Crimea, spirits are so cheap as to shew their evil consequences in the intemperance of the peasantry. Among the higher classes, however, intoxication is rare, although wine and liqueurs are familiar, while spirits are used as a zest for dinner. This last ceremony is considered as a part of the entertainment before proceeding to the dining room; and it is, therefore, deemed a characteristic of politeness to serve the guests with a glass of aqua vitæ, to increase an appetite for the luxuries of the table.*

Georgia, a country which next claims attention, is so beautifully, diversified with hill and dale, wood and water, that some travellers have fancied it to have been the seat of our first parents. The vine seems to grow there in all its native luxuriance, and although wild, it appears to revel as if in its primitive home; and after yielding more wine than is necessary for the inhabitants, such is the superabundance of the grapes, that large quantities are permitted to rot on the branches, or to be consumed by the fowls of the air, since they cannot be converted to any useful purpose. In the provinces on the Black Sea, the vine thrives without any cultivation, and is seen clinging round all the large trees, giving the country the appearance of a vast and continued vineyard.

The Georgian wine is light, and resembles a good French Vin du pays. It is not kept in casks but in hogs' skins, the insides of which are first rubbed with naptha: the flavour is, in consequence, disagreeable and requires a long period to reconcile it to the palate. In some places, the wine is kept in large jars, and in this state it is considered excellent; but when it is transported to other places, it is oarried in hogs' skins called boordooks.† These skins are sometimes inflated, bound together, and employed as floats on the crossing of rivers.

At Teflis, the capital, wine is commonly kept in capacious earthen jars, below the surface of the ground, but on bringing it thither, the skins of buffaloes, goats, and swine, are used for that purpose. Passing through the streets of that city, a stranger is struck with surprise at seeing those stuffed skins standing on pieces of wood like living animals, and viewing the owners drawing wine from them, as if it were the blood of the animal. This method of supplying wine is attended with disadvantages, as the hairy sides of the skins are first coated with naphtha, and afterwards turned inward, which communicates a disagreeable taste and flavour to the liquor; but of this the people take no notice, as custom has rendered it familiar. Wooden vessels are not to be had, and bottles are very rare, because the price

Kotzebue's Narrative of a Journey into Persia, 8vo. p. 58.
For the exports, &c. of Odessa, see Addenda.

of them would amount to six or eight times as much as the wine; nothing therefore is in use but these boordooks, or prepared skins. Wine is so plentiful and cheap at Teflis, that it is sold from a penny to two-pence the bottle; beer is sold in the public market.

In this province, wine is consumed to great extent; respectable persons use silver ladles instead of wine-glasses, but frequently introduce immense horns ornamented with silver. These are emptied to the last drop, and it is not uncommon to see them pledge each other in repeated bumpers, in the same manner and with the same ease that ale or porter is quaffed in this country; yet this practice does not seem to be carried to the excess of intoxication, which has been attributed to those people. A late traveller states, that after an entertainment given by one of the princes of Georgia, the guests were conducted to an outhouse, which they were told was the winecellar; but to his astonishment there was no appearance of either wine or drinking utensils. In a short time, however, several persons with spades entered the apartment, and clearing away a portion of the surface of the floor, two immense jars as large as hogsheads were exposed, and after raising the covers the wine was handed about in silver ladles, and even the peasants who attended as spectators were supplied with copious libations in earthen jugs. In several districts of Georgia, both red and white wines are made of excellent quality. The red is said to resemble Burgundy, and the white to be like claret, and in no respect inferior to either. The Georgians have the reputation of drinking immoderately; some of them are said to consume seven bottles in the day without being much intoxicated; but this is to be understood only of the affluent portion of the community.

Sherbet, which is a very common drink, is, for the most part, composed of water, sugar, and acid; and when iced, is very agreeable in warm weather, but is not comparable to European lemonade. This liquor forms a very choice beverage at entertainments, and the host is often complimented by his guests on the cheerfulness of his countenance, and is said to look as "red as his apples, as brilliant as the sun, as placid as the moon," and they bid adieu with a wish that “the roses of happiness may ever bloom in the garden of his destiny." Kotzebue relates of the Sardar of Erivan that he eagerly drank of liqueurs that were presented to him, and made no secret of his love of spirituous liquors, at the same time openly declared that he could not live without them. He observed that the Persians quaffed wine and liqueurs in immense quantities, and he met with several instances of a man drinking off a bottle of rum at one draught, without the appearance of any inconvenience from it. The Sardar's physician

defended the practice of drinking spirits, and in doing so said, that Mahomet was a fool to forbid wine, and he recommended it as a panacea to his patients. In this opinion he resembled a brother Mahometan, who defended his partiality for strong drink, by saying that the Koran affirms that the faithful shall have wine in paradise-a wine delicious to the taste, but not intoxicating, from which he inferred that the prophet only intended that wine should not be drunk to excess, since it is sinful to suppose that what is lawful in heaven is unlawful on earth.

