But At Length They Brought Me A Guide
To Conduct Me To The King Of Georgia.
I left Cotachis on the 12th of July; and, after travelling the whole day
through woods and mountains, we rested for the night in a meadow at the
foot of a mountain, near a castle named _Scandes_[4], in which king
_Pangrates_[5] resides.
My guide here left me on purpose to inform the
king of my arrival; promising to return immediately with another guide to
serve me during the rest of the journey. We had accordingly to pass the
whole night in the wood, starving of hunger, and full of anxiety. The
guide came back early in the morning, accompanied by two of the kings
secretaries, who informed me that the king was gone to Cotachis, and had
ordered them to make an inventory of all our baggage, and of every thing
we had about us; after which we should be provided with a passport, to
travel free from payment of any duties through the whole country. They
proceeded accordingly in their examination and inventory with the most
rigorous exactness, even noting down the very shirts we then wore. After
this they ordered me to mount my horse, and to go along with them to the
king, leaving all my people behind. I used my best endeavours to be
excused from this; but, instead of listening to me, they loaded me with
insolence; and the only favour I could obtain, and that with the utmost
difficulty, was permission to take my interpreter along with me.
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