of the Greek church ; and the classes of people are princes,
nobles, and peasants. The sovereigns of this principality are
descendants of the Georgian dynasty, and they remained
vassals to the Ottoman Porte from the sixteenth century to
the treaty of Adrianople. Previously to that treaty being
made, the finest timber of the country was floated along the
Black Sea in rafts, to supply the arsenal at Constantinople.
These provinces formed part of ancient Colchis, which was
peopled by one section of the Moschi, the supposed Meshech
of Scripture.1 From Casluchim, Cumberland derived the
name of Colchians,2 whose position was along the Phasis and
Euxine Sea, near the Sarapani.3 Their country was famous
for its flax and manufactures of fine linens;4 and it was a
kingdom before the Argonautic expedition.5 Colchis has
always been celebrated for its fine timber and productive
mines of silver, gold, and precious stones ; and its honey still
produces the effects experienced by the Greeks;6 this seems
to be accounted for by the abundance of hellebore, on the
flower of which the bees delight to feed.
Having traced the principal divisions of the trans-Caucasian
territory, the smaller districts lying in the basin of the Kur
remain to be noticed ; and, in describing them, we shall proceed
from east to west, both northward and southward of
that river. /
Elizabethpol is on the latter side, between Karâbagh on
the east, Erivan on the south, and Shamshadil on the west.
It contains nearly 16507 square miles of surface, consisting
in part of the mountainous tract near Gandja ; this is followed
by hilly slopes, and these terminate in plains. It is well
watered by the Chamkhor, Kotchkar, the Ghandjan, and other
tributaries of the Kur. The soil varies, being in places sandy,
or stony, but it is more generally of black earth.
The climate varies between the extreme cold of the moun-
* Genesis x. 10.—Turner’s Sacred History, Vol. II., p. 489.
2 Cumberland’s Times of first planting Nations, p. 50.
2 Herod., lib. IV., p. 37. f Ibid ’ IL > P- 105‘
■ s Strabo, lib. XI., p. 99. ' Anab-> IV-> s- 20'
7 Aperçu, &c., Tome II., p. 322.
tainous districts and the powerful heat of the plains. The
mountains contain alum, iron, and some gold ; also forests,
in which a particular sort of poplar grows to an immense size.
Domestic animals are numerous.1 Madder, tobacco, cotton,
linen, grain, &c., are cultivated, and garlic and asparagus
grow wild. Elizabethpol contains the magals of Ghor,
Chamkhor, Kiouvakbassan, Ghanjibassane, Samoukh, and
Ai’roum, in which there are 78 villages, or camps ; and it
bas a population of 11,330 Tartars, 2997 Armenians, and
531 Wurtemburgers. The only town, Elizabethpol, formerly
Gandjah, consists of three parts, one of which is
fortified by a bastioned wall, which was constructed by the
Turks. There are four Armenian churches, and one belonging
to the Georgian Greeks, 11 mosques, several kârvânserâïs,
about 2000 houses, and 1300 fruit-gardens, or vineyards ;.
and its population consists of 4230 Tartars, and 4028 Armenians.
The chief occupations of the inhabitants of this
district (now incorporated with Georgia) are horticulture,
the care of silk-worms, bees, and cattle, besides farming and
mining. On the mountains are some monuments of early
Christianity ; and, at 3^ miles from Gandjah, are the remains
of some former city : again, at 12 miles towards the Kur,
are other ruins scattered around the column of Shamkura.
In the shaft of the latter is a spiral staircase leading to the
top ; including the pedestal,, the column has a height of 196
feet, and is visible at the distance of 15 miles.2 Over the
river Kotchkar there is a single-arched stone bridge, which
has already stood 1000 years.3
The circle of Shamshadil lies westward of Gandjah, and
that of Kazakh between it and Bambak ; these districts have
the Kur for their northern, and the district of Erivan for
their southern limits. The former circle contains about 1247
square miles of surface, with a population of 19,599 souls-4
and the latter 1056 square miles, with 31,718 souls.5
1 Aperçu, &c., Tome II., pp. 328 to 344.
2 Ibid., pp. 379 to -392. 3 Ibid.
4 3944 Armenians, and the rest Tartars.—Ibid., pp. 251 to 257.
5 8633 Armenians, and the rest Tartars.—Ibid., pp. 214 to 235.