remains in almost a primitive condition, and has only a line of uncultivated hills, which are at present untouched by manual labour." Such is Abkasia, which, of all the Caucasian districts, will be the last to enjoy the blessings of individual liberty.
The first halt which the travellers made after crossing the frontier was at the village of Gagri, which is a pretty place, possessing a beautiful church, the sacristy of which is used as a cellar; a fort, which is a military hospital; a torrent, which was then dry, named the Gagrinska: the sea is on one side, on the other a fruitful country, planted with fine acacias, and dotted with rose plantations. In the distance extends the boundary chain between Abkasia and Circassia, whose inhabitants, since their defeat by the Russians in the terrible campaign of 1859, have abandoned the beautiful coast.
The chaise, which reached this place at nine o'clock at night, remained till next day. Seigneur Kéraban and his companions slept in one of the doukhans of the village, and quitted it early. At midday, six leagues farther on, Pizunda afforded them a change of horses, and Van Mitten had half an hour to admire the church wherein the patriarchs of the Western Caucasus formerly resided. This edifice, with its brick cupolas, formerly covered with copper, the design of its naves, which followed the shape of the Greek cross, the frescoes on the walls, the façade shaded by elms, is raised to a position amongst the most curious monuments of the Byzantine style of the sixth century.
Then the same day our travellers passed the villages of Goudouati and Gounista: at midnight, after a rapid journey of eighteen leagues, they snatched some repose at Soukhoum-Kalé, which is built upon a wide bay which reaches to the south as far as Cape Kodor.
Soukhoum-Kalé is the principal port of Abkasia; but in the last war in Caucasia the town was partly destroyed. In it there was a motley crowd of Greeks, Armenians, Turks, Russians even in greater numbers than natives. Now the military element is predominant, and the steamers from Odessa or Poti carry numerous visitors to the barracks, built near the ancient fortress, which was erected in the
