Thursday, May 14, 1840

1840

May

Thursday 14

5

10 1/4

Up when we ought to have been off – but George never calls us – had forgot his watch ! Lies to the last minute, and we awake when we can –

Breakfast – our rice as at Tiflis – Very fairly good room and good stationhouse on an eminence, as usual – Fine view of the mountains and the 2 headed giant Kasbek peering above the rest towards the Eastern extremity of the range in sight –

Off at 7 25/.. – Ann and I and George and our Cossack and all our baggage on a

large high heavy chariot drawn by 4 oxen and our kibitka followed – 25 minutes in getting down to the river Astapha1/4 to 1/2 miles from the house prettily situated on the high ground above –

7 25/.. to 9 1/4      Astaphrinskii Ridu}                           versts

                             to Gassaiskii                                      12

                             cross the Astapha river

9 1/2 to 10 3/4      Gassaiskii to Prireska Taus                16 1/2

11 13/.. to 12 54   to Prireske Dzeagash                          15 1/2        

1 1/2 to 3 20/..      Prireske Dzeagash to Shasporsiaia    28 1/2        

45/.. to 6 25/..       Shasporsiaia to Elizabethpol              25 1/2

                                                                                         98

Safer in a chariot because the great high wheels not so soon overturned by big stones brought down by the current, lifted high above the water and at liberty if anything should happen, and oxen generally more to be depended on than horses ! The low wheels of a tarendass, or a light calêche easily upset –

An officer’s wife and 2 children lost 2 years ago (in May) – the people wished them not to go, but the officer persisted and his wife could not be persuaded to go in a chariot, and she and the 2 children upset in their tarendass (like ours said George) and lost – The officer maid and other 2 children in a chariot escaped –

The water now 2 archines deep in places (1 Archine = 28 inches).  We over in 5 minutes – The empty kibitka followed and over in 3 1/2 minutes at 7 58/.. – Rapid stream – Well there was no great breadth, 2 archines deep – Streams and intervening beds of gravel and bouldery gravel 150 to 200 yards broad – 4 more rivers to pass between this and Elizabethpol, as under, each close to the station –

Taowski                }

Zagamski               }

Shamfort               }

(and Minaret)        }

39 minutes packing the kibitka, and off again at 8 1/2 – Gave the men 4 abasses – George said some gave 1 abasse, some 2, 3, or a silver ruble –A gift, for the pay including in the money paid for horses at the post –

At 8 50/.. (right) a projecting mountain, in advance from the high range, having exactly the appearance of a huge pyramid probably about the same dimensions as seen here at this considerable distance, as the great Cheops seen near –

At 9 10/.., pass our Caravan of Camels that had started 1 1/2 hour before us this morning from our station – All alongside us from the Station and river Astapha, fine range of high snowy mountains left, some tops of ditto ditto peeping out right just above the green hills – The mountains (left) seen all along except where our road lies, as once or twice, in a hollow –

Stationhouse as the last (Astapha) – from here Gassaiskii, oak copse wood along one road in the bottom and very pretty amphitheatre of green hills (mountains) ahead and all round us – the Station house on an eminence, as usual –

A fine hare ran across our road – Plenty of game hereabouts – 3 gradins of green mountain (high perpendicular white rock rises) up to the magnificent range of snow mountain (left) and the Kour? along the foot of lowest gradin – yellow Spanish-like broom – Dead wolf (killed recently) lying in the middle of our road at 10 20/.. –

At the river at 10 40.. – over in one minute – at Prireski Taus at 10 3/4, 4 minutes from the little rapid river Taouski – Low range running across the valley and terminating in high, bold, conical, rocky head called Kārŭaōo (as pronounced) seen ahead all this stage –

At river Zagamski at 12 34/.. Very fine, hot, sunny day – Our Cossacks forded the river first – Narrow stream and rapid and muddy – Over in 3 minutes – and at the stationhouse at Prireski Dzeagash in 14 minutes at 12 54/.. Nice house like the rest, in walled court, 2 windows on each side entrance door, front and back –

