The writer of the present article is well aware of his unfitness for the task he has set himself, yet he feels sure that the result of his unprejudiced observation cannot fail to be interesting; if he only succeeds in provoking adverse criticism he will be satisfied, for thereby attention will be drawn to a question the discussion of which must lead to a far better understanding of many points of vital importance. At the very outset it is necessary to remove from the mind of the reader an opinion which is almost universally held in Europe, and which is, perhaps, the chief cause of that apathy with which politicians look upon the Caucasus. It is generally believed, even by some of those who have been in the country, that Transcaucasia is inhabited by a vast number of tribes, more or less wild, having nothing in common but the doubtful benefits of Russian rule. Nothing could be more misleading. Students of ethnography may amuse themselves by making elaborate investigations into the origin and characteristics of the Khevsur, the Svan, the Pshav, the Osset, it is sufficient for us to know that all these peoples are, politically at least, Georgians, and have fought under the Kartvelian kings since the days of William the Conqueror. Between the Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the frontiers of Turkey and Persia, there are only three native peoples who deserve our consideration, viz.:-- The various Lesghian tribes in the E., numbering about 1,500,000 The Armenians, in the S., numbering about 740,000 The Georgians, in the W., numbering over 1,000,000 The latter total is made up as follows:-- (a) Kartlians, Kakhetians, and Ingiloitsi 310,000 (b) Highlanders, i.e. Khevsurs, Pshavs, Tushes 20,000 (c) Imeretians and Gurians 380,000 (d) Adjartsi, Kobuletsi (in valleys near Artvin) 46,000 (e) Mingrelians 200,000 (f) Lazes (near Batum). The majority are still in Turkey 2,000 (g) Svans 12,000 To these may be added:-- The Apkhazi (near Sukhum) 32,000 and The Ossets (south of the Caucasus) 53,000 There are also many Georgians in Turkey, and a few in Persia. The numerous local appellations given above mean no more than Yorkshireman, Cornishman, or Aberdonian do to us. If I succeed in impressing upon my readers the fact that there is a politically homogeneous region stretching from the steppe of Baku to the Black Sea, my labour will not have been fruitless.