6th September.  The journey became still more romantic.  Bushes and woods covered the hills and valleys, and the tall-stemmed, rich, green Turkish corn waved in the fields.  There were also numbers of old castles and fortresses.  Towards evening, after having with great exertion travelled four stages, I reached the little town of Gory, whose situation was exceedingly charming.  Wooded mountains surrounded it in wide circles, while nearer at hand rose pretty groups of hills.  Nearly in the centre of the mass of houses a hill was to be seen, whose summit was crowned by a citadel.  The little town possesses some pretty churches, private houses, barracks, and a neat hospital.  Both towns and villages here lose the Oriental character entirely.

When the atmosphere is clear the Caucasian mountains are to be seen rising in three ranges between the Caspian and Black seas, forming the boundary between Asia and Europe.  The highest points are the Elberus and the Kasbeck; these, according to a new geography, are of the respective heights of 16,800 and 14,000 feet.  The mountains were covered with snow far down their sides.

7th September.  Today I travelled one stage as far as Suram:  I could not proceed any further, as twelve horses were ordered for an officer who was returning from a bathing-place, with his wife and friends.

Suram lies in a fruitful valley, in the centre of which rises a beautiful mountain with the ruins of an old castle.  In order to dispel my bad humour I took a walk to this old castle.  Although it was considerably ruined, the lofty arches, stately walls, and extensive fortifications showed that the noble knight had lived tolerably sumptuously.  On the return nothing astonished me more than the number of animals yoked to the ploughs.  The fields lay in the finest plains, the ground was loose and free from stones, and yet each plough was drawn by twelve or fourteen oxen.

8th September.  The mountains drew nearer and nearer together, the prospect became more beautiful; climbing plants, wild hops, vines, etc., twined round the trees to their highest branches, and the underwood grew so thick and luxuriantly, that it called to my mind the vegetation of the Brazils.

The third stage was for the greater part of the way along the banks of the river Mirabka through a narrow valley.  The road between the river and the mountain side was so narrow, that in many places there was only room for one carriage.  We had frequently to wait ten or twenty minutes to allow the cars loaded with wood, of which we met a great number, to pass us, and yet this was called a post-road.

Georgia has been for fifty year under Russian dominion, and only within a recent time have roads been commenced here and there.  Fifty years hence, they may, perhaps, be finished, or fallen again into decay.  Bridges are as scarce as roads.  The rivers, such as the Mirabka are crossed in miserable ferry boats, those which are shallower must be forded.  In time of rain, or sudden thaw in the snow mountains, the rivers are overflowed, and travellers must then either wait some days or risk their lives.  What a tremendous difference between the colonies of Russia and England!