one of the original states of the United States of North America, in the southern division of the union, lies between N. Lat. 30° 22' and 35°, and between W. Long. 81° and 85° 53' from Greenwich. It is bounded E. and on the N. by the States of Tennessee and North Carolina, boundaries N.E. by South Carolina, from which it is separated by the Savannah river, S.E. by the Atlantic Ocean, S. by Florida, and W. by Alabama. It is about 300 miles long from N. to S., and 256 broad, containing 58,000 square miles. The population in 1800 was 162,101, in 1850, 906,101; 521,488 whites, 2931 free coloured, 381,682 slaves. The state is divided into 97 counties.

The coast of Georgia, for four or five miles inland, is a face of the salt marsh, mostly uninhabited. In front of this, towards country, the sea, there is a chain of islands of gray, rich soil, covered, in their natural state, with pine, hickory, and evergreen oak, and yielding, when cultivated, sea-island cotton. The principal of these islands are Tybee, Warsaw, Ossabaw, St Catherine's Islands, Sapello, St Simon's, Jekyll, and Cumberland. The land bordering on the salt marsh is of nearly the same quality as that of the islands. In the rear of this margin commence the pine barrens. The rivers and creeks are bordered with swamps or marshes, which, at every tide, for 15 or 20 miles from the coast, are either wholly or partially overflowed. These constitute the rice plantations. The pine barrens extend from 60 to 90 miles from the sea, beyond which the country becomes uneven, diversified with hills and mountains, and possesses a strong rich soil. This section produces cotton, tobacco, Indian corn, wheat, and other kinds of grain. The north-western part of the state is mountainous, and abounds in sublime and picturesque scenery.

Georgia was the last settled of the original thirteen states historical of the American confederacy, the first colony having been sketch planted by Oglethorpe at Yamacraw Bluff (now called Savannah) in 1733, more than 100 years after the settlement of most of the original colonies, and 63 years after that of South Carolina, her nearest neighbour. Three years afterwards some Germans founded Ebenezer-on-the-River, about 25 miles above Savannah. The settlement of Darien was commenced about the same time by some Scotch Highlanders. The infant colony was involved in some severe contests with the Spaniards of Florida, who claimed the country as far as the thirty-third degree of north latitude. In 1739 Oglethorpe invaded Florida, took Fort Diego, and besieged St Augustine, but was obliged to raise the siege and return. The Spanish in turn invaded Georgia in 1742, but being alarmed by a stratagem of Oglethorpe's, they retreated without coming to blows. Slaves were first admitted into the colony in 1749. The proprietors, harassed by the difficulties that surrounded them, gave up the province to the crown in 1752, when Dr Franklin was appointed its agent near the British government. In 1761 the Cherokee Indians were attacked by Colonel Montgomery, on which occasion the savages so bravely resisted that, though Montgomery claimed the victory, he thought it advisable to retreat. The following year Colonel Grant burned their towns, laid waste their country, and reduced them to sue for peace. Georgia entered warmly into the revolution, and during parts of 1778, 1779, and 1780, was in the hands of the British troops. Savannah was captured by them Georgia. December 29, 1778; and the combined American and French armies were repulsed in an attempt to retake it in October 1779, with a loss to the allies of 1100 men. In 1838 the Cherokee Indians were removed from the state to the Indian territory, beyond the Mississippi, and Georgia came into the possession of the long coveted Indian reservation.

The rivers are the Savannah, 500 miles long, bounding the state on the N.E., navigable for ships 17 miles to Savannah, and for steamboats 250 miles to Augusta; the Altamaha, which is navigable for large vessels 12 miles to Darien, is formed by the junction of the Oconee and the Ocmulgee, which are navigable to Macon and Milledgeville for steamboats; the Ogeechee 200 miles long, and navigable for sloops 40 miles; Flint River, which rises in the N.W. part of the state, and after a course of about 300 miles, joins the Chattahoochee, forming the Appalachian; the Chattahoochee, on the west border of the state, is navigable 300 miles by steamboat to Columbus; the St Mary River is in the S.E. part of the state. Savannah is the largest and chief commercial town. Pop. (1853) 20,000. Augusta is on the Savannah River, just below the falls, and is the enterpot for the agricultural exports of the upper country. Pop. (1853) 12,000.

