accumulated weight. At the mouth it is sixty fathom deep, and
half a league broad, but a small woody island is interposed in the midst
of the channel; the water, so soon as it has deposited an earthy or
metallic sediment, floats on the surface of the waves, and is no longer
susceptible of corruption. In a course of one hundred miles, forty of
which are navigable for large vessels, the Phasis divides the celebrated
region of Colchos, or Mingrelia, which, on three sides, is fortified
by the Iberian and Armenian mountains, and whose maritime coast extends
about two hundred miles from the neighborhood of Trebizond to Dioscurias
and the confines of Circassia. Both the soil and climate are relaxed
by excessive moisture: twenty-eight rivers, besides the Phasis and his
dependent streams, convey their waters to the sea; and the hollowness
of the ground appears to indicate the subterraneous channels between the
Euxine and the Caspian. In the fields where wheat or barley is sown, the
earth is too soft to sustain the action of the plough; but the _gom_,
a small grain, not unlike the millet or coriander seed, supplies the
ordinary food of the people; and the use of bread is confined to the
prince and his nobles. Yet the vintage is more plentiful than the
harvest; and the bulk of the stems, as well as the quality of the wine,
display the unassisted powers of nature. The same powers continually
tend to overshadow the face of the country with thick forests; the
timber of the hills, and the flax of the plains, contribute to the
abundance of naval stores; the wild and tame animals, the horse, the ox,
and the hog, are remarkably prolific, and the name of the pheasant is
expressive of his native habitation on the banks of the Phasis. The gold
mines to the south of Trebizond, which are still worked with sufficient
profit, were a subject of national dispute between Justinian and
Chosroes; and it is not unreasonable to believe, that a vein of precious
metal may be equally diffused through the circle of the hills, although
these secret treasures are neglected by the laziness, or concealed by
the prudence, of the Mingrelians. The waters, impregnated with particles
of gold, are carefully strained through sheep-skins or fleeces; but this
expedient, the groundwork perhaps of a marvellous fable, affords a
faint image of the wealth extracted from a virgin earth by the power
and industry of ancient kings. Their silver palaces and golden chambers
surpa