lady's history is simple enough. Her father was French consul in Tiflis, and in his lifetime published an interesting account of the Caucasian provinces of Russia. He had very sanguine ideas of the improvements that would take place in the country, and speculated largely in the purchase of land. He offered to establish a model farm, and the Russian government readily assisted him in the colossal plans in which he immediately engaged. He was not, however, a good practical agriculturist, and the people whom he sent for from France, at a great expense, turned out to be useless, or quitted him for more profitable occupations elsewhere. The upshot was, that after Mons. Gamba had spent every penny he was worth in the world upon this hopeful scheme, besides all the money that he had been able to induce the government to advance, he found himself a ruined man, and at his death left nothing but his precious farm, on the scanty produce of which his daughter has since contrived to live in independence, though in any thing but splendour. Our readers, should they be disposed to undertake a journey to the Caucasus, merely for the sake of paying their devoirs to the solitary maiden of the Fort of Roses, as the farm is called, must not expect to meet a young lady of a very tender age; Mdlle. Gamba must now be about 46 or 47 years old, and may therefore be considered to have taken her place, "for good and all," among the honourable sisterhood of antiquated spinsters.

From Koutais, Professor Koch proceeded to Sugdidi, the capital of the reigning prince of Mingrelia, an independent sovereign under Russian protection. Our Indian experience has taught us what these protected sovereignties are; and the government of Mingrelia appears to surpass, in its oppressive character, even the worst administered of the dependent states of Hindostan. All travellers that have visited the country deplore the wretchedness of the inhabitants, who would probably long ago have shaken off their tyrants, were these not riveted upon them by the protection of Russian bayonets. Since Klaproth exposed the atrocities of Prince Dadian and his family, strangers are not encouraged to visit the Mingrelian capital. Professor Koch, travelling "in the emperor's service," was not treated quite so brutally as Dubois, still he had no reason to congratulate himself on any courtesy shown him by the tyrant. When the professor had been introduced, and had explained his botanical views in visiting the dominions of this redoubtable potentate, "Why,' exclaimed the prince, "did not the emperor let me know this? I would have sent him as much hay as he could have desired, but I wish to heaven he would keep all his men of science away from me."

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Several younger members of the Dadian family have, at va

rious times, entered the Russian service, and have founded noble houses in different parts of the empire. Some of these younger branches, we believe, are highly esteemed in Russia, but the reigning prince and his wife are celebrated only for their crimes; and the general hope seems to be, that the fantastic tricks of a worse than Oriental despotism will at length compel the Russian government to interfere, and extend some of its protection to the people as well as to the prince.

Passing over the professor's ecstacies about the beauty of Prince Dadian's daughter, we must now accompany him to the forts on the coast of the Black Sea. He went botanizing from one to the other, as far as Fort Nicolas, on the extreme frontier of Turkey, and then returned overland to Tiflis. These forts, erected for the purpose of preventing the Circassians from receiving warlike supplies by sea, are placed at the entrance to the valleys, and form a complete blockading line, which, however, is maintained only by a frightful and continual sacrifice of human life, owing to the extreme insalubrity of the climate. At Poti, when the professor visited it, out of a garrison of 400 men, about one hundred had died during the year, about the same number lay sick in the hospital, and another hundred were reported to be convalescent, though still unfit for duty. Of those that were considered to be in health, moreover, there were few whose pale and haggard features, wasted forms, and tottering gait, did not announce that they would, in a little time, become candidates for admission to the doctor's list. At Fort Nicolas, every man of the garrison was lying sick, and the commandant just at the point of death! The prevalent diseases were intermittent fever, and various affections of the liver and bile; and "every person," says Professor Koch, "whose digestive organs are not in irreproachable order, goes to certain death in this part of the Caucasian regions. Every case generally commences with violent headache,-so violent, indeed, that the physician unacquainted with the country, is apt to treat all his patients at first for a coup de soleil. Even animals are affected; for I saw at Fort Nicolas a hen in an evident fit of the ague-her feathers stood erect, all her limbs were drawn convulsively together, and her trembling was excessive and continuous." We can easily believe what our author further tells us, that bad as the climate is, it would not operate so fatally on the Russian troops, were they better lodged and better fed. In a damp and marshy country, the huts of the soldiers are little better than rude erections of basket-work, that afford very little shelter against either rain or cold. None of these miserable wigwams have windows or stoves, or any other floor than the bare earth. Yet large forests of timber are close at hand, and reeds for thatch may be had to almost

any extent. Bad food, however, contributes even more than bad lodgment to aggravate the naturally insalubrious character of the climate. A little reform in this respect, the professor says, and no doubt truly, would lessen the annual mortality on the coast by many thousands. The acid rye bread he believes to be injurious in a southern climate; but the most pernicious effect of all is produced by the habitual consumption of tainted meat, for the soldier of these sea-side garrisons rarely receives his rations otherwise than in an advanced state of putrefaction. The country round, meanwhile, is swarming with pheasants and other descriptions of game!