This last stage copsy and shrubby and pretty – The mountains left approach us comes nearer and nearer, – Seem to sweep round ahead as if we should come up to them some time – Wide plain or bottom of valley – 3 or 4 miles or more? from green mountains (right) to foot of 1st gradin (vide line 2 of this page) – The ground red with poppies –

shrubs white thorn                                 }

prickly myrtle-leaved shrub                  }

small leafed ditto shrub without thorns }

Dog rose and bramble                           }

En route again at 1 1/2 – At 2 or before, the Minaret in sight – At 3 20/.. at the Stationhouse within the inclosure of the old ruined Persian fort, the fine old minaret and nine little domed Mohammedan chapels or mosques (metchets) being just outside – At the foot of the ruined walls of the fort, a narrow moat, along which a narrow stream of running water which we had to drive through – Very hot – The fort an oblong enclosure – Minaret base about 5 yards square and 13 feet high up to bevel of corner, and the bevel about (near?) a yard more – Then 8 feet of octagon counting 3 bricks and the thick mortar between = 1 foot – then 5 yards up to narrow square topped loophole window and as much more from bottom of loophole to bottom of cornice including the inscription immediately below the cornice – Say cornice = 4 feet at least formerly supporting a gallery as at minarette in the valley du Terek and as at Bolgari – 

Then say 4 yards of top (round like the rest of the shaft) surmounted by one yard of octagon in each side    of which a neatly worked pointed arch-window in square top (in the style of the red room fireplace) and above this remains of some bits of little round posts or pillars as if to support roof – The minaret seen at 1st in the distance like a long thin stick – Ann is sketching – Door at the bottom to the southwest, and above (opening on to the original gallery) to the south ? towards mecca? a large white owl, or heron, or what? sitting alone on the top – Oblong fort, on rising ground – Largeish round tower at each corner, and little ruined round tower at each side entrance gate we entered by, and 2 square bastions in the wall to the entrance or north side – What a fine view there must be from the top of the minaret ! The steps at the bottom very bad – much worn – All ready – Had not time to try to climb – but what a view there must be!

East (left as we came) long range of snow-mountains.  West (right), peep of snow mountains through a column or hollow in the range of green mountains – Traces of old walls an ancient city? and the minaret once within it walls?  

Remains of old bridge spanning the broad, deep-valley bed of the Shamfort, a rapid streamy river – Have to go down the stream from water to dry gravel bed, and then water again, till we find a place on the opposite gravel bouldery bank to get out at –

Réaumur 28° and Fahrenheit 95° in the kibitka on alighting at Shamfort, as called by our Cossack, alias Shasporsiaia of our marche-route – The river took us 4 minutes –

Few snow-mountain views (can any?) in Switzerland can exceed this from Shamfort – East (left on entering) long line of snow-mountains magnificent, and to the west, fine, long, green, ridge-above-ridge valley closed in by bold amphitheatre of snow mountains which, as we proceed onwards, soon peep up again in a longish line from behind the green crête of the ridge of grassy mountain – Should we have had this snowy range peeping up (right) before, had it not been hid by clouds –Perhaps our road has all along lain too much to the right to admit our seeing the snow mountains on both sides of us –

From nearer the centre of the valley, where the 2 ranges can be seen at once, how magnificent the valley must appear, – unrivalled in Switzerland certainly – What width from the Kour to the green hills on our right? Steep, high, sand-stratified left bank of Kour seeming from here (doubtless a wide plateau above) the 1st gradin of the base of snow-mountains –

At the Kushkara river (dry in summer) at 5 32/.. – Enter Elizabethpol – Pass sort of irregular walled fortress right – Cross stream – drive through the picturesque platanus-shaded oblong place du Bazaar, and alight at the caravanserai at 6 25/.. –

Sent one letter to the commandant, Mr. Charlamoff, with cards and compliments and saying we should be off very early in the morning.  He sent immediately to know if we were in want of anything and to know what he could do for us – Very civil –

Ann sketched the caravanserai gate from the great Square or Place, and I sauntered about – Mr. Charmaloff came to call upon us – Received his visit in the square where I happened to be standing – Sorry we had not driven to his house – We should have done so, but meant to be off immediately, and therefore drove to the post where, finding we should have to wait perhaps till late for horses, determined to say all night – Promised to drive to his house on our return, where his wife would be glad to see us – Regretted he could not speak anything but Russian – Had George to interpret –

Streets behind the bazaar – Magnificent Platanus trees round the place and courtyard of the handsome mosque (metched) at the end of the Place opposite the Caravanserai – Some of the trees 4 and 5 yards in circumference just above the ground and the setting on of the great roots – A little tank of water just before the mosque entrance door – The court enclosed by low houses inhabited – in monastery style – The interior of the mosque painted glass windows in the Persian arabesque style, very pretty – Interesting town –

Ann found all our 9 pounds rice jolted out of the basket! – All lost – Tea over at 9 1/2 –

Then sauntered in the caravanserai court by the fine moonlight – Did job – The bird singing a nightingale? though her notes not quite equal to those of our own nightingale.  Réaumur 14 23° and Fahrenheit 65 1/2 at 9 50/.. p.m.  Very fine day

WYAS Finding Numbers SH:7/ML/E/24/0103 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0104