On the 17th, we came to a place belonging to the same king, called Gorides,[156] situated in a plain, and having a wooden fort on a hill. A large river passes by it, and it is a very convenient place. As soon as the governor of the town had been informed of my arrival by the guide, he made me enter a house where I expected to have met with a good reception. After I had waited there a little time, however, he sent to inform me that the king had written to order that I should pay twenty-six ducats to him and six to the guide. And when I told him, with astonishment, that this could not be, as the king had received me well, and that I had already given him seventy ducats, and said much more which was of no avail, I was obliged, reluctantly, to give the money. He kept me till the 19th, and then allowed me to depart. I was very much annoyed during my stay, as the brutes appeared never to have seen men before. Giorgiania is, however, rather a better country than Mingrelia; but the customs and way of living of the inhabitants are the same, as are their religion and mode of celebrating it. We were told, when we had descended a high mountain, that in a large church, situated in a forest, there was an ancient image of Our Lady, guarded by forty calviri (or priests), which was said to perform many miracles. I would not go there, as I had a great desire to get out of that accursed country, where I certainly underwent great trouble and escaped many dangers, to describe which would take much time and only prove tiresome to the reader. On the 20th, we left Gorides, and went on, still travelling over mountains and through forests. Occasionally, we came to a house, where we obtained refreshments. We rested in places where there was water and pasture for the horses, and our bed was the fresh grass. We journeyed in this manner all through Mengrelia and Giorgiania. CHAPTER III. His Excellency the Ambassador arrives at Tauris, a royal city of Persia, where, not meeting Ussuncassan, he presents himself to his son. Leaving Tauris, he travels many days through Persia, and arrives at length at the city of Spaan, where he meets the Shah.