One of our number during this interesting journey was a young Swanny, a seminarist at Tiflb, who was spending the summer vacation in his native mountains, and having volunteered his services as an additional interpreter, for he spoke Russian well, had joined us at Kala. He was my frequent companion, and was accompanying me to some ruins on the top of a hill above Barshy,' when I was suddenly reminded of the churchyard scene at Mestye by sounds of wailing. We approached sufficiently near to enable the youth to distinguish the words, which he noted down at my request as fast as they were spoken, and soon after the lamentations had ceased, and while he was repeating to me what he had written, a tall elderly female appeared over the
' Probably the ruins of the ancient church of Etzery, in which were ancienliy pl«xd for safety the treasures of Svely Tik'hovely, the patriarchal church at Mtlkbeiha uxl •i all Georgia.
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A MOTHER'S LAMENT. 99
trow coming in our direction; she stopped upon seeing us, looked around confusedly, then quickly turned and moved rapidly away. She had been bemoaning the loss of her son:
' Ah'h! woe! woe! Atchakmityve my son, whither hast thou disappeared? Why hast thou forsaken me; how am I, poor me, to live without thee! Ah'h! Ah'h! Atchakmityve, where, and who art thou living with? Pray tell me what I am to do and where I am to go! I, thy old mother, endure daily torments; I wish to die and be with thee, but cursed death does not come to me. Until I die, I shall weep continually, and shall worry thee until thou carryest me away into the grave. I shall never cease to.weep, Ah'h! Ah'h! I loved thee better than I did any of my other sons! Thou wast a comfort to me, Ah'h! Ah'h! What have I to hope for now, say, oh! say to me ' Ah'h! Ah'h! '
Gabriel Nydjarddze, a youth of nineteen, is an orphan of Oushkoul, who received baptism when in his eleventh year. 'I have had to write this in Russian,' he said, ' for we have no letters in Swannety; we are a wretched people; nobody can read or write because there are no books. IJut I have studied at Kontals for seven years, and have been one year at Tiflis, and am very thankful for what I have learnt; but I feel that I am very ignorant and that I was too old when I began to study, and I am afraid I shall never be able to speak a foreign language. When I am a priest, I shall be sent to these wild mountains to make the people Christians; but what shall I be able to do alone? I have a sad career before me, but I intend to work hard, and perhaps I shall do some good.'
After we took leave of the Princess, Tenghyz distributed gifts to all his guests according to custom, a piece of native cloth, a hat, and two ox-hom spoons being offered for my acceptance. We by Google r quite regretted parting from our hospitable, good-natured and amusing host, who accompanied us half-way upon our return to Betcho, where we arrived at 4 P.M. Here a curious case was awaiting the Chief's decision.
An elderly man having been captivated by a young girl on the estate uf a native prince, offered the equivalent of 300 roubles for - the damsel, whom he purposed making his wife. As prince and peasant both ignored the fact that landed proprietors arc no more the possessors of serfs in Swannety than they are in Russia, the bargain was concluded, and the girl was removed from her home to the old man's cottage; she soon, however, deserted him, to return to her parents, and was now wishing to marry a husband of her own choice. Here arose the difficulty, for the ancient swain was seeking to recover the worth of his 300 roubles, there being no prospect of his ever securing the object of his affections, and the prince declined having anything more to do with him. I believe the matter was compromised by the prince promising to return to the peasant half the value received, on condition that the girl was granted full liberty to marry whom she pleased.
Whilst at Betcho, Bekyr Bey, one of the few Mussulmans in Swannety, whose acquaintance I had made on a previous occasion, brought to me a fine pair of horns of the tour, the largest of the Capra ibex I have ever seen, one being 36 inches in length and II inches in circumference, the other 34 inches and 12 inches. Bekyr Bey asked me to accept them, saying that they had been in his family fifty or sixty years, the animal having been shot by his grandfather. On one horn is cut the following inscription in Georgian characters: ' I, Tzyokov, son of Dadyshkylyany Islam, went to Marsany for sport, taking with me eight good shots from among my dependents. I met a Tchentchen prince accompanied by Google