Wednesday 13 May 1840
1 40/60 to 4 5/60 K- Kodi to Mutchanesh (27)
4 3/4 to 6 27/60 M- Mutchanesh to Saiatchesi (22)
7 to 9 10/60 S- Saiatchesi to Astaphrinskii (21)
95
Very fine morning Reaumur 12 1/2 at 6 1/2 - breakfast at 7 35/60 - to 8 1/4 with pother of letters again &c. had to write in Russian the name of each English person on each letter - not off till 9 35/60
Never tire of the picture of Tiflis, tho' there is not a tree to be seen except at and in the gardens about the town, all nearly in full leaf - stop at the Cossack barrack just out of the town, and take an escort of 4 well appointed soldiers like Cossacks - low sand rocky banks of rapid Kour, classic, interesting river - now at 10 1/2 drag down little steep pitch and a few old remains of towers opposite side (left bank of) river and a little brick church
Very fine day - sun and pleasant air - At 12 stopped a moment for our drivers to take a draught at a wine shop by the way side, at 6 versts from the station
Snow mountains in sight 2 hours from Tiflis - 3 or 4 villages - Kodi (the river distant - a little lake near) - a large village of Sacles looking like tertres (hillocks) of sand crowned with a little coarse dirty (hamper like) round basket (chimney) - 4 round towers - fine valley perfectly treeless - chiefly pasture - the low shrubs a sort of Elm or hazel? with small leaves - the station a neat good large white washed one story government house - the villages with generally at least one ruined square or round tower, are only distinguishable even at a short distance by the little enclosures or orchards - it is only a few gentries houses that are one story of brick or stone (sun-baked mud - bricks made with chopped straw) and have an open room above with pillars (wood posts) all round supporting an ealing roof - it is these Lord Royston speaks of
From here (Kodi) mountains little distance left rising in 3 sharp uneven crested stages the uppermost part covered with snow - at 2 1/2 cross the Alghi stream 10 versts from Kodi and 17 from Mutchanesh, and road right (35 versts from Tiflis) to Erivan
At 2 3/4 large village - trees and numerous little irrigation streams - several villages from here - good corn, - much cattle - horses and a few good but not large mules - Mutchanesh the man wanted an abasse more till he saw my marche-route signed by the head of the post office good little station house on high indurated sand-bank over the fine fertile lower valley of the picturesque (good) river Chram - the back of the station house about 100 yards from the steep precipice over the vale of the Chram deep below the valley along which we had come, and very picturesque
All rich green pasture, and scattered villages or groups of trees and orchards enclosing villages of course - beautiful greeny lizard - sand martins in the sand rock of the precipice, and a black swallow-like bird among them and a beautiful bird with light blue belly and orange back orange wings bordered with black, - called according to Georges pronunciation (he inquired) pitchōōres - pheasants eye (pæonia) a common weed all along today
At 5 25/60 descend steepish little pitch down upon the Chram and cross it over picturesque good, old 4 pointed arch, white washed, brick bridge built said George by a demoiselle of this country (the famous queen Thamar did he mean?) and here said be the boundary of the pays (Kingdom of Georgia) - 4 pointed arches over the water and one small pointed dry arch on the left bank - River 30 or 40 yards wide at the bridge? and rapid - remain on each bank of part of one arch of another bridge a little beyond the present bridge
The green fertile mulberry wooded valley of the Chram very picturesque - a round wattled enclosure (mud sache - house of the guardian of the bridge?) at near the end of the bridge left bank of river - 12 versts from here to the next station - at 6 wood on the hills from top downwards right, and wood along the Chram left bank - river about 200 yards from us left
Siatchesi at 6 27/60 good little white washed mud-plastered station house as before - the Chram very picturesque and streamy - a line of mist in the distance (left) front of the house along the foot of high mountains beyond the wood along the Chram, is it the Kour? the Chram winding below the house about 100 yards off and little Tatar village on its bank very picturesque
Went into 2 of the saches (souterrain huts - sunk about 4 feet in the ground or up to the square of the roof i.e. the heavy beams that support the hillock covered roof generally rest upon the natural surface of the ground)
5 women - their chemises open so as to shew their flabby pendent breasts and great part of the stomach - curiously examined our clothes - admired Ann's green silk wadded bonnet lined with pink - much cattle small and generally reddish or dun and great many sheep of the fat tailed kind mostly black or light brown, and some quite black goats
Beautiful day and beautiful sunset now at 6 55/60 - off from this picturesque station at 7 at 7 1/2 stopt to fix our charcoal bag on the step on Ann's side (off side) - the jolting on the caravan behind so great, the sack had been caught by the wheel and torn, and the charcoal was strewing the road - righting this took us 20 minutes that we did not reach Astaphrinskii for the night till 9 10/60
The murmur of the river - the resting caravan of 30 or 40 camels carrying hospital medical stores for government to Baku, the dim light the charming evening, - a delightful tranquil scene - I stood some minutes with the camels a few browzing - some chewing their cud, some sleeping faces flat on the ground doglike, and their hind legs curiously bent under them in the oriental sitting fashion
Tea at 10 40/60 went out again for all &c. &c. till 12 1/4 at which hour Reaumur 16 3/4 in our room lay down at 12 3/4
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