Their
Principal Drink Is Beer; They Have Some Corn And Wine, But In Very Small
Quantities; Boiled Millet Being Their Ordinary Food, Which Is A Very Poor
Kind Of Nourishment.
They sometimes procure wine and salted fish from
Trebisond, and import salt from Kaffa, without which they could not exist.
Their only productions consist in a small quantity of hemp and wax.
If
they were industrious, they might procure abundance of fish, which are
very numerous in their river. They are Christians, according to the Greek
ritual, to which they have added many gross superstitions.
I left Phasis on the 4th of July, accompanied by Nicholas Capella, and
crossed the river _Mare_ on a float. That day and the next, we travelled
through a considerable portion of Mingrelia, always among woods and
mountains. Towards the evening of the 5th, we came to the habitation of
prince Bendian, whom we found, with all his court, reclining on a plain,
under the shade of some trees. I sent Nicholas Capella to inform him of my
quality, and to ask permission to pay him my respects, which was
accordingly granted. I saluted him, therefore, with great respect, as he
sat on the ground with his wife and children, and he made me sit down
beside him. After explaining the purpose of my journey, I requested he
would have the goodness to appoint me a guide. He expressed his
satisfaction at my arrival in his dominions, and granted my request. He
afterwards sent me some bread, a piece of beef, and the head of a sow, but
so under done, that it required the extreme necessity in which we then
were to induce us to eat of his provisions; but when we cannot get what we
like, we must put up with what can be had. We had to wait a whole day for
the promised guide. The plain in which we found prince Bendian, is
surrounded by very fine trees, resembling box, but much more lofty. The
prince seemed about fifty years of age, and had a tolerably handsome
countenance, but his manners were perfectly ridiculous.
On the 7th of July we continued our journey, always among woods and
mountains, and next day passed the river which divides Mingrelia from
Georgia, having to pass the night in the open air, and, what was worse, we
had nothing to eat. On the 9th, we arrived at a small city named
_Cotachis_[3], which is defended by a stone fort, and where we saw a
temple that seemed very ancient. We had here to pass a bridge over a large
river, before reaching the plain in which the huts of Plangion, king of
Georgia, are situated. The fort and city of Cotachis belong to Plangion. I
waited upon the commander of this place who invited me to dinner. He was
seated on the ground, on which I, and those of my suite who accompanied me,
and some friends of the governor, all sat down. Before us was laid a
greasy skin, on which they served us with bread, radishes, some flesh, and
other execrable articles with which I was not acquainted.
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