Edmund Spencer, Travels in the Western Caucasus (Part 2) (1838)

Captain Edmund Spencer was a prolific British travel writer of the mid-nineteenth century. Between 1830 and 1850 he traveled widely in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia, publishing several travelogues. His first travel book was entitled “Sketches of Germany and the Germans, with a glance at Poland, Hungary, & Switzerland in 1834, 1835, and 1836, by an English resident of Germany” appeared in 1836. Spencer’s second great tour took him down the Danube from Vienna to Constantinople and the Black Sea where he visited the Caucasus; his travelogue “Travels in the Western Caucasus, including a tour through Imeritia, Mingrelia, Turkey, Moldavia, Galicia, Silesia, and Moravia, in 1836” appeared in London in 1838. Spencer continued to travel for the new two decades, including an extensive voyage through the southern Balkans which he described in his two-volume “Travels in European Turkey, in 1850, through Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace, Albania, and Epirus, with a visit to Greece and the Ionian Isles” (London 1851). In 1851 he revisited the Caucasus and spent several weeks traveling through North Caucasus and Western Georgia, publishing his accounts in "Turkey, Russia, the Black Sea, and Circassia (London, 1854).

The excerpt below is from Spencer's book "Travels in the Western Caucasus."

I have already said that we arrived at Kuthaissi [Kutaisi]; prettily situated on the right bank of the Phase [Rioni], and which makes rather a splendid figure when first seen in the distant landscape. But on arriving there, the illusion of its beauty entirely disappeared, for we found nothing but narrow streets and dirty bazaars, nearly blocked up by stalls of every description, from the cobler's and the tinker's to the vendors of cashmere shawls and gold embroidered muslins.

In one place, pyramids of corn and fruit were offered for sale, in another, mutton and sturgeon were being sold by greasy looking fellows to the half-starved, squalid peasants; nor were the weights and scales less noticeable for their novelty, the one being made of wood and ropes, while round stones were employed as a substitute for the others. The greater number of the buildings were nothing better than wretched huts, intermingled here with a low shed as a stable for the cattle, and there with a house, the painted exterior of which denoted that it had seen better days. The owners of these comfortless habitations, for the most part miserable in appearance, were either basking in the sun, or squatted, enjoying the tchibouque [pipe], under a sort of verandah, the shreds of whose tattered canvass awning waved like dirty banners floating in the wind. Such was the aspect of the town, the filth of the streets, and the wretchedness of the inhabitants, their apathy, idleness, slovenliness, with slave imprinted not only on their countenance, but expressed in their whole manner and bearing, that I wished myself back again in the free mountains of Circassia, where every breeze wafted health and vigour, where every man was master of his own actions, where a bag of gold would not procure a night's lodging, but where the stranger, once received as a friend, would be certain of being everywhere treated with the most unbounded hospitality. 

Notwithstanding my unfavourable picture of Kuthaissi, we fared well within its dilapidated walls, having taken up our quarters at the house of an Armenian merchant, who it appears has contrived to amass a considerable fortune by means of his contraband commerce with the tribes of the Western Caucasus. Profuse in his hospitality towards his distinguished guests, he set before us a repast consisting of every delicacy the oriental cuisine could supply, the wily merchant well knowing how much it was his interest to conciliate and flatter the chiefs of a people to whom he was indebted for so large a share of wealth. 

The character of hakkim which I assumed on first entering the Caucasus, with a view of obtaining an insight into the domestic manners of the inhabitants, I found extremely advantageous to me in these provinces, as it ensured me a hospitable reception, independently of my being the guest of a Circassian chief. To the women of the household of the Armenian merchant I administered a few pills, composed of rhubarb and magnesia, which was the means of introducing me into the sanctum sanctorum—the kitchen; and while my patients were mustering courage to engulph the health-giving boluses, I employed myself in taking a sketch of the interior and its multifarious articles.

