' We, who by Thy protection and by Thy powerful aid are seated on two royal thrones, O Thou I who art the protectress of our royal line, of our sceptre, of our purple, and crown. "We,' Bagrat, crowned by the will of God, the issue of Jesse, David, Solomon, and Bagrat; by the will and help of God, acknowledged Lord, Sovereign, and Ruler of the Abhases, of the Karthlosides, of the Raniens, of the Kakhetians, of the Armenians, of the Khagkhanshahs, of the kings of Shirvan, of the East and of the West, King of Kings, &c, &c.'
During their occupation of the citadel in 1691, the Turks destroyed the cathedral, and carried olT its marble columns to Samtzkhe; three inscriptions in Georgian remain, one, on an arch in the shape of an li over the great east window, being as follows: by Google
'By the help of God, Bi^rat, by the (mercy) of God, king of the Abhases and of the Karthlosides, constructed this holy... (for) his (mother) the Queen Gourandoukht.'
On the sill of the window at the north-east corner are two inscriptions, which have been thus rendered: —
'O King, who rulest over all kings, exalt still more the mighty Bagrat, Couropolate, king of the Abhases and of the Karthlosides; also his father, his mother, the queen (his wife), and his son. Amen.'
' When the foundation was laid, it was the 223rd year of the Pascal era ' (1003 A.D,). The date is in Arabic characters.
Dubois makes mention of an inscription he saw on the south wall, which has since disappeared; it was in these words: —
' The architect of this church will also rise at the resurrection. God have mercy on Malsa.' '
A half figure with the bearded face turned upwards and the anns uplifted, high up on the south wall, is the only sculpture in relief; and within the porch at the north wall, a fresco over the entrance shows a form with the nimbus, having on its body an aureola that encircles a head, also with the nimbus.
Bagrat, his son George I., and several of their successors were interred in this cathedral, yet there are no traces whatever of the royal sepulchres. Recent burials have taken place within its walls, but they who are desirous of reposing amid the illustrious dead, must be prepared to bequeath liberally for the benefit of the clergy.
The small church to the east of the cathedral was built by the Georgians in the fourteenth century; having been converted by the Turks into a mosque in 1671, it has since been used as a powder-
' Ehibois, i. p. 417. Brosset, Drse. Givg. p. 373. VOL. 11, D
by Google magazine, over which wc found a Russian sentinel who forbade our approach.
At the foot of the citadel height is La Fcrme, a botanic garden, where are some fine cork-trees, stupendous magnolias and laurels. Recrossing the river we went to the bazaars, loi^ streets of arcades, in which the stall and shop-keepers are mostly Armenians and Jews, who appeared to have little enough business on hand. Koutals is dwindling into insignificance, for its trade has been seriously injured by the construction of the Poti-Tiflis railroad at a distance of five miles from the town, it is said through an abuse of power in the interests of a few landowners.
The speciality in the bazaars are prettily-finished omaments in jet; the koula is found in great variety, and there are many sorts of native cloth, a coarse material impervious to wet Prices are high, also, at Koutals, where the stranger again experiences the abominable practice of being asked considerably more than the tradesman is prepared to take for his goods.
The dress of the women in Imeritia is similar to that of the Geoigians, whom they certainly surpass in good looks, and, if report be true, also in wantonness. However bright the eyes of the fair Georgians, it is those of the Imeritians that enslave, and
Thai need not an empire to persuade.
The men wear a tchckmett, the long-skirted coat of the Circassians, strapped in at the waist with a fancy belt, and the k'ltaayr, ' cartridge tubes,' on each breast; the hat is the koudy, and the universal weapon, the kynjAl. The working-classes are seen in lai^e loose jackets or spacious sack coats fastened at the neck only, and trousers tied in below the knee, the suit being made of native cloth, dark brown or grey; they have kaJabany,
by Google