Milledgeville, the seat of the state government, is situated near the centre of Georgia. Pop. (1850) 2216. The other principal towns are Athens, Atlanta, Columbus, and Griffin.

Previous to the discovery of the gold mines of California, Georgia was one of the El-Dorados of America; but though her mines are almost forgotten by the richer yields of the new state on the Pacific, a time may come again when slow and patient industry may be content to develop the golden treasures of this region. The tract containing the gold mines has its centre in Lumpkin county, in the northern part of the state; and at Dahlonega, in this county, a branch mint has been established, which coined in 1841 $351,592 in gold. Besides this precious metal, Georgia contains some silver, copper, iron, lead, manganese, titanium, graphite, antimony, and zinc; also granite, marble, gypsum, limestone, coal, sylite, marl, burrstone, soapstone, asbestos, slate, shale, tripoli, fluor-spar, barytes, tourmaline, aragonite, kaolin, epidote, porcelain clay, ruby, opal, augite, cyanite, emerald, prase, cornelian, chalcedony, agate, jasper, amethyst, precious garnets, schorl, zircon, rose quartz, beryl, and even diamonds. Fossils are found in abundance in the S.E. counties near the sea.

While the inhabitants of southern and middle Georgia are being parched with heat, frequently so intense as to prevent comfortable rest, even at night, the more northern climate among the mountains is such as to render necessary a blanket in order to comfortable repose. A more lovely heaven does not smile upon the classic land of Italy than upon the favoured inhabitants of Georgia. The diversity of soil is not less than that of climate, from the rich alluvions near the sea-coast and rivers, to the thinner soil of the pine barrens (not nearly so sterile as their name implies), and the rougher mountain regions. The good and bad lands of Georgia are so intermingled that it is difficult to describe them by districts. In the south, on the coast, are the islands with their light sandy soil, but fertile in sea-island cotton and on the mainland are the rich alluvions, but interspersed with swamps, which, however, yield rice in abundance. The bottom lands of the rivers are exceedingly fertile, and produce rice, cotton, Indian corn, and sugar.

Further west, about 60 miles from the coast, commence the pine barrens, at present mostly valuable for their timber and naval stores, but easily cultivated and productive, should occasion require. In the south-west the soil is light and sandy, but fertile and productive in cotton; the sugar cane is also sometimes cultivated successfully. The middle region consists of a red loamy soil, once productive, but owing to a bad system of culture, much impoverished. Its products are cotton, tobacco, and the various kinds of grain. The Cherokee country in the north, once in possession of the Indians of that name, and containing land among the most fertile in the state, particularly in its valleys, which, though worked by the Indians for ages past, are still capable of producing from 50 to 70 bushels of grain to the acre.

Our summary of the natural resources and physical characteristics of this state, bring us to the conclusion that it is surpassed by no Atlantic or Gulf state, to say the least, in the elements of a rapid growth in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. The prime articles of cultivation in Georgia are cotton, rice, sweet potatoes, and Indian corn; besides which large quantities of live stock, wheat, oats, tobacco, wool, peas, beans, Irish potatoes, fruits, market products, butter, cheese, hay, sugar, molasses, bees' wax and honey, and some rye, barley, buckwheat, wine, grass seeds, hops, flax and silk, are produced. In 1850 there were on this state 51,759 farms, containing 6,378,475 acres of improved land, averaging about 120 acres to a farm, and producing 1,088,534 bushels of wheat, 53,750 of rye, 30,080,099 of Indian corn, 3,820,044 of oats, 1,142,011 of peas and beans, 227,879 of Irish potatoes, 6,986,428 of sweet potatoes, 11,501 of barley, 38,950,691 pounds of rice, 432,924 of tobacco, 199,636,400 of cotton, 990,019 of wool, 4,640,559 of butter, 46,976 of cheese, 23,449 tons of hay, 1,644,000 pounds of cane sugar, 732,514 of honey and bees' wax, 216,150 gallons of molasses, live stock valued at $25,728,416, orchard products at $92,776, market goods at $76,500, and slaughtered animals at $6,339,762.