The tout ensemble differed but little from that in the house of any Circassian chieftain, except that the various culinary utensils were more numerous, and of a more expensive material, being principally composed of copper, and kept remarkably clean. The great variety of dishes that constitute an oriental repast very much surprise a European, and must employ a number of hands in preparing them. Our host, besides his wife and daughters, maintained several female slaves, all of whom, during our stay, were incessantly occupied in their culinary labours. 

Kid, mutton, fish, poultry, game, etc., were the principal ingredients; and these were served in every possible form; neither were they in any degree unpalatable; on the contrary, many would have satisfied even a fastidious European taste. Rice, dates, honey, clarified butter, and fruits of every kind, also entered into the composition of many of their dishes; while thin wheaten or barley cakes, toasted on the embers, or baked in little portable ovens, formed no bad substitute for the white rolls of Europe.

Among the different utensils of the kitchen, my attention was attracted to the hand-mills by means of which they generally reduce their corn to meal, particularly the millet and other light grain. This most primitive mill, found in the house of every inhabitant of the Caucasus, was perhaps the first machine invented by the ingenuity of man at the commencement of the world. It consists of two circular stones, from two to three feet in diameter; the upper one, which has a handle, and an aperture to receive the wheat, is convex in shape, while the lower is concave. Of course the operation of reducing corn to meal by the agency of such a machine is tedious and tiresome, for, as the upper stone must be briskly turned round, the employment is heartily disliked by the women, the most industrious efforts of one strong damsel being insufficient to grind such a supply as will serve for the consumption of a large family in one day. The female slaves, however, take the mill in turn, otherwise the patience of the most patient would be exhausted; as it is, they generally carol as gaily to the monotonous sound of the mill as our own domestics do to the equally monotonous music of their spinning wheels. 

The Armenians are in Asia what the Jews are in Europe—dealers in silver and gold, and are engaged in every branch of trade which does not require manual labour; and, like them, they form an entirely distinct race from the nations among whom they dwell, differing from them in religion, manners, and customs; and also, like the tribes of Israel, their individuality as a people is marked in their physical conformation in characters which cannot be mistaken. In every commercial transaction they exhibit a degree of cunning, shrewdness, tact, and it must be added, selfishness, unapproached by any other people; for if a farthing of profit is to be extracted from a bargain, an Armenian is certain to make it. In these propensities they completely exemplify the Turkish proverb, which says, “A Greek can cheat a Turk; a Jew will dozen a Greek; but an Armenian will trick not only a Jew, but Schaitan (the devil) himself; and where an Armenian is, a Jew must starve.”

During the various invasions of Persia and Turkey by Russia, the Armenians rendered that power, as guides, spies, and agents, the most important services; in return for which, they enjoy many privileges as settlers in the empire, and, as merchants and pedlers, are fettered with few restrictions.

Notwithstanding the ruling passion of the Armenians is avarice, they can be faithful, as they are engaged in preference to any other people by the Circassians as ambassadors to Turkey and Persia, and as guides when they pass through the dominions of the Autocrat. This servile submission to the will of the Circassian knights, I am inclined to think, arises more from fear than attachment or respect, as they well know that, if they break their faith with the inexorable sons of the Caucasus, their whole family would probably be exterminated; for of every other crime in the eyes of that people, not excepting murder, treachery is the most abhorred, and the most severely punished.

[...]

The wife of my host, the fair Kinsha (happiness), who was the daughter of an Abasian usden, had indeed made him happy in a numerous and healthy family; and the merchant might well exclaim, with the Psalmist, “Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them !” 

The girls were tall for their age, and well made, their figures being sufficiently round without approaching embonpoint; their fine eyes, large and sparkling, gave an intellectual expression to their countenances, while their pearly teeth, and the smile of good humour that played about a mouth regular in its lines as that of Canova's Venus, much improved their personal attractions. Their complexion was much darker than that of the mountaineer of the Caucasus, and might resemble that of a Spanish brunette. Like all orientals, they manifested a decided predilection for finery, in the number of gold ornaments which decorated their hands, fingers, and ears. Their dress was similar to that of the women of the Caucasus, the Circassian princesses being the standard of feminine taste in this part of the east, — full trousers, of bright-coloured Indian cotton, and a large silk wrapper, confined by a girdle studded with gold or silver ornaments, which exhibited their forms to great advantage. 

