On the 1st of July we arrived near Phasis, followed by a vessel filled with Mingrelians, who seemed all to be fools or drunk. Quitting the vessel, we went up the river in a boat, passing an island in the mouth of the river, where Oetes, the father of Medea the enchantress, is said to have reigned. On this island we spent the night, and were sadly infested by midges. Next day we went up the river in the boat, passing the city of Asso, which stands on its banks in the midst of a forest. I here found one Nicholas Capella, of Modena, who commanded in these parts, and a Circassian woman named Martha, who had been the slave of a person of Genoa, but was now married. This Martha received me with much kindness, and with her I staid two days. Phasis is a city of Mingrelia, subject to prince Bendian, whose dominions extend only about three days journey in length. The country is very mountainous, and full of forests. The inhabitants are so fierce and savage, that they might be accounted wild beasts. Their principal drink is beer; they have some corn and wine, but in very small quantities; boiled millet being their ordinary food, which is a very poor kind of nourishment. They sometimes procure wine and salted fish from Trebisond, and import salt from Kaffa, without which they could not exist. Their only productions consist in a small quantity of hemp and wax. If they were industrious, they might procure abundance of fish, which are very numerous in their river. They are Christians, according to the Greek ritual, to which they have added many gross superstitions. I left Phasis on the 4th of July, accompanied by Nicholas Capella, and crossed the river _Mare_ on a float. That day and the next, we travelled through a considerable portion of Mingrelia, always among woods and mountains. Towards the evening of the 5th, we came to the habitation of prince Bendian, whom we found, with all his court, reclining on a plain, under the shade of some trees. I sent Nicholas Capella to inform him of my quality, and to ask permission to pay him my respects, which was accordingly granted. I saluted him, therefore, with great respect, as he sat on the ground with his wife and children, and he made me sit down beside him. After explaining the purpose of my journey, I requested he would have the goodness to appoint me a guide. He expressed his satisfaction at my arrival in his dominions, and granted my request. He afterwards sent me some bread, a piece of beef, and the head of a sow, but so under done, that it required the extreme necessity in which we then were to induce us to eat of his provisions; but when we cannot get what we like, we must put up with what can be had. We had to wait a whole day for the promised guide. The plain in which we found prince Bendian, is surrounded by very fine trees, resembling box, but much more lofty. The prince seemed about fifty years of age, and had a tolerably handsome countenance, but his manners were perfectly ridiculous.