There were in the state in 1850, 35 cotton factories, with Manufacture capital invested of $1,736,156, employing 873 males and 1399 females, and producing 7,209,292 yards of sheetings, and 4,198,351 lbs. of yarn, valued at $2,135,044; 3 woollen factories, with a capital of $68,000, employing 40 males and 38 females, manufacturing 340,660 yards of cloth, valued at $88,750; 3 establishments making pig-iron, with a capital of $26,000, employing 138 persons, producing 900 tons of pig-iron, &c., valued at $57,300; 4 establishments, with a capital of $35,000, employing 39 persons, and making 415 tons of castings, valued at $46,200; 3 establishments, with a capital of $9,200, employing 27 persons, and manufacturing 90 tons of wrought iron, valued at $15,384; 330 flouring and grist mills, 389 saw mills, 49 printing offices, 5 daily, 3 tri-weekly and semi-weekly, and 37 weekly newspapers, and 6 monthly publications. Capital invested in manufactures $5,363,490; value of manufactured articles $7,084,585.

On the first of January 1854, there were 15 railroads, Railroads, 884 miles of which were completed and in operation, and 445 miles in course of construction.

There are five colleges in Georgia—Franklin College at Education, Athens, Oglethorpe College at Milledgeville, Emory College &c., at Oxford, Mercer University at Penfield, and Wesleyan Female College at Macon, having an aggregate number of students in 1852 of 596. There is also a theological seminary at Penfield, and a medical school at Augusta. There were also 219 academies, 9059 pupils, 1254 schools, 32,705 scholars, 38 libraries, 31,788 volumes. There are also an institution for the blind, an asylum for the deaf and dumb, and the Georgia State Lunatic Asylum. There were in the state in January 1853, 17 banks, with an aggregate capital of $5,329,515.

There were in the state in 1850, 821 Baptist churches, Religion, 5 Christian, 1 Congregational, 19 Episcopal, 5 Free, 2 Friends, 8 Lutheran, 735 Methodist, 1 Moravian, 92 Presbyterian, 8 Roman Catholic, 16 Union, 3 Universalist, and 7 other sects, the whole having 1723 churches; total value of church property $1,209,159.

The governor is elected by the people for two years, and receives a salary of $3000 per annum. The Senate consists of... Georgia of 47 members, and the House of Representatives of 139, both elected for each session of the legislature, each member receiving $5 a-day. The legislature meets biennially on the first Monday of November (odd years), at Milledgeville. All the free white male inhabitants, 21 years old and upwards, who shall have resided within the county in which they vote six months preceding the election, and shall have paid taxes in the state for the year previous, have the right of suffrage. The state of Georgia is entitled to eight members in the national House of Representatives, and to ten electoral votes for the president of the United States.

The judges of the supreme court are elected for six years (one every two years) by the general assembly, and are removable upon address of two-thirds of each house. Judges of the superior court are elected for four years by the people of the district over which they preside, with jurisdiction exclusive in criminal cases and in land cases, and concurrent in all other civil cases. Justices of the inferior courts are elected by the people for four years; justices of the peace are elected by the people in districts. Each county elects an ordinary, who holds office for four years, and has the ordinary jurisdiction of a judge of probate, and is paid by fees.

In the year 1837 a branch of the United States mint was established at Dahlonega in Georgia; since which period the production of gold in that state has averaged about $300,000 per annum.