Although the Armenian women in Turkey generally appear in public closely veiled, and in their houses are seldom visible to strangers, those of our merchant were by no means rigidly excluded from society; they were also more familiar, talkative, and curious, than the Caucasian women in general, while their manners seemed a mixture of the Russian and oriental, and they only wore the veil when taking a promenade. 

The slaves of the household appeared to be treated with as much kindness and consideration as the domestic servants in a well-ordered family in Europe; for an interesting young girl, who was in the last stage of a consumption, was brought to me for my opinion, and as much anxiety was manifested with respect to her recovery as if she had been the only child of the family, for, when I informed them that no earthly power could save her life, the whole of the women burst into tears, and exhibited the most violent demonstrations of sorrow. 

The house of our Armenian was furnished with a greater regard to show than neatness; the sofas and divans of the principal room were covered with rich silks, the floor with Persian carpets, and the walls were hung with purple velvet. Instead of the paintings of saints and angels, such as we see in the houses of those professing the Greek and Roman-catholic form of worship, sentences from the Bible, wrought in gold characters (in the Armenian language), on a ground of the same coloured velvet, were suspended round the room. At table we were furnished with chairs, knives, forks, and spoons,—an arrangement which sadly annoyed my friends the Circassians, who had never before made use of them, and were not a little astonished on observing my adroitness in handling these, in their opinion, very unnecessary appendages to a meal. There was a still greater degree of pomp observed in serving the coffee, which was poured into the finest porcelain cups, resting on gold filigree stands, and then placed upon a massive tray, richly gilt and ornamented. 

All this splendour, however, made no impression upon the sturdy mountaineers, who despised it as useless parade and ostentation, fit only for an effeminate Turk or Persian, or a contemptible money-getting merchant. My friend, the grave austere Inal, denounced it as the origin of every crime, as the certain indication of a state of slavery ...

Edmund Spencer, Travels in the Western Caucasus (1838)

Captain Edmund Spencer was a prolific British travel writer of the mid-nineteenth century. Between 1830 and 1850 he traveled widely in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia, publishing several travelogues. His first travel book was entitled “Sketches of Germany and the Germans, with a glance at Poland, Hungary, & Switzerland in 1834, 1835, and 1836, by an English resident of Germany” appeared in 1836. Spencer’s second great tour took him down the Danube from Vienna to Constantinople and the Black Sea where he visited the Caucasus; his travelogue “Travels in the Western Caucasus, including a tour through Imeritia, Mingrelia, Turkey, Moldavia, Galicia, Silesia, and Moravia, in 1836” appeared in London in 1838. Spencer continued to travel for the new two decades, including an extensive voyage through the southern Balkans which he described in his two-volume “Travels in European Turkey, in 1850, through Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace, Albania, and Epirus, with a visit to Greece and the Ionian Isles” (London 1851). In 1851 he revisited the Caucasus and spent several weeks traveling through North Caucasus and Western Georgia, publishing his accounts in "Turkey, Russia, the Black Sea, and Circassia (London, 1854).

The excerpt below is from Spencer's book "Travels in the Western Caucasus."

The religion of the Suoni [Svan] may be said to be a modification of Christianity, for they observe many of the fasts enjoined by the Greek church, and make a pilgrimage once or twice a-year to the ruins of some of their churches, or other holy shrines. An old man, of known sanctity, officiates as priest when his services are required, for which he is rewarded by each family, once a-year, with a fat sheep. When celebrating any of their festivals, such as Christmas, Easter, &c, they are most liberal in their hospitality, compelling every stranger, poor or rich, who may happen to be in their neighbourhood, to partake of their good cheer.