At Mozdok, near the Caucasus, and in Georgia, the people chiefly subsist by their vineyards, and a spirit prepared from grapes, which they not only dispose of at home, but send quantities of it into Russia. These people make a good sort of wine from ripe mulberries, and an acid wine drawn from peaches is in common use, while that from the grape is considered excellent. Of the grape wines, the Modosk is generally inferior; that called Kislar, from the vine of that name, is the best, and is considered little inferior to Hermitage either in strength or flavour. The brandy made at Kislar, or Kitzliar, is of superior quality, and is a more lucrative article of commerce than wine. Kislar brandy is in request over all Russia, and is sent to the most distant parts of Siberia. From water-melons a good brandy has been distilled, and to the culture of this plant much attention is paid in the southern provinces of Russia: they flourish in many places in great luxuriance, and some of them have been known to weigh 30lbs.

On the Terek, a beer termed Terskaia braga is brewed from millet by soaking it in water, then bruising it, and after that boiling it, in which stage a quantity of ground malted rye and barley is poured upon it to reduce it to the desired temperature; oats are then added, and the whole is left to ferment. When this process is completed, the liquor is freed from the husks of the grain, and at this stage it is fit for use. Klaproth met with bouza in Georgia made from peas which is the common basis of it in that country. In some of the mountain passes of the Caucasus, the late Emperor Alexander permitted some families to cultivate small pieces of ground free, having at those places a depôt of flour, brandy, &c. always ready for charitable purposes. In Mingrelia, as well as Georgia, is to be found that description of honey called stone honey, which is dissolved in water and used for a common beverage. At Imerethi, or Imiretta, adjoining Georgia, the k'wa-tapli, or stone-honey, is found quite solid, brittle, and not viscous. It has a pleasant spicy flavour, and is discovered in the cliffs of the rocks, the honey and wax forming one mass as hard as sugar-candy. These lumps or cakes are generally white at first, but

through time become yellow, and the people carry it in their pockets to assist in refreshment. The vine grows to such perfection that the trunks of the trees are frequently above fifteen inches in diameter. The finest fruit grows without cultivation, and there is an abundance of almonds, quinces, pears, and plums. From the great quantity and superior quality of the fruit of this country, it has been compared to an extensive orchard. The wine of Imiretta is reckoned superior to that of Teflis, the Don, and the Crimea; it is sent in skins to the neighbouring countries, while a considerable portion of the revenue paid to the Mephe, or prince of the country, is collected from this article.

Ssar, a kind of beer resembling English porter, is made by the Karatschio, and it is considered the best in the Caucasus. Brandy is distilled by those people from barley and wheat; they have scarcely any other beverage except this and bouza; and, although Mahometans, they partake of both without any scruple of conscience, and at funerals and marriages indulge in it to excess.

The Circassians manufacture from millet a beverage called hauthups, which is also named yantzokbl by the Cossacks of the Terek. The tribes near the Ckeiban, especially the Ubuch tribe, cultivate the vine, and make a considerable portion of very good wine. The Souate wine is of excellent flavour, resembles Champagne, and if well made, would, according to Spencer, rank among the best wines in the world.* But the usual drinks of the Circassians are skhou, a species of sour milk and a spirit, which, like other Tartar nations, they distil from mare's milk. They have also a liquor distilled from corn of a tolerably good quality, the art of making which is said to have been communicated to them by the Cossacks; but it is more probable that they acquired it from the Persians, or some of the neighbouring nations. From whence skhou, or as it is termed by the Turks yaourte, had its origin is a matter of doubt: some allege that the Almighty himself revealed the knowledge of its use to Abraham; others say that it was presented by an angel to Hagar in the wilderness when driven from the house of her master and fainting with heat and thirst. Be this as it may, all preparations of milk are held sacred among the Tartars.

The following engraving exhibits the still used by some of the tribes of the Caucasus. It consists of an earthen jar, or pot, sometimes made of copper, covered with a lid, having a neck entering into the

* Travels in Circassia, Krim Tartary, &c. in 1836, 2 vols. 8vo.

head, which is enclosed in a tub supplied by a small water-pipe to effect condensation.

In addition to their ardent spirits, some of the tribes make a sort of drink termed Bak-sima, which very much resembles the bouza of the Turks.

In Circassia, no public inns are to be found, they being considered unnecessary from the great hospitality of the people, who contend with each other for the entertainment of any stranger that happens to come among them. His appearance is a sufficient passport, and his wants have an indisputable claim on their generosity and feeling. Considerable attention is bestowed on the cultivation of bees for the purpose of making mead, of which they are particularly fond. The bees are kept in hives, placed on stocks, and carried along with the people as they remove from place to place with their flocks and herds. A good description of honey is likewise obtained from the mountain bees; it is commonly preserved in goat-skin bags, having the hairy side outwards, and is, in this manner, carried for sale to the public markets. From the Caucasus is obtained that celebrated inebriating, or, as it is usually termed maddening honey, which the bees collect from the blossoms of the rhododendron and azalea pontica. This extraordinary production never fails to affect the mind with