Georgia is one of the great cotton-producing states of the south. We annex the official returns of acres in cultivation, &c., in the year 1852:

| Number of bales of 400 lbs. each | 740,000 | | Labourers employed | 187,000 | | Acres in cultivation | 1,500,000 | | Additional area suitable to cotton cultivation | 3,000,000 | | Number of labourers needed | 375,000 | | Gross additional bales of 400 lbs. | 1,500,000 |

GEORGIA is a kingdom on the southern slopes of Mount Caucasus, remarkable not only for the excellence of its climate and the fertility of its valleys, but as having subsisted as a separate kingdom for more than 2000 years, notwithstanding the various invasions and spoliations to which it has been exposed. Georgia Proper is the Iberia of the ancients, but the territory of its kings was at one time extended over the whole Caucasian isthmus south of the chain of the Caucasus. The origin and date of its present appellation does not seem as yet to have been very satisfactorily ascertained. The Georgi mentioned by Pliny and Pomponius Mela were merely agricultural tribes, so designated in order to distinguish them from their nomadic neighbours on the other side of the river Panticopes; they were besides far to the N.W. of the Caucasus, near the Tauric Chersonese or Crimea. The true origin of the present name seems to be the designation given to this country in the 11th and 12th centuries by the Arabs and Persians, who called it Gurj, Gurj-i-stan, or Gurg-i-istan, i.e., "Land of Wolves;" a name most appropriate to a region so thickly wooded. Wahl, however, in his Vorder und Mittel Asien, derives it from Kur or Gur, the Persian for the river called Cyrus (Kipos) by the Greeks. But that stream was never called Gurj. By the Georgians themselves, their country was called Khartli, but now Virk; by the Armenians it is named Vrastan; and by the Russians, Grusin, and the inhabitants Grus-ya; but the native historians preserve the name Iercia, i.e., Iberia, which was introduced by the ecclesiastics whose profession led them to study Greek.

The whole territory was anciently divided into Upper and Lower Iberia,—the former comprehending Khartli, Khakheti, and part of Sa-atabago; the latter, the remainder of Sa-atabago with Imerethi, Ming-reli, and Gurjel. Georgia, however, taken in its largest sense, may be said to be bounded on the N. by the snowy ridges of the Caucasus, on the E. and W. by the Caspian and the Euxine seas, and on the S. by the rivers Choroki, Kur, and Eresu, anciently called respectively the Batlhas, the Cyrus, and the Araxes. The area, anciently divided into Colchis, Iberia, and Albania, now embraces the following territories—Lazheti, Gurjel, Ming-reli, Imerethi, Khartli or Georgia Proper, Kacheti, Ganjaf, Karabagh, Shekhi or Nukha, Shirvan, Mughlan, and Talish.

Georgia Proper has an area of about 26,000 square miles, with an estimated population (in 1855) of 600,000. The principal town is Tiflis, the ancient metropolis of Georgia, the chief seat of the commerce of the country, and at present the seat of government for all the Caucasian provinces of Russia. (See Tiflis.) The physical features of Georgia will be found under the articles Caucasus and Transcaucasia; and the trade and commerce under Tiflis.

Adopting the Armenian genealogies, the Georgians trace history, their origin to Thurgamos, a great-grandson of Noah. Considering this, however, as fabulous, or at least very improbable, we may safely conclude that they are the descendants of the aborigines of the mountains of Pamikhi. Their earliest emigrants pushed northwards and occupied the fertile valleys which extend from this chain to the Caucasus. Georgian historians tell us that their country Khartli derives its name from Khartlos, one of their earliest chieftains, and that all their tribes are called Thargamosians—names which they have adopted since the introduction of Christianity in order to give a biblical origin to their race. According to the Armenian traditions, Thargamos, the grandson of Japhet, had eight sons, of whom the second was Khartlos, who established himself on the southern declivities of the Caucasus, and was the founder of the Georgian nation. Stephen Orpetian, archbishop of Soonyo, who lived in the third century, alleged that this son of the patriarch built at the foot of Mount Armaz a fortress to which he gave the name of Orpeth. This circumstance is worthy of being noted, as it will serve for a starting point in the history of the race of the Orpetians, veritable mayors of the palace of the kings of Georgia. Mtseketos, the eldest son of Khartlos, founded, near the confluence of the Aragvi and the Kur, a town to which he gave his own name, and which served as the capital to his successors down to the year 470 A.D. Some fragments of the chronology of the kings of Georgia are found scattered through the historians of Persia and Byzantium; but we shall not help to rescue their obscure names from the oblivion which cannot too soon shroud their useless lives. Only the most remarkable personages and events merit our notice as falling in with general authentic history.

