behaved. I would judge them to be more philosophical also. Do not misunder- standme. If you truckle to the whims and ca- prices of an American officer in the far V he represents himself to you as a civilized being, with much more” philosophy in his conversation concerning all sorts and conditions of men other than the military sort, than a Rus- sian officer is capable of. But even of himself the Russian can talk and boast, as well as of his class—the military class. Check him once or twice by a home question, and, instead of getting angry, he is more polité than ever. His object is to convince by kindness, potitesse, much flat tery of your own nation, until swear nant with him that the Russians are the bravest and most military people on earth. But the American officer in the little fortiets out West would d—n you for an ignoramusif you doubted his assertion ‘that the American soldiers are the you are ready to best at the bayonet of all other nations, The HeRaLD correspondent on his travels is merely attempting to delineate the different man- ners and customs and characteristics of the people be meots with, and how can he do so without making comparisons between them and people so well known to Herp readers as the Americans? Well, we had a large company of officers on board, and they conversed in French with me respecting the merits of their soldiers. And, would you believe it? those officers declared their soldiers were superior with the bayo- net to the English, and had shown that ever so many times before the _ trenches of Sebastopol! And can any reader*tell how many nations in this world claim that same supe- riority.as peculiarly their own? The Southern soldiers captured at Shiloh claimed in our teeth that one “Secesh’ wax equal to four Yankees” with the bayonet. But we think the “Yaukecs’ Proved themselves quite as capable of handling the bayonet as their “Secesh" brothers at Gettys- burg. "The French bonst before Waterloo was that their soldiers were the champions of the bay- onet, but on the fatal summit of Mount St, Jean alas for French renown with the bayonet! The Swiss have claimed the same superiority; the Eyanlants even have claimed it; the Turks do claim it, and I know by personal observation of the Spaniards at the siege of Valencia and the the Turks in Crete that the forte of both nations {s behind trees, rocks and mattresses, Old Ameri- cans remember the time the English claimed it? But at Bunker Hill what happened? Old Ameri- cans can tell. But the Russians have not yet arrived at that hilosophic stage that the HERALD correspondent as, 80 as to be able to assert deliberately that with the bayonet no nation has the pre-eminence; that snecess by the bayonet is entirely governed by circumstances, RUSSIAN OFFICERS IN DIALOGUB. But the Russian officers are gentlemen, as [ told you before, and instead of taking me for an jgno- ramus, politely listened, smiled, set the Herato man down for a close reasoner; but were not con- vinced, neverthelesa, The Russian officers almost all speak French. the very highest of them speak English and German. You kuow that on board of a steamer, unless you have something to do, or somebody to talk ‘to, time hangs heavy on one’s hands, to all except a travelling correspondent. The best thing the officers thought they could do was to try and pump the American. They asked me what I thought of the capabilities of the Rus- sians to speak foreign languag Ireplied that Thad been struck by the number of people in Russia who knew French, English and German, *Butdo you not think,” said they, “that the Russians, owing to the dificult languages they speak, are more capable of learning foreign lau- guages than any other,’ . “Qh no, uot a bit of it. The reason why more Russians speak foreign languages is obvious to me. They have no cause as yet to boast of their advancement in literature, like the Germans, the French, the English, or the Americans. You have had poets, such as Derjavin, Dunitreiff and Pushkin; you have had powerful essayists, such as No <off and Karamsin, and historians like Lomonassof, Karamsin, Solovief, and you have had several comedians and actors of no mean merit. But, pardon me, th writers have not written everything that is necessary for a culti- vated man to know; hence, when you witness “Faust you begin to study German in order to know more of that great author of it. You have no such poet as Shakspeare, as he is produced but once in 500 years, hence you study English to know him; so also you must study French to know Voltaire, Racine, Corneille, Rousseau and Victor Hugo, just as we study Greek to know Homer in his native language, as we study Latin to know Virgil and Horace. “Are the Americans great lingnists !’’ “Those whose business it is to be linguists are great in that way. We have a Dr. Bliss, mission- Sie at Beyrout, and a Dr. Thompson, a Dr. Lansing, missionaries, who understood the Arabi guage as well as I know English or you Ri There are individual cases of eminent Amori studying foreign languages for the mere pleasure derived from it; for instance, Mr. Morris, the American Minister at Constantinople, who can speak twelve languages.” RELIGIOUS PRACTICES. By the time we had finished our animated dis- cussions about such great subjects our steamer arrived at Orperi, her destination, and the furthest, pose up the Rion to which the steamers ascend. Had I known something of Russian custome in the Caucasus I certainly should have left Orperi within an hour after it arrival for Kutais by diligence, for there is a diligence communication between the two towns. But as 1 was entirely ignorant of how certain things were managed at Orperi, I was left behind houscless and friendless in a most aguish place, and to assist your imagination let me tell you that it is the Siberia of the Caucasus for those who emasculate themselves. Hither all the military Skoptsi are banished, not to hard la- bor, but to furm a colony by themselves, separate and apart from other people. These white eunuchs have the same peculiarities as their dark- faced species at Constantinople and Cairo; they are extremely tall, slim, thin-voiced, and are beardless. But between the causes which made these white men of Orperi, and the harem agas eunichs, there is a vast difference. The white men operate of their own free will, while the harem eunuchs have the operation performed on them by their captors. When Lasked a Russian gentleman (not effete) what idea was it that induced these men to inflict such a punishment upon their persons, he replied ina cool, methodical manner, as if he had dis- cussed the question many times before and had arrived at a satisfactory understanding of it. He said it was a most philosophical idea; that the reli- fies of the eunuchs was most logical, and I, aft hearing his reasons, came to be of the same opin- ion, and believe it just as rational as alay Jesuit of the Asturias, who once told me that the bread and wine partaken of at the communion table after being consecrated by the priest became the in- ‘carnate body and real blood of Christ. % The origin of this sect sprang from the samo causes which induced Luther and the myriad of sects after him to differ from the Catholics of the Roman Church. Th under of it, Danila, inter- preted a Scriptural verse literally, and according to this verse few men dare dispute their claim to having acted with true religious faith. Christ, in his Sermon on the Mount, said that whosoever looked upon a woman with'an adulterous eye had sitenay, committed adultery in his heart, aid en- joined on men if any members of their bodies offended to pluck the said sinful members out, for it was better that one member should perish rather than the whole body should be in danger of hellfire. The Skoptsi have understood these verses literally and have acted upon them to the abscision even of those members which propa- gate the human species, The pes Nicon, in the time of Alexius lovitch, took it upon himself to correct the hat had crept in through carelessness of copy into the holy books, and to have them reprinted and distributed to the masses, The missals and prayer books used in the Greck Church we in his opinion, open to improve- ment, as well as the pictures of saints and holy images, which were, in fact, but senseless dauba, manufactured in the early days of the empire. This attempt of Nicon created a good deal of con- fusion ‘among the most ignorant and funatical, who imagined him about to subvert the writings of holy men whom they had been taught to con- sider as immaculate heretofore, and he began to be regarded by those as an anti-Christ. Those who refused to acquiesce ia the innovations in- troduced by Nicon formed themselves into a sect which came to be known as Staro-briatsi, or men of conservative ideas, and by the orthodox people they were called Rascolniki, or seceders, The Staro-briats! stood by the’ old forms, the old migsals and images, and preferred taybelieve in their holy books as their forefathers had done be- fore them. Out of this new sect sprang a vai of sects, two of which were particularly disti guished for the literal construction they placed upon Scripture. These men were the Skoptsi, and the Bijellya Golubi, or “White Pigeons.’ ‘The former cut out their generating members; the latter cut off and ate the breasts of young’ vir- gins and drank the blood that dripped from the flesh, believing that in this manner they followed more closely the words of the text, “Take eat, for this is My body.” Whenever a young virgin ia found they hailher as Virgin Mary, try to induce her to believe that she will reach heaven quicker by untary sacrificing herself for the operation. This is all done in the zealous belief that this communion is more efficacious than by eating bread and drinking wine, which, as they believe, cannot by any amount of consecration be trans- formed into actual flesh and blood. This latter sect is found principally in Siberia and northern European Russi Latterly the Skoptsi sect was rapidly gaining proselytes, until Nicholas the Emperor puta stop to their zeal by transporting them as soon as the wore found to the inhospitable region of Orperl, and the swamps of Mingrelia. The present Em- peror