Professor Koch returned through Guriel, and over Koutaïs, to Tiflis, where he arrived on the 21st of December, with the intention of wintering there. Tiflis, "the Paris of Transcaucasia," is the capital of all the Russian dominions beyond the Caucasus, and is rapidly laying aside its Oriental characteristics, to assume the appearance of a Russo-European city. Mountains surround it on three sides, but on the fourth it opens on a plain; for a more correct idea of the place, however, we may refer our readers to the plates contained in the Atlas of M. Dubois de Montpéreux, whose drawings convey a very lively idea of the romantic environs of the Georgian metropolis. The Russian returns make the population 60,000. This is, no doubt, an exaggerated statement; but Dubois is probably quite as far below the mark, when he assigns only 25,000 inhabitants to Tiflis. In fact, the population fluctuates greatly. Some thousands of the lower classes live like the Neapolitan lazzaroni, without any settled homes; and the Georgian nobles come sometimes, with numerous retinues, to the city. Whether the destructive ravages of the cholera, in 1831, have had any permanent effect upon the population, is a question upon which none of our recent travellers throw any light. The Russian custom-house regulations, however, have unquestionably exercised a disastrous influence on the prosperity of Tiflis. After the peace with Persia, the Russian custom-house line was drawn along the base of the Caucasus, and the countries beyond that mountain range enjoyed all the advantages of an unfettered commerce. Tiflis was, in consequence, rapidly becoming the centre of an immense overland trade between Persia and the Black Sea; and it is difficult to say to what extent that trade might ere this have grown, had not the jealousy of the Russian manufacturers found means to induce the government to extend the Russian tariff and custom-house line to the Turkish frontier. This unfortunate step destroyed the commercial importance of Tiflis at a single blow, and blighted the prospects of the many thousands of Armenians who had been induced to quit the Turkish territory, to settle under the protec

tion of the Russian eagle. The overland trade immediately took a new road over Trebizond and Erzeroum; and Tiflis since then depends chiefly on the expenditure of the Russian civil and military officers, and of the Georgian nobles, who are attracted by the winter gaieties of the capital, or by the far-famed virtues of the mineral baths, the reputation of which has now endured for nearly 2000 years.

Public morals appear to be at a very low level. The Russian government has put a stop to the revolting commerce, by which the harems of Turkey were, for many centuries, supplied by Georgian beauties; but the man who is prevented from shipping off his daughter on a venture to Constantinople, is often just as ready to speculate upon her finding favour in the eyes of some wealthy Russian; and those whose daughters are not yet ready for the market, are equally willing to lend their wives "for a consideration." We cannot here enter into all the details of Professor Koch's statement; but we fear there is little reason to believe that one disposed to place the effects of Russian civilization in the most favourable light, should, on such a subject, have indulged in any exaggeration: of society in the higher circles we are presented with a more pleasing picture.

"The Russian is sociable in a high degree, and has not been slow in creating for himself in Georgia a circle in which he moves as familiarly as at St. Petersburg. It is not easy to penetrate into the recesses of Georgian domestic life; and were it less difficult, the educated ladies of Russia would probably find few charms in the conversation of the ignorant beauties of the East; but the civil and military officers at Tiflis are numerous enough to form, with their families, a very agreeable European circle, and already some of the Georgian nobles have begun to imitate the manners of their new rulers. Baron von Rosen, the commander-in-chief at the period of my visit, kept an open table, and his lady had a soirée every Thursday evening. Balls and concerts were frequent, and the latter were really good in their kind. The baroness herself was not only fond of music, but was artist enough to be the instructress of her own daughters. Prince Constantin Suvoroff, who generally led at every musical réunion, was a distinguished player on the piano, and the lady of Colonel Shtshipin might have maintained her place as prima donna at many of our best theatres. M. Feh, a gentleman who in consequence of a duel had been banished to the Caucasus, was our tenor, and a very excellent one he was."

We cannot afford room for the professor's graphic account of a splendid ball in honour of Baron Rosen's 25th wedding day, (silberne Hochzeit,) nor for a catalogue raisonnée of the notabilities of Tiflis. There are many reasons, however, why society should be agreeable there. Political misdemeanours not deemed sufficiently grave to warrant exile to Siberia, are generally punished

in Russia by affording the imprudent offender an opportunity of admiring the natural beauties of Caucasian scenery, and of atoning for past inadvertencies by the display of his bravery in battle with the Circassians. The consequence is that many of the best and most intelligent men in Russia are constantly to be found among the officers employed in this part of the emperor's dominions. Several names highly distinguished in Russian literature appear upon the list of officers who have perished in the various expeditions against the Circassians. Bestusheff, the Russian poet and novelist, was among the lions of Tiflis at the time of the professor's visit. Bestusheff began his literary career as editor of the Polar Star, the first annual ever published in the Russian language. He was at that time an officer in the imperial guard, and his poetical effusions obtained great popularity; but it was his History of Russian Literature, which appeared shortly afterwards, that confirmed his reputation as an author. Allowing himself to be involved in the political movement of 1825, he was forced to witness the execution of many of his dearest friends, and was then degraded to the rank of a peasant and banished to Siberia. There many of his most popular works were written, and after an exile of five years he was allowed, as an especial favour, to enlist as private in a regiment stationed near the Caucasus. His superior officers were anxious to afford him every opportunity to obtain promotion, and he was soon able to pass through the inferior grades to the rank of ensign, which entitled him to re-admission among the class of nobles. In 1837 he made part of an expedition against the Circassians, and pressing forward, in his eagerness to distinguish himself, he was cut off and slain by the mountaineers. All his works written while stationed in the Caucasus, were published under the name of Marlinsky. His best production is considered to be his tale of Amaleth Beg, a translation of which, if we remember rightly, appeared, not long ago, in Blackwood's Magazine.

Among the leaders of ton at Tiflis, there appear, however, to have been some celebrities of a more ambiguous character, runaway adventurers from Runjeet Sing's army, who probably found entertainment from the Russian government in the anticipation that their knowledge of Indian affairs might at some future time be found useful. Among these, Professor Koch particularly mentions a Baron Dieskau and a Major Möbius, one originally a journeyman shoemaker, and the other a merchant's clerk--men whose achievements would, in England, have been deemed a qualification for Norfolk Island or Millbank, but who at Tiflis wore their honours without a blush.

The Russians appear as yet to have introduced few agricultural