The Suoni [Svans] speak a dialect of the Mingrelian, and in their dress also resemble that people, while their customs and manners differ little from those of the other Caucasian tribes already described. In hospitality and courtesy to strangers well recommended, and in respect to their elders and chiefs, they are not exceeded by any; but woe to the traveller who might enter their settlements without some proof of the integrity of his intentions.

The only difference I observed in the culinary preparations was a substitute for the almost universal pilaff, in the form of mutton broth, served in small earthen basins, after the meat was dispatched. Like the other Circassian tribes, they are still ignorant that knives and forks form a cleanlier and more convenient medium for conveying food to the mouth than the fingers.

It must be confessed, that when our whole party were seated on their little carpets around the huge smoking copper cauldron of one of these patriarchal chiefs, devouring its contents with their fingers— the lord of the entertainment at the same time politely pointing out with his poniard [small dagger] the most delicate morsels to his guests, etiquette forbidding him to join the circle himself—they formed a picture which might well astonish a refined denizen of Europe. Yet, however fastidious his taste may be, let him ride four or five hours, without refreshment, over a mountainous country like the Caucasus, and then find himself seated near such a cauldron, filled with a savoury ragout, and I suspect his predilection for forks and spoons would vanish before the pleadings of hunger, and he would find the humble repast of the mountaineers quite as palatable as the recherche' viands of the most accomplished cuisinier of the day.

Instead of the wine and bosa so generally found at the houses of the other tribes we had visited, we were here, for the first time, plentifully regaled with beer, by no means to be despised. I could not forbear remarking that these people, notwithstanding salt is easily procured from their neighbours, the Mingrelians, prefer using sour milk as a substitute, which appears rather to conduce to their health than otherwise, at least, one thing is certain, that no peasants in any part of Europe are more free than the inhabitants of these provinces are in general from eruptive diseases, and, if we may judge from their appearance, none are more healthy; a fact attested by the great age to which the inhabitants generally attain, and the number of fine children that everywhere meet the eye. This may perhaps be, in some measure, attributed to the circumstance, that they consume vast quantities of honey, and never indulge in spirituous liquors; to which we may add, that they take a great deal of exercise in the open air.

The Suoni [Svans] are not so neat in all that appertains to domestic economy as the Circassians, neither are their houses so commodious, being, in fact, mere hovels, resembling those of the Tartars, which I described when traveling in KrimTartary. The roofs are, in general, level with the surface of the ground, and the little dwelling itself lies burrowed in the side of a rock, on the banks of some running stream or spring. In the centre of these huts is an opening intended for the purposes of admitting light and expelling smoke; adjoining to these are the sheds for their cattle, and store-houses for preserving the produce of the field during winter,—all built in the same primitive manner.

These huts appear, however, suited to their wants, as they never remain stationary for any length of time. In summer they wander from mountain to mountain with their flocks and herds, and during winter remain quietly on the fertile banks of some rivulet; but, as they think it too much labour to manure their land, when it becomes exhausted by repeated crops they remove to another spot. Hence, if we were not aware of this being the general practice of the people, and in a greater or less degree that of all the tribes of the Western Caucasus, we might be led to believe, from the frequent recurrence of ruined hamlets and homesteads, that the country had been recently laid waste by some invading army.

As may be supposed, the Suoni, from the nature of their country, are a people entirely pastoral in their habits. At the same time that they derive from their narrow dales sufficient corn for their own consumption, they maintain numerous flocks and herds. Their horses are small and rough-looking, but very hardy, and none are better adapted for mountain-traveling, owing to their sure footedness; hence they derive considerable profit by selling them to their neighbours, the Imeritians and Mingrelians. They have also a good breed of asses, and their mules are much in demand.

