The Gentleman Who Was So Kind As To Accompany Me To One Of These Baths, Was Permitted To Come Into The Anteroom, Although It Was Separated From The Bathing-Place Only By A Simple Wooden Partition.

Not far from the baths lies the Botanic Garden, which has been laid out, at great expense, on the declivity of a mountain.

The terraces, which had to be artificially cut, are supported by masonry and filled with earth. Why such an unsuitable place was chosen I cannot imagine; the less so as I saw only a few rare plants and shrubs, and everywhere nothing but grape-vines; I fancied myself in a vineyard. The most remarkable things in this garden are two vine- stocks, whose stems were each a foot in diameter. They are so extended in groves and long rows that they form pleasant walks. More than a thousand flasks of wine are annually obtained from these two vines.

A large grotto has been excavated in one of the upper terraces whose whole front side is open, and forms a high-arched hall. In the fine summer evenings there is music, dancing, and even theatrical performances.

On Sundays and festivals the pretty gardens of the governor are opened to the public. There are swings and winding-paths, and two bands of music. The music executed by the Russian military was not so good as that which I heard by the blacks in Rio Janeiro.

When I visited the Armenian Church, the corpse of a child had just been laid out.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 639 of 708
Words from 169647 to 169904 of 187810