is still more earnest in punishing these un- fortunate fanatics. At Orperi a story is told of how a spy was tempted Ly a large reward to dis- cover their secret meetings, and inform upo: those who still practised emasculation. He begge to be admitted into their sect, which was granted, and a night was appointed when the last and final ceremony—which was the deprivation of his seminal glands—should be pertormed. In the meantime the spy informed the authorities where and when the trie would take place, and a detachment of soldiers was to progeed to the place, and at a given signal they were to rush in, and seize those within, The night came, the majority of thé Skoptsi were assembled in @ house which was @ short distance from Orperi, prayers were read. after which a long, narrow table was brou, nt into the chapel from an ante-chamber, and the Sha - ia spy was requested to strip and place th mabe in presence of the congregation. aoe he had lain down he was firmly bound to table, and the operator, dressed like a priest full robes, took up his instruments and prepare 4 to consummate that which would admit the ee into the brotherhood of the Sk moment the spy gave the prec and the soldiers’ on the watch ont the door, But the outer door had been locked and barricaded, as the broth rod bad become ace quainted with the spy's intentions, and before the soldiers could break it, de shrieks of the haples formed, and he wa to their custoins tl have one child. ‘This is the furthest limit whieh they allow themselves, after which they are bo father at mother, rendered incapable of geuerating their kind, LOOKIGN FOR | It was no pleasant thing tary friends seated in the di left behind, knowing but hal Russian, It was sutlicient to ague to look at the dun clouds above, to feel the drizzle and damp, aud hear the chant of counte less bullfrogs and their countless progeny, to se@ the slimmy mud andwet wooden cotages arounds My knowledge of Turkish was of use tome here, as it was in the Crimea, for there are a number of ‘Tartars in Orperi and there exists buta slight dife ference between Tartar and Turkis: Yes, ther was @ hotel at Orperi. This consoled me tor th want of frieads. Had the conductor of the dili-t gence been my friend, or had [met him but twat or three days before and given him a cigar or Leas money, he would have reserved a seat for me, but hea! Thad not that houor or privelege. Had 1 but telegraphed from Poti to the vas conducts or—for vain Pmuet assume he was, otherwise why did he set such by his acquaintance with Russian military officers who ha an aristocratic look and high rank—{ should hav had a seat. Or, had the conductor done his dat Ishould have had a seat; for the passengers wh travel first class by the steamers on the Rion are entitled to the choice of seats in the diligence. Bui there was a hotel at Orperi, So much the better, Otherwise, the black ooze which | so much eon temned had been my bed that night. A whi eunuch carried my baggage to the hotel. Th hotel! God forbid that | should class those blesses institutions, which have so many times and fo years been my home, with that begwarly cabin a Orperi. There were four rooms iu the cabin one without a bed, but had a creaking bedstead, which was given to me for the sum of sevent: tive cents, silver. It was cold. as at Odessa in latter part of February; but the tireplace was out of order, therefore L could have no tire. Wit! the virtuous resolution to be «3 great I moral courage as I was on my first arri val in Abyssinia, I laid myself on the creakin bedstead, though {it was but five o’cloc in the afternoon, and am proud to say I slept until five o’clock next morning. the Heravp readers who may, perchance, be in. duced to visit the Caucasus by reading of ther things about which I write in so equable a fram of mind, let them beware, if a oan, of the hor, rors of Orperi. Orperi is the Eden where Tapley and Martin Chuzalewit developed thet true characters, For the sum of $4 45 L secured private carriage to take me to Kutais. By Wl act of extravagance I have secured many ad- mirera, for it was the ouly private carriage Orperi. » soe my ruilf snd inysel zen words of e any one tha store ‘en minutes after leaving the station of that Skoptsl exiles the sun gradually appeared, striking the earth with fierce wi th, scattering the du: clouds and drizzling m nd chill’ of winter wil his glorious brightness, and tinting each tree ane leaf and shrub and flower with the hues of spring. I was glad of this, otherwive I should have beeat skeptical as to whether the sun ever shone above; Orperi. TO KUTAIS, } T was driving through Imeritia, on this 4 jours ney from Orperi to Kutais. Imeritia is much mor pleasant to live in than Mingrelia, and in the mat er of beauty of the women both provinces ar much the same, though perhaps Mingrelia woul claim and obtain the palm. But the people o Imeritia and Mingrelia have lately intermarried, ever since the possession of the country by th Russians. It fathe male sex only in Imeritia that is pre-eminent in beggty above all the nations ot the Caucasus. If Barffm skill kept