Every hamlet and homestead through which we passed we found infested, like those of the Krim Tartars, with dogs of the wolf breed, whose incessant clamour and pertinacious pursuit of a stranger are extremely annoying. In addition to this canine torment, they have a fine race of greyhounds, resembling those of the Circassians in Lower Abasia, kept for coursing, an amusement for which they entertain a strong attachment.

It would appear from the numerous ruins of churches and other buildings, that the Suoni [Svans] were at one time more civilized than they are at the present day; still, being moderate in their desires, and having abundance of cattle and corn to supply their wants, together with every description of game, and at the same time protected from invasion by the fastnesses of their mountains, we may term them a happy people.

The chiefs and elders of the Suoni, being allied with the Circassian knights by family ties, are on the most friendly terms with them, and in general with all their neighbours, who look up to their mountains as a secure asylum in the event of being expelled from their own country by aggression. In their laws, customs, and manners, they are perfectly patriarchal, living under the jurisdiction of those among their elders whose wisdom and influence entitle them to such a distinction.

The dales and sides of the mountains inhabited by the Suoni are well covered with forest timber, including immense trees of that beautiful red wood, the Taxus, together with oak and linden of the most gigantic dimensions. Here I found the bark of that most useful tree, the linden, again in high request, as these people manufacture from it their summer tents, which are perfectly impervious to rain. Lofty walnut trees abound in favoured situations, where also the vine and various kinds of fruit trees thrive with no common luxuriance.

The system of agriculture pursued by these people differs little from that of the other mountaineers before described, and their flocks and herds are also very similar. Their forests, however, being more inaccessible and savage, abound with prodigious quantities of game of every description, and also with wild animals, such as the bear, wolf, lynx, and wild cat; neither is the panther, which infests part of Imeritia and Georgia, any stranger to their valleys.

[...]

Having completely refreshed ourselves at the house of the excellent elder Alaek Aiti, we rose with Aurora, and prepared to quit the territory of the confederated tribes of the Western Caucasus. To prevent suspicion from being excited in the minds of the Russian soldiery, should we encounter any, we exchanged the Circassian turban of black Astrakan fur and scarlet cloth, for the towering Mingrelian cap of lamb skin; and that we might appear peaceable in our intentions, we divested ourselves of the rifle, merely retaining the sabre, together with the poniard [dagger] and pistols in our belts; thus, enveloped in the ample folds of the tohaouka, we rather resembled a party of quiet Mingrelian peasants, than the fierce enemies of Russian aggression. 

Our worthy host and his followers, also, most courteously exchanged our weary horses for their own hardy surefooted animals; so, once more well mounted, and accompanied as usual by the whole male population of the district, we commenced our journey to the Tzcheness-tzquali [Tskhenistskali River], a river that separates Mingrelia from Imeritia. We might have taken a shorter route by following the Mecu-Enguri to Anaklia, on the Mingrelian coast; but by so doing, we should have been condemned to a dreary ride through the swamps and interminable forests bordering the Euxine in that direction; besides being exposed to the danger of suffering from the malaria, with which nearly the whole of the Odishi district, on to the mouth of the Phase [Rioni], is infested, with the exception of a few months in winter. 

It was impossible that any country could have been more delightfully picturesque and romantic than that in the vicinity of the [Tskhenistskali]: the river itself, here and there like a cataract, was at one time seen bursting through the clefts of rocks of terrific elevation, then, taking a serpentine course, it irrigated fairy valleys, abounding with all the productions of the most favoured climes: there was the myrtle, the laurel, and the olive; thick groves of oleander and pomegranate; while the wild vine, the fig, and the mulberry, intermingled with the choicest fruit trees and innumerable species of parasitical plants, formed bowers at once fragrant and luxuriant. Nor were these the only attractions in this singular and beautiful region, for at every elevated point, as we left the river, and followed some less circuitous path across a mountain ridge, landscapes at once splendid and extensive burst upon our view ; in addition to the stupendous Elbrous, the Mquinvari [Mkinvar-tsveri/Kazbek] marked its majestic outline upon the horizon, together with the distant scarcely defined range of mountains inhabited by the Lesghi. The Mquinvari (ice mountain, in the Mingrelian dialect) is exactly in the form of a sugar loaf, being covered even down to its base with eternal snow and ice: this arises from its very elevated situation, as it is in fact, like the Elbrous, an alp upon a ridge of high mountains. 