The Georgian chronicles mention Farnavaz as the first chieftain who took the title of king in Georgia. He lived about 300 B.C. One of his successors, of the name of Aderkli, divided his dominions into two states—Armazel and Mtseket, which, at his death, he bequeathed to his two sons; but in the sixth generation the king of Armazel united them again. A king named Miryan built the fortress of Dariel, and threw up a rampart in order to protect Georgia against the invasions of the Alans and the Khazars. This, however, did not prevent the Alans, in the following century (B.C. 100), from twice crossing the Caucasus from N. to S. in order to overrun Armenia and Media. At the end of the third century A.D., King Aspagur abolished the custom of immolating children to the idols, and thus prepared the way for the reception of Christianity among his subjects. From 265 till 318 Mirian was king, when a female slave, whom the Armenian chronicles call Nina, came into Georgia, and brought with her the faith of Christ which she exemplified most attractively in her whole life. The king Mtseketos caused a chapel to be erected in a wood, where precious relics were deposited; and Mirdat, his son, replaced this edifice by a stone church. In A.D. 469, the king, Vakhtang Gurgastan, abandoned his capital of Mtseketos Georgia, for a new city which he had raised on the site of an ancient village named Tphilissi or Tphiliskalaki, i.e., the "warm town," on account of its thermal springs. This town still continues the capital of the kingdom, and now bears the abbreviated name Tiflis. During the seventh century Islamism was introduced among the Georgians as well as among the other surrounding nations; and in A.D. 684 the Kalif Valid sent into the Caucasus an army of 3000 men, under the command of his brother Musilmel, who seized Derbend after a memorable battle in which the famous Mussulman hero Kriklar was slain. His mausoleum is yet to be seen near Derbend, and the Lesghians still perform their pilgrimage to it. From this time down to the end of the ninth century the Arabs continued their incursions into Georgia, Shirvan, and Daghistan, where they compelled those who fell into their power to embrace Mohammedanism. In the year 861 they seized Tiflis; but soon after this exploit their power and influence began to decline. They had, however, transferred several colonies into Caucasus; and even now there is an Arab people to the north of Derbend, whose location there dates back to this colonization. Passing over a long catalogue of petty sovereigns, concerning whom even their own historians are not agreed, we come to some events concerning the interesting race of the Orpetians. The Georgians long groaned under the yoke of the infidels. Their sovereigns, compelled to follow the dictates of a foreign despot, no longer retained the shadow of authority, nor dared to assume the title of king; they called themselves simply patriks (i.e., patricians) or mamasakhtisi (i.e., patres-familias). During these times of their subjection, a great revolution broke out in the eastern countries bordering on Tartary, and extended even to the mountains of Caucasus. In consequence of this revolution one part of the reigning family emigrated, and passing from one country to another, arrived at the foot of the Caucasus. The chief of these illustrious travellers was a prince of noble mien, brave and courageous, who, becoming aware of the sad position of the Georgians, still more and more oppressed by the Persians, proffered them his services, and laid his plans for their immediate deliverance from their tyrants. Fortune seconding his courage, he soon accomplished his design for the deliverance of the Georgians, who, recognizing the immense obligation which the illustrious strangers had conferred upon them, decreed great honours for them all, but especially for their noble chief. Among other domains the king granted him the fortress of Orpeth, whence was conferred upon him and his descendants the surname of Orpetian. This noble family has ever since rendered to Georgia the most signal services; it has furnished to the crown its firmest supporters, and to the people their bravest defenders. Converted to the Christian faith, the Orpetians have at all times nobly defended it against the attacks of the Mohammedans, and thus acquired so much renown that their power was sufficient alone to place upon the throne the weak kings who succeeded obscurely under their protection. In A.D. 1049, during the reign of the Georgian king David, the Seljook Turks made an irruption into Asia Minor and the Caucasian provinces. David in terror retired to the mountain fastnesses for safety; but the shalasar or constable, Libarid Orpetian, bravely advanced to meet the host of the infidel, followed only by a