My stay in Kutais was caused by the want of horses; it was not till
2 o'clock in the afternoon that I could continue my journey. I had
two stages to reach the village of Marand, which lies on the river
Ribon, where the post-cars are changed for a boat, by which the
journey to Redutkale, on the Black Sea, is made.
The first stage passes chiefly through fine woods, the second
presents an open view over fields and meadows; the houses and huts
are quite buried beneath bushes and trees. We met a number of
peasants who, although they had only a few fowls, eggs, fruits,
etc., to carry to the town for sale, were nevertheless on horseback.
There was abundance of grass and willow trees, and consequently of
horses and horned cattle.
At Marand I stopped, for want of an inn, with a Cossack. These
people, who also live here as settlers, have pretty wooden cottages,
with two or three rooms, and a piece of land which they use as field
and garden. Some of them receive travellers, and know how to charge
enough for the miserable accommodation they afford.
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