and river banks are embellished with cypresses, the growth of centuries, palm trees, plantains, maples, elms, firs, and poplars. The northern bank. of the Kouban presents a very different scene, and contains a tract as wild, desolate, and woodless, as the mind can conceive. The soil of the mountain valleys is rich and well watered, and wants only industry to render it highly productive. At present, however, it is overgrown with wild herbs, and is used only for pasturage. The same description, indeed, will apply, with little variation, to the country farther east, along the whole range of the mountains. To the north of the Kouban and the Terek extends a wide plain, containing scarcely any elevation deserving the name of hill; and the watershed of the country, between the two seas, rises probably no higher in its northern part than 120 feet above the level of the Black Sea. The western part of this plain is intersected by ravines: it contains not a single tree, but is covered with excellent grass, intermixed with beautiful flowers. The eastern portion, from the Terek to the Volga, is a saline, sandy, and barren steppe, occupied by a few wandering Tartars. Along the Caspian, southward, lies the "Daghestan" or hill country, which consists of a succession of hills and valleys, formed by the offsets of the Caucasus. Its south-western borders is the main range itself; but the northern part of its western border consists of a long offset which divides the river Koisou, which flows north from the smaller streams that flow directly east to the Caspian.

The southern slopes of the Central and Eastern Caucasus subside into two great valleys or river basins: the one extending 330 miles north-west from the Caspian, with a mean breadth of 75 miles, is drained by the Kûr and its numerous affluents; and the other extending only about 120 miles from the watershed westward to the Black Sea, is drained by the Rioni and its affluents. The mountains of Karalini, which form the watershed between these two great valleys, are of comparatively small elevation, and rise only to 6,000 feet; but as the range extends westward along the southern side of the basin of the Rioni, towards the mouth of the Choruk, under the name of the mountains of Akhaltsike, the summits reach in some places to 10,000 feet. The southern side of the basin of the Kûr is formed by a high mountainous country, which contains in its bosom the great Lake of Gûkcha, or Sivan; and one of the summits, Ali-Ghuz, rises to the height of 12,000 feet. To the north of these mountains we find the long narrow valley of the Arras, which forms throughout the greater part of its course the boundary between the Russian and Persian territories.

This region, except the portion to the north of the Kouban, which is at portion of the government of Taurida, forms one general government of the Russian Empire, the governor-general of which has his residence at Teflis, the capital of Georgia. It includes several ancient kingdoms, states, and provinces, whose names and people have acquired historical celebrity; and these it is necessary to consider as still the proper geographical divisions of the country, though the arrangements of the Russian government may be different. The ancient divisions are:-" Georgia;" "Shirwan;" the Russian portions of "Armenia and Azerbijan" "Imeritia, Mingrelia, and part of Guriel" "Abassia;" "Circassia;" "Daghestan and Leghistan;" and the old Russian province of "Caucasus," comprehending the country between the Kouma on the north, and the Terek on the south and west.

1.-GEORGIA.

(Gurgistan, Pers.-Grusia, Russ.-Gurtshi, Turk.)

Georgia, though formerly of greater extent, may now be considered as comprising the north-western portion of the basin of the Kûr, and is about 240 miles in length by 120 in breadth. The Kûr flows nearly through the middle of it. The country presents an agreeable variety of mountains, forests and plains; enjoys a very mild climate, and is in general very healthy, and produces a great variety of vines, fruits, grains, &c. The people boast of their management of bees; their horses and beeves are equal in size and beauty to the best of Europe, and their long tailed sheep produce excellent wool.

The Georgians speak a language radically different from any known tongue, but they believe themselves to be descended from the same stock as the Armenians. They are generally handsome, well-made and active, and possess good natural abilities. The beauty of their women is not less celebrated than that of the Circassians, and many of them are or used to be exported to supply the harems of Persia and Turkey. Many of the Georgians live in huts; but in the more civilized portions of the country are found houses formed of slight wooden frames. In almost all the villages there are towers, built to serve as asylums for the women and children against the attacks of the Lesghis. About two-thirds of the people are proper Georgians, attached to the ritual of the Greek church. Armenians and Jews are also numerous.

Georgia was formerly a federal monarchy, subdivided among princes and nobles, the former of whom paid no tribute, but were obliged during war to follow the king with their vassals. Their law-suits were also decided by the king. The nobles paid certain taxes to both the king and the princes. Under these rules the people lived in a state of the most abject slavery, and were sold, given away, or pledged like domestic cattle. All that were capable of bearing arms were soldiers. The king's revenue consisted of a fifth part of the produce of the vineyards, fields and gardens, with duties upon all exports and imports, as well as the produce of the mines. Georgia being protected by mountains escaped the great Tartar invasion; but for the last three centuries it has been the scene of almost constant warfare; and though now under the regular government of Russia, it has experienced so little improvement that its public revenues are not sufficient to defray the necessary expenses.

