Bitlis and Mush will know our faces, Tiflis and Tomsk, and all such places.

Meanwhile, thousands of Russian troops, with cossacks and artillery, were pouring into northern Persia, from Tiflis and Julfa by land and from Baku across the Caspian, to the Persian port of Enzeli, whence they took up their 220-mile march over the Elburz mountains toward Kasvin and Teheran.

The gallant general replied that he took his orders from the Viceroy of the Caucasus at Tiflis, and not from any one at Teheran.

He pressed me to visit him; and then, with an escort of our Cossacks, he and his daughter left for Tiflis; whence he took train back to Hungary.

[B] Tiflis is a city of contrasts.

There is a proverb in Tiflis that "It takes two Jews to rob an Armenian, two Armenians to rob a Persian," and the "accursed Faringi" is mercilessly swindled whenever he ventures upon a bargain.

With the exception of the aforesaid boulevard, the European quarter of Tiflis presents the same mixture of squalor and grandeur found in most Russian towns, St. Petersburg not excepted.

The loud laughter and bursts of song that ascended every now and then from the crowded salle-á-manger (for the Hôtel de Londres is the "Maison Dorée" of Tiflis) only served to increase my depression and melancholy.

Here let me advise those visiting Persia to follow my example, and buy their saddlery in Tiflis.

Although I remained in Tiflis over a week, I did not see a single pretty woman among the natives.

As in every Russian town, however, the "Moushtaïd," or "Bois de Boulogne" of Tiflis, was daily, the theatre nightly, crowded with pretty faces of the dark-eyed, oval-faced Russian type.

[Illustration: TIFLIS]

For this (if for no other reason) Tiflis seems to be increasing in popularity every year for European tourists.

This route is viâ Berlin, Cracow, Kharkoff, and Vladikavkas, and from the latter place by coach (through the Dariel Gorge) to Tiflis.

All being ready, eleven o'clock on the night of the 12th of January found us standing on the platform of the Tiflis railway station, awaiting the arrival of the Baku train, which had been delayed by a violent storm down the line.

When I awoke, we were swiftly rattling through the dreary monotonous steppe country that separates Tiflis from the Caspian Sea.

[Footnote B: The name Tiflis is derived from Tbilis Kalaki, or "Hot Town," so called from the hot mineral springs near which it stands.]

Baku has, like Tiflis, a mixed population.

Three routes to Teherán were now open to us: back to Baku, thence to Tiflis, and over the mountains to Talriz,very dubious on account of the snow; the second, from Baku to Astrabad, and thence viâ Mount Demavend,still more dubious on account of bad landing as well as blocked passes; there remained to us Astará, and along the sea-beach (no road) to Enzelli, with swollen rivers and no post-horses.

Here is Ivanoff from Odessa or Tiflis, in the white peaked cap and high boots dear to every Russian, haggling over the price of a carpet with Ali Mahomet of Bokhára; there Chung-Yang, who has drifted here from Pekin through Siberia, with a cargo of worthless tea, vainly endeavouring to palm it off on that grave-looking Parsee, who, unfortunately for the Celestial, is not quite such a fool as he looks.

The emperor wrote to the schach declaring that the prince was no longer a Persian subject, and that therefore every persecution of himself or his family must cease; he also provided him with a pretty palace near Tiflis, sent him costly presents, and, as I was informed, allowed him a yearly pension of 20,000 ducats.

The wives of the banished prince, Behmen, who were left behind, learnt, through Dr. Cassolani, that I thought of going to Tiflis.

On arriving at Tebris, I expressed my desire to continue my journey from here to Tiflis by way of Natschivan and Erivan.

I received from the Russian consul not only the permission, but also several kind letters of introduction to people at Natschivan, Erivan, and Tiflis.

The consumption of wine in Georgia, and above all at Tiflis, is prodigiously great.