This magnificent alp, considerably higher than Mont Blanc, is but seldom visible from any of the mountain heights in the Western Caucasus, owing to the Elbrous or some other lofty peak intercepting the view. The neighbouring tribes, the Ossetinians, call it the Zeresti-zub (mountain of Christ), conformably with a legend which says that our Redeemer once resided in a splendid palace in the interior of the ice-clad alp, superb beyond description, being built of white marble and crystal, and containing among other treasures, “the tent of Abraham, the fiery chariot that conveyed Elijah to heaven, the cradle of Christ, and the identical dove that Noah dispatched from the ark, to ascertain whether the waters of the flood were yet dried up !” 

These traditions, and various others of a similar nature, so widely circulated, and so generally believed by the Caucasians, however absurd and fanciful they may be, afford sufficient evidence of the existence of Christianity at some former period. 

The Suoni tribes have also a peculiar appellation for their gigantic neighbour, the Elberous, calling it Passi; and, like the other tribes, imagine it to be the abode of some mighty spirit, with his myriads of attendants. 

We had not proceeded many miles on the banks of the [Tskhenistskali] when we took a more southerly direction, and came to the Phase [Rioni], for, in this land of nature, rivers and the luminaries of heaven are the only indications which a traveller has to guide him on his route. We were, however, aided by the experience of the Suoni chief, Alaek Aiti, for without some such assistance it would have been impossible to attempt a passage through this most inaccessible country, a term which may be applied, in a greater or less degree, to the whole of the mountain districts I had traversed in the interior of the Caucasus. Indeed, no description can convey an accurate idea of the fearfully wild and romantic character of the region through which we now passed, each successive gorge and deep defile being more formidable and intricate than the other; here our narrow path was overhung by jutting crags, – there by an impenetrable arch, composed of the foliage of virgin forests and brushwood, through which we were frequently obliged to hew a passage with the axe: a country admirably adapted to the guerilla, who would defend the passes of his country; or the bandit, who would plunder the passing traveller; since nothing could be easier than for a single warrior to exterminate a whole party before they would be able to discover his retreat. 

On leaving the country of the confederated tribes of the Western Caucasus, the first district we entered in Imeritia was Ledschgumi [Lechkhumi]. This beautiful country abounds in all the choicest productions of nature: with a soil capable of nourishing a vast population, it is also blessed with a climate the most salubrious and bracing to the constitution, for here, the mountains being of no great altitude, and shelving down to the plains of Mingrelia and Gourial [Guria], there is no obstruction whatever to deprive the land of the mild breezes of the south. Notwithstanding all these advantages, the country is wild, solitary, and neglected; for, with the exception of a few miserable hamlets, more resembling the habitations of beavers than the dwellings of man, we did not see a single village till we came to Kuthaissi [Kutaisi], once the capital of Imeritia, but now so ruinous and depopulated as scarcely to deserve the name of a town. The few natives we encountered bore every mark of extreme indigence, were slovenly in their dress, and in everything appertaining to their domestic concerns. 

How different from their sturdy neighbours, the mountaineers of the Caucasus, whose patriotism and independent spirit elevates them to such a decided superiority over the whole of the neighbouring tribes who had formerly acknowledged, or at present recognise, the supremacy of Turkey and Persia ! These people, having their best energies chilled by despotism and slavery, with scarcely any interest in the land they cultivate, beyond that of producing a miserable subsistence for their families, have become, owing to the uncertain tenure upon which they hold their property, recklessly careless as to the future, and negligent in everything that concerns their existence. They also submit to be transferred from one potentate to another, with as much apathy as if they were a herd of cattle...