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ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
72
horrors, the inhuman looting and cruel massacres that these
selfsame streets have witnessed time and again in the past—
at the hands of Persians, Arabs, Tiirks, Mongols, Tatars,
and, not so long ago, of the Georgians themselves. But the
stream of life fills up the gaps and flows indifferently on.
In and out through the town the brownish-yellow waters
of the Kura wind along their deep valley. In the upper part
of the town the river is fairly wide ; but it contracts towards
the south-east, and forces its way through a narrow gorge
with steep sides, where the balconies of the houses overhang
the swift stream, while above them again, on the east side,
the old castle of the Georgian kings with its church-tower
rears its massive lines against the sunny sky, a messenger
from greater days gone by. At present the castle is used as
a prison. From a king’s palace to a gaol ! What will its
next use be ?
High above the old part of the town, on the west side of
the river, the mountain supports the proud mediæval ruins
of the " Persian " fortress, with its ramparts and towers. To
the south of this, the luxuriant botanical garden follows the
rising slope of its narrow ravine. A beautiful country. It
was here that Bodenstedt’s Mirza-Schaffy sang :
Gelb rollt mir zu Fiissen der brausende Kur
lm tanzenden Wellengetriebe ;
Hell låchelt die Sonne, mein Herz und die Flur—
O, wenn es doch immer so bliebe !
Then came the evening, and our friend Napoleon gave a
dinner, with caviare from the Kura, and wines from the
Caucasus—red wines of good body and a splendid golden
yellow one.
What a still night ! Kura’s stream ripples slowly past its
banks, and the black hillsides rise steeply towards the dark
vault above, spangled with innumerable stars that glitter
with all the brilliance of southern lands and are reflected in
the wavelets of the river. Dark against the stars looms the
ancient royal castle on its lofty cliff. The prisoners there are
pining in locked cells. ... A changing pageant passes by
in the night. Warrior hosts, the ring of chargers’ hoofs,
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