covered in less than twenty-four hours over the road of steel which links the Black Sea and the Caspian.
Hardly an hour has elapsed after leaving Batum before the line, skirting northwards along the shore, crosses the ancient caravan route, mentioned above, from Asia to Europe. The region is that of Kutais, corresponding nearly to the ancient Colchis, the home of Medea, and the goal of Jason when in quest of the Golden Fleece. A night's ride in the capacious and fairly well equipped Russian cars was no hardship, and we arrived at early morn at our destination, the Capital of the Caucasus. Here I was glad to greet old Rustom, the Georgian who had been my guide to the borders of Persia four years be- fore, and to meet Hovannes Agopian, whom we familiarly called
- John,' our Armenian courier who was to accompany us on the
present journey. We were sorry, through a change in our dates, to miss finding Safar Adilbegh, the young Persian from Tabriz and Teheran who had been with me through Persia, the time before, but he attended me on the next trip, proving com- petent as ever and still more useful, as he had added a know^l- edge of medicine to his previous accomplishments.^
We decided to remain only a day at Tiflis, as I had spent several days there in 1903 and have given some impression of it elsewhere. 2 The town seemed to be quieter than when I first saw it, for then there had been riotous outbreaks and mob disturbances ; and even now friends warned us to avoid any crowds or gatherings, lest a bomb should be thrown. Luckily we had no untoward experiences, but enjoyed our day roaming around the bazars, revisiting the Caucasian Museum, and see- ing other points of interest in this thriving, busy city of many nations. There was time enough before our departure at evening to ascend the funicular cog-railway to the top of St. David's hill overlooking the town, and to enjoy the fine view before proceeding on our journey over somewhat familiar ground to Baku.
1 See Jackson, Persia, pp. 56-56. ^ gee my Persia, pp. 8-15.
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