Their Intentions Were To Travel From Vati,
By Shamaki, Anciently Cyropolis, And Thence Into Tartary.
Thus left alone
in a strange land, I leave any reasonable person to think what were the
embarrassments with which I was surrounded.
I was unacquainted with a
single individual, having no company but that of my domestics, and had
very little money remaining. In short, I was reduced almost to despair,
of ever being able to get out of the country. In this state of distress I
fell into a violent fever, and could get no other nourishment but bread
and water, and a pullet occasionally with much difficulty; and my fever
increased to such a degree that I became delirious. All my domestics were
attacked soon after with the same fever, the priest Stephen only excepted,
who had to take care of us all. My only bed was a wretched mattress,
which had been lent me by a person named John Volcan; and my life was
despaired of by every one, till the 9th of September, when, by the cares
of Stephen and of Martha, my good hostess, or rather through the mercy of
God, the fever abated, and I soon recovered my former health, to the
astonishment of every one. My domestics likewise recovered, and we began
again to consult on the best means of escaping out of our present
situation. Some proposed to take the road of Syria, but I deemed this too
dangerous; and we at length came to the determination, of going by
Shamaki, into Tartary, and thence by Russia, Poland, and Germany. I got
accordingly on horseback on the 10th of September, but had hardly rode
two miles when I was forced to dismount and rest myself on the ground. I
was, therefore, obliged to return to my lodging in Phasis, where we
remained till the 17th, when, being all of us restored to health and
strength, we again resumed our journey, after having implored the
protection and assistance of God. I now took a certain Greek into my
service, who could speak the Mingrelian language, who occasioned me a
thousand troubles, which it were tedious to recount.
[1] This in all probability is a corruption of Tiflis, or Teffliz, the
capital of Georgia Georgia, which is situated on the river Kur or
Cyrus, erroneously named _Tigre_ in the text. The proper name of this
country is Gurgi-stan, or the country of the Gurgi which has been
corrupted by the Europeans into Georgia. - E.
[2] Cutais in Imeritia, named Cotachis on a former occasion in the text.
- E.
[3] These Turks must have been the Persian ambassadors of Uzun-Hassan; - E.
[4] This proposed route seems to have been through the province of _Guria_
to Batum; and, from the sequel, to have returned to Georgia and
Shirvan, passing through Derbent and the Caspian gates, or Daghisten,
into western Tartary. But the names in the text are too corrupt for
any certainty. Calcicanus, in the text, is probably a corruption of
Kalo Johannes, who was then prince, or emperor, of Trebisond. - E.
SECTION VI.
_Leaving Phasis, Contarini travels through Mingrelia and Georgia, into
Media, and, passing the Caspian, arrives in Tartary._
Leaving Phasis, as before mentioned, on the 17th of September; and taking
the road of Mingrelia, we came to _Cotati_, or Cutais, on the 21st of
that month, extremely worn out through the consequences of our late
illness, and the fatigues of the journey; and as the Greek whom I had
hired never ceased to give me vexation, I here parted with him as
handsomely as I could. We remained two days at Cutais, among people who
knew us not, and whose language we were quite ignorant of. Leaving that
place, and tracing back our former steps, we passed over several
mountains in much fear, and arrived at Tiflis on the 30th of September,
where we took shelter in the chapel of a certain Armenian catholic, who
had more the appearance of a dead person than of a living man, but who
rendered us every possible service. This man had a son who lived with him,
and who, unfortunately for us, was seized with the plague, which had
raged in that part of the country this year. From him one of my servants,
named Maffeo of Bergamo, caught the distemper, who still kept about me
during two days, though ill, as he was my own particular domestic. At
length, growing worse, he had to take to his bed, when the distemper
shewed itself; and as he lay in the same room with me, and the house
could not afford me another, I was forced to take refuge in a hovel where
some cows were kept at night; and as the Armenian refused to allow Maffeo
to remain in his house, I was constrained to take him into the same place
with myself, where Stephen took care of him, till God pleased to take him
out of the world. After the death of Maffeo, I experienced great
difficulty to procure another stable for myself, that I might get away
from the morbid air of that in which my poor servant died. In this
extremity we were utterly abandoned, except by one old man, who
understood a little of our language, and who served us with much
affection.
We remained at this place till the 21st October, and on the evening
before our intended departure, the Persian ambassador, who had
accompanied the patriarch, came to Tiflis. He complained grievously of
having been plundered, through the fault of the patriarch, with whom he
had travelled to _Lavogasia_, where he had left him, and was now on his
road to complain to Uzun-Hassan. We agreed to travel in company from
Tiflis, a city belonging to Pancratis[1]. From thence in two days we
entered the territories of Uzun-Hassan, as we took the road towards
Shamaki, or Cyropolis, which is situated in a fertile and pleasant
country. On the 26th of October we separated, as the Persian went to Uzun-
Hassan at Tauris, and I took the road for the dominions of _Sivanse_, in
which Shamaki stands; but by means of the Persian ambassador I procurred
a _molah_, or Mahometan priest, to guide me on the road to Shamaki.
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