TEFLIS, Tiflis or Tibilisi, the capital, stands near the centre of the country on the right bank of the Kûr. It was destroyed in 1796, by Aga Mahomed Khan, king of Persia; but has been gradually rebuilt. In the new town the streets are wide, with fine squares, barracks and hospitals. The houses of the governor-general and the court officials are well-built and large, but in the old town the houses are miserable. Among the other buildings are the cathedral, remarkable for its antiquity, extent and archi tecture, and the ancient citadel, which is built on a high rock and presents an imposing mass of ruins. Teflis is the residence of the governor-general of Caucasus, and of a Georgian and Armenian archbishop. It possesses a gymnasium, a seminary, several schools and a botanic garden. It has also four newspapers which are published in the languages of Russia, Georgia, Persia and Armenia, respectively. There are also celebrated warm baths. The inhabitants are somewhat industrious and carry on considerable trade,

but their number, including the large Russian garrison, does not amount to 30,000.

The other principal towns are-DOUCHETI, 27 miles north by west from Teflis; GORI, 45 miles north-west; GANJAH or Elizavetpol, 90 miles southeast; TELAVA, 35 miles north-east; SIGNAKH, 56 miles east by south; and AKHALTSIKE, 110 miles west. The last was formerly the capital of a Turkish pashalic, and contained 40,000 inhabitants, but it now contains only 13,000, mostly Armenian emigrants from Turkey. It contains several fine churches and ruins. WARZICH, in the volcanic region of the Trapovanie and the Kûr, formerly the favorite residence of the Armenian queen Thamar, is a most extraordinary spot. It is a complete city, hewn out of volcanic stone, and contains, among other works, three large churches, entirely cut out of the rock, subterraneous passages, innumerable chambers, some of them finely sculptured, and the queen's summer and winter palaces. The whole country around is covered with lava and volcanic products of various kinds.

2.-SHIRVAN, SHIRWAR OR GUIRVAN.

Shirwan was formerly a province of Persia. It comprises the lower part of the basin of the Kûr, between that river and the mountains. Its climate and natural productions are much the same as in Georgia. It consists chiefly of a well watered plain, which produces cotton, rice, wines and fruits of various kinds; but along the shore of the Caspian there is a flat tract almost a desert. The inhabitants are chiefly Mahomedan Persians.

BAKU, the capital, is situated at the south-west corner of the peninsula of Abcheron, where the sea is land-locked by two islands, which render the roadstead a safe anchorage. The town is walled and built on a declivity, the top of which is occupied by the old palace of the kings of Persia. Its streets are narrow and winding, and the population amounts to 3,500 or 4,000. The exports consist of naptha, saffron, cotton, silk, opium, rice and salt. The district of the town contains 35 villages and 19,000 inhabitants, of whom 1,000 are Turkomans.

The peninsula of Abcheron, though hilly, contains no summits exceeding 1,000 feet. The soil is rocky and barren, and its only water, obtained from wells, is brackish. It is a most singular region; not a tree is to be seen, and the soil is saturated with naptha, from which gas is profusely exhaled. It not only streams spontaneously through the surface, but rises wherever a hole is bored. It is of two kinds, black and white, and its principal sources are about six miles from Bakû. The black oil shines with a reddish tint in the rays of the sun, and is used for burning and for coating roofs. Not far from the same spot a stream of white oil gushes from the foot of a hill; it readily ignites and burns on the surface of the water; and in calm weather people amuse themselves with pouring it into the sea, where they set fire to it and it floats away, giving the waters the appearance of a sea of fire. The poor people obtain a cheap light and fire for cooking by driving a clay pipe or reed into the ground, and burning the gas which rises through it. The Persian ghebers likewise send the gas in bottles to their friends at a distance. Not far from Bakû is a boiling lake which is in constant motion, and emits a flame without heat. Occasionally the whole region seems to be on fire; and in ancient times this burning field was one of the most celebrated "ateshyahs" or shrines of grace among the ghebers or fire-worshippers of Persia-a spot to which thousands of pilgrims resorted to purify themselves from sin. The peninsula is likewise celebrated for numerous volcanoes, which discharge immense quantities of mud.

To the south of Shirvan, and divided from it by the Kûr, the Russian territory includes a portion of the Persian province of Ghilan, called "Talish;" but there are no towns or other places of the least importance within its limits.

3.-ARMENIA AND AZERBIJAN.

The Russian portions of Armenia and Azerbijan lie between Georgia and the river Arras, being 200 miles in length and 130 in breadth. The country consists of a mass of mountains, crowding on each other and filling up the whole space with volcanic amphitheatres. One of the largest of these amphitheatres is occupied by the great fresh water lake Gûkcha, (properly "Gokchel-derya," the blue lake,) called also Sivan, the surface of which is 5,300 feet above the level of the sea.

