Those who dwell in the plains make artificial mounds of earth, and
build their huts of stone or wood. They then throw earth over them,
which they stamp down tightly, so that the huts themselves cannot be
seen at all. Until within the last sixty years, it is said that
many such dwellings were to be seen in the town of Tiflis.
29th August. This morning I had still one stage of twenty-four
wersti ere I reached Tiflis. The road was, as everywhere else, full
of holes, ruts and stones. I was obliged always to tie a
handkerchief tightly round my head, to ease the jolting; and still,
I was every day attacked with headache. Today, however, I learnt
the full nuisance of these carriages. It had rained, not only
during the whole night, but still continued so. The wheels threw up
such masses of mud, that I soon sat in a thick puddle, I was covered
even over the head, and my face did not escape. Small boards
hanging over the wheels would have easily remedied this
inconvenience; but none trouble themselves in this country about the
comfort of travellers.
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