his musen: he might do a good thing by coming to this pro: vince and hire half a dozen boys and half a dozei men to obtain the prize of beauty. If French o} ficera did but have the legs of the Imeritians what lady-killers they would be, to be sures! or if the Italian dandies but had th elegance of waists, which they are al 80 much pains acquire, which thes the gallant Seventh New York but had the beaut what a flaid girls on Pitth’ hs are like, but they are poor peasants have, or if some of the officers oF and stature of the Imeritian peasay ter among the galaxies of gent avenue for ever afterwards! The girls dressed in the bloomer costume not effeminate by any means. On the contrary, they are as large-boned as the youths of “Oids Kentuck.” They are good-looking ; ney, comely as if they were all brothers of Narcissus, TOPOGRAPHY. Tho aspect of the country is pecn spring, and must be at all seasons ox The shrubs and plants, rhododendroms as tall as} the height of a man, agd brier bushe spring up spontaneously; The ground level up to Kutais, and is of the hich the Caucasus p: The Rion flows) through the centre of the which is about, twenty miles broad a Orperi Kutais, The Caucasus is it wardly, and its many and gullies, vered with snow, st out in Running easterly, lel with the Cau; casus, is another range, bat much lower and more soft in its outlines, well covered with timber aud all manner of herbs and plants, for even to thi day Colchis, as in the days of old, is famous fort oisonous and medicinal herbs. Ln the neighbor- hood of Kutais the aspect of the valley changes it becomes an undulating country, above cre knoll shouldering knoll, pretty littie hollows bes tween, picturesque looking spots all around, piece of an old castle crowning one spur, a ruine convent on top of another spnr, and a bit o: interesting ruin scattered everywhere. The river Rion cleaves its way between and atuong these hills, and as it leaves ite bill world belind dashe: grandly to the broad, level valley 2 infinite’ clamor, churning itself into the whiteness snow as it sweeps over its stony bed. Ls, Before entering Kutais { had to pa} using the road which the government liad be: xo much pains to make. S¢ gatherers, Half a mile beyond town of Kutais is seen, situated on both sides o| the river. My first view of itembraced a broken down bridge, a church in process of constructi two other churches glorious in green paint at: swelling domes, a multitude of and trees. the latter so numerous that they lide more tha one-half the town from a “LUPE! IN THE MOUS At Kutais I first began the the Caucasus, I found my: There were hotels, one of whic with any in Paria for the e. Lleuce of its euisine ‘This was the Hotel de France, kept by a French: man, fronting the great square of the city, Fo Kutals, you must Know, {s intensely civilized. is like some New England town, with a high ide: of its own perfection. Not but what the sai town may be perfect in all the requirement civilization, but still no one likes t see a small town ape the manners and style of Kutnis claims to be the Lyons of th 3, not in manufactar but in weal 43, position, influence iff_is, of course, ¢ Paris of the Caucasus. Every after: noon, when the coolness of the day has Wreied ent of life i pod soctlety, ‘ht compet s every dame and gentle girl In the town begin her promenade, for all the world an exact imita- tion of the mode which prevails on Saturday after noon in the neighborhood of Central Park. The begins, and lasts until mightfall, the meretriciou: byplay of full feathered coquettes. Fora youn d man like myself, with neither wife nor family within 8,000°miles, the best way of passing th time is to contemplate all this wide sitting calml, in the iron chair of the Grand square. Each tima these nymphs, married or unmuarri: passed ue I noticed that! was a queer one to them. Tho style of my clothes was not of Kutais by any means, ead roasted face needed a little of that lomentui which they used to make their da! faces fairer, and which, I fear much, the military dandies use By putting my face in poultice for a month think I could have rendered it of the same deathly color as of my friends—the dandies who ogled mi #o pertiuaciously. I possess some photoguaphe ol the fine women of Kutais, [ inspect them now while I write to revive my memories of them, It is impossible to describe them faithfully, notwith+ standing that I feel a little inspiration, To, American bachelors, who boast of their trip# round the world, I would say, “Ye have missed w sight which all the universal knowledge ye have athered will not suffice as a recompense for tho 048 ye have suffered |" THE GOVERNOR, « Thad a letter of introduction to the Governor,’ Count Levaschoff, from General lpnatied, at! Coustantinople. The Count was a pura Russian, his lady, the Countess, was a born queen. The Count was a Robert de Paris, the Countess erfect Brenhilda, ‘the Count and Countess hel utais by a smile. At the smile all Kutaig smiled. If the Count and Countess frowned, taew Kautais put on mourning. oN sokree and a poucert wea given the seouad he struggles and *