In the north-western

portion of the lake is an island called Sivan, with a monastery, 1,200 yards from the shore. The lake is unfathomable, and has the dark blue appearance of deep water. A branch of the river Zengue, which passes Erivan, carries the surplus waters of the lake to the Arras. The whole country in the neighborhood is volcanic. The soil of the valley of the Arras is extremely fertile, and the mountains are covered with pasture. Directly south of Erivan a small portion of the Russian territory extends to the south-westward of the Arras, and in the south-west corner of this portion stands the famous mountain "Macis, or Agri-dagh, or Ararat." Its peak rises to the height of 17,265 feet; and, 60 miles north by west of Ararat, the mountain Ali-ghuz, capped with perpetual snow, forms the northern termination of the superb garland, as M. Dubois calls it, of extinct volcanoes, which encloses the basin of Ararat or Central Armenia, over the whole circumference of which nothing is to be seen but black and grey lava currents, with pumice or obsidian, along with scorice or basalt, intermixed with porphyries and melaphyres. In July, 1840, Ararat and the neighboring country were shattered by a tremendous earthquake.

ERIVAN, the capital, is situated in a very rugged valley, on the east bank of the Zengue. It is a small city without walls, but has good houses, and contains about 1,800 Moslem and 700 Armenian families. The citadel, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile to the south, is almost a distinct town. The neighborhood is well cultivated and very productive, but the climate is said to be unhealthy. The population and trade of the place has decreased since the Russian conquest. About twelve miles west of the city is the convent of EтCHMIADZIN, the ecclesiastical capital of the Armenians, and the residence of the Catholicos, or spiritual primate. It is surrounded by a high wall: within it is a city in miniature, containing an ancient church, rebuilt in A. D. 618, and other buildings. NAKHCHEVAN, eighty miles east of Erivan, claims the honor of being the oldest city of the world; and tradition affirms that Noah fixed his residence here after descending from Ararat. This country contains numerous remains of antiquity, and the sites of a number of ancient capitals-as Julfa, Artaxata, Valarsapat, &c., the histories of which are matters of interest only to the scholar and antiquarian. The Protestant missionaries in this country have communicated to the world a vast fund of valuable information respecting localities; but our space is too brief to follow their details, and we must refer the reader to their publications in the various missionary periodicals which are accessible to all, at a cheap rate.

4.-IMERITIA, MINGRELIA, &c.,

Occupy the whole basin of the Rioni, enclosed on three sides by mountains, and open only towards the Black Sea. The soil is extremely fertile, but little cultivated, and the country is covered throughout with thick forests. The lower part of the country, next to the sea, is a dead, unvaried flat, full of swamps and marshes, producing a constant miasma, the fertile source of pestilential fevers. The people are of the Georgian race, and amount only to 150,000. Imerítia is directly under the Russian government, but Mingrelia and Gûriel still have their respective princes, who acknowledge the Tzar's supremacy; but even their country is filled with Cossack police stations, and the condition of the people has been greatly improved. Still, with the exception of the merchants, the people are divided into only two classes-nobility and slaves; but the noble can no longer deprive his servant of life, nor sell him to a foreign master, as formerly. Ignorance and vice are very prevalent, and even few of the nobles can understand their own language.

K'HOUTHAISSI, the capital, stands on the Rioni, near the centre of the province. It is a small town of 1,500 inhabitants, one half of whom are Jews. The split and naked rocks which rise above the town are covered with ruins of every description-temples, churches, bridges, aqueducts, towers, &c., overgrown with ivy, brambles, and pomegranate bushes, being all the remains of the ancient city of Kuto, or Cutasium, the birth-place of Medea, so celebrated in classical mythology for her share in the success of the Arganautic expedition. POTI and REDOUT-KALEH are fortified places on the coast. The roads are unsafe, and there is no narbor; the trade which once centered at Redout-Kaleh is now transferred to Trebizond.

5.-ABASSIA, OR ABKHAZ.

Abassia lies along the north-east coast of the Black Sea, between the shore and the summit of Caucasus, being about 260 miles long, and less than 30 miles broad. The country is fertile, though very mountainous, supporting numerous herds of cattle. It is possessed by wild independent tribes, who have set the Russian power at defiance. The Abassians were formerly well known as pirates on the Black Sea, and many of them used to prosecute their fortunes in Egypt, where they rose by their bravery to eminent military rank. Their women are beautiful, and much sought after in Turkey, where they generally pass for Circassians.

The chief towns and forts are-ANAPA, on the Strait of Yenekaleh, which was formerly the chief emporium of the Turkish trade with the Circassian tribes, and from it the Georgian and Circassian slave-girls were supplied; SOUJOUK-KALEH, on a splendid bay, 25 miles south of Anapa; GHELENJIK, with one of the best harbors on the Black Sea, 16 miles further south; VADRAN, 50 miles south-east of Ghelenjik; and SOUKGOUM-KALEH, 100 miles south-east of Vadran, a miserable place, more fatal than any other to the Russian garrisons. All these places are fortified and occupied by

Russian soldiers.

6.-CIRCASSIA.

Circassia extends along the north side of Caucasus, from the Sea of Azov to the Upper Terek; but by the gradual progress of Russian encroachment,