After the first cravings were appeased, a touloumbash^ or master of the ceremonies was elected by a majority of very noisy voices, the choice falling on the Priestav, who soon proved his fitness and full appreciation of the office. He immediately proposed the health •of the Chief, and after every glass was filled, cried out — Gimrtma galsyskkloss, da ghytsysk' hloss, da outsysk'kless! * words repeated by the rest; and the glasses being replenished, the Chief replied in Russian, Za vdshe sdar6vj^ye, ' To your health! ' in another -bumper all round. My own health was next proposed, which I acknowledged also in Russian, the correct return salutation, however, being Madto bety gaHlovarr! 'I thank you!' although in Letchgoumm and generally in Imeritia, the Tatar words, AllfA
' From louloumm, ' wine skin,' and baih, ' head,' or chief in charge of it. ' A Geoi^an saluiaiion which signifies, ' God be with you, with Ihose yon lore, "id 'with those by whom you are beloved.'
t, Google verdy,^ ' God be bountiful to thee,' and the reply, Yakshee yol, 'A
good road to you,' are more frequently employed at toasts.
Tenghyz informed us that his wine was the best Mingrelian, and as the louloumbash proposed the health of each guest, and each guest proposed the health of the host and of his neighbour, and the host and each guest returned thanks, and a full glass was tossed off each time by all present, full justice was done to it; but I here feel bound to explain, that as strangers to the wine of Mtngrelia,
the Chief and I were allowed to use our own discretion, and when we retired we lefl the company at their songs and tobacco.
' There U a mon«-.tery in Ihe province of Kakhely named Ateverdy, in remembrance of Ihe salutation of a St. Gregory to the prince and people of that ancient kingdoro, after having convrrrted ihem lo Chrislianity.
t, Google
THE CRIMEA AND TRANSCAUCASIA.,
CHAPTER XXXV.
FIFTY-SEVENTH TO FIFTY-NINTH DAY.
The home of Tenghyi— Of his ancestors — Heirlooms — His household—The Princest— Vowed murder — An Apollo and a Diana— A difficult case settled — Stonny wettber— Departure for Faiy— The Decanos— Murder is rife— Native pastimes— Song of — The priest's meal- Baishy again.
The new house of Prince Tenghyz stands within a few yards of the stronghold of his ancestors, now neglected and in decay. We went over the old place, and found gigantic corn and flour bins of oak and walnut wood quaintly carved, in a large chamber on the ground-floor; there was a primitive flour-mill worked by water, and over the fireplace in the middle of the guest chamber on an upper floor, a massive copper bell-mouthed funnel ornamented with curious figures; these were the only remnants of bygone days. A strange heirloom, the sight of which astonished us, was a 6 cwL four-flued anchor, kept suspended in the lofty kitchen. When and how so unwieldy a relic was transported over the mountains is a mystery, but it is a glorious trophy, so Tenghyz had heard his grandfather say, and is believed to have belonged to a Turkish kdtcherma captured off the Abhase coast, long, long ago.
In the house we were shown two heirlooms of greater interest and intrinsic value, one being a large Georgian drinking bowl of silver, with an inscription which records that it was the gift of by Google t, Google
TENGHYZ DADYSHKVLVANY.
by Google
A PRIJfCESS OF ABHASE. 91
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Thfe Prince has no fixed staff of servants; he increases or decreases their number at will, boarding them in return for their services, personal attendants only and cooks receiving presents occasionally. The Prince is a most good-natured man, and every inch an aristocrat in his way; he is never so happy as when, stretched on the grass, he rolls up cigarette after cigarette, smoking for hours, surrounded by the mountaineers who gather around him and do not presume to sit in his presence.
In the course of the forenoon we were received by his wife, a Princess of Abhase, who had been a beauty in her youth, and though still in the prime of life looked prematurely aged as compared to Tenghyz, then in his thirty-eighth year. Her large eyes, surmounted by arched and full eyebrows, retained all their bril-
' VohmTcki III. i65S-£o, Dadian of Mingrelia, fled into Swannety, where he met wUh his death.
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* 1 un iodebted to the couitesjr of Dr. Rieu of the British Museuni for the inteipretation of the Anbie ud ornamented Cufic chtuacteix.
by Google
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]