handful of soldiers to whom were united some battalions of Armenians and Greeks. He gave battle to an army at least twenty times more numerous than his own, routed them completely, and bore away their standards as a trophy of total victory. This brilliant exploit excited violent jealousy among the Georgian nobles, who, with deep ingratitude, leagued against the deliverer of their country and assassinated him. This dastardly deed was not long unavenged. The army of the Turks was scattered but not destroyed; and when it returned to the charge, the Christians, deprived of the Orpetian, dared not to make head against it, and were mostly cut to pieces. Thus Georgia fell under the power of the Seljooks; Tiflis had a garrison thrown into it, and the shattered remains of the Georgian army took refuge in the mountains. Libarid, however, had left one son, Ivané I. This inheritor of paternal renown was recalled by king David "the Brave" (second of the name), and re-instated not only in possession of his patrimony, but besides received the fortress of Lorhi. In A.D. 1160, David III., who had governed with wisdom and moderation, died and left a son, still a youth, named Temna, whom he entrusted to the shalasar, Ivané Orpetian III., leaving the regency to George his own brother. At the time of the prince attaining to his majority, the nobles, discontent with the administration of George, sought out Orpetian, and pressed him to cause the true king to be proclaimed. Ivané acceded to their wish; but the regent, not wishing to surrender his power to the heir, it was necessary to have recourse to arms. George retired into Tiflis, where Ivané besieged him; but, obliged to retreat, he retired with his ward into the fortress of Lorhi, and sent his brother Libarid and his two sons to ask succours from the Atabeks of Persia and Armenia. The regent immediately laid siege to Lorhi, which he reduced to the last extremity. The presence of the young prince alone still inspired the besieged to continue the desperate defence, when he, seized with a panic, deserted his own cause, and letting himself fall to the foot of the ramparts, ran to cast himself at the feet of his uncle, imploring his pity, and begging only life. The conqueror, whom we may now call George III., granted his request; but deprived him of his eyes, and so mutilated his person that all hope of his leaving offspring was taken away. The war was thus rendered unnecessary; and Orpetian therefore consented to surrender on condition that no evil was to come to him. George assented that it should be so; and yet as soon as he had him in his power he treated him in all respects as brutally as he had done his own nephew. Not even content with that, he drew forth the relations of Ivané and massacred them all, regarding neither age, sex, nor infancy. At last, wishing to annihilate, if possible, even the remembrance of the race of the Orpetians, he caused their names to be effaced from all the inscriptions in the churches, as well as from the chronicles and histories. Libarid, the brother of the unfortunate Ivané, quitted the country; his two nephews followed him into exile; and one took refuge with the Atabek Ilidgoz, the other with the Emir of Kondzag. It was not long after, during the reign of Thamar, daughter and heir of George III., that one of them, named Libarid, consented to re-enter Georgia and the fortress of Orpeth was restored to him. He was the progenitor of the succeeding and still distinguished Orpetians. The reign of Thamar is the most glorious period in the history of Georgia. This princess, whom her grateful subjects called Mephié, a name only suitable to the sovereigns of the other sex, acquired great historic celebrity. She might rank with Semiramis of Babylon, Catherine of Russia, and Elizabeth of England. She called into her service the illustrious scions of the famous house of the Orpetians, expelled the Persians who had invaded her territories, conquered all the country lying between the Kur and the Araxes, rendered several neighbouring princes tributary to her, and extended her dominion from the Black to the Caspian Sea. Her son George IV., surnamed Lascha (thick-lipped), seconded by Ivané Orpetian, undertook several successful wars against the tribes lying beyond the southern boundary of Georgia, and compelled them to embrace Christianity. But in A.D. 1220, the Mongols, whom the generals of Zinghis-Khan conducted, entered Armenia, and crossed over the Caucasus, which they traversed completely, spreading devastation and death in every direction. The old age of George IV. was embroiled Georgia, and embittered by a succession of sad misfortunes which present no historic interest. He left a son in his minority (who afterwards reigned under the name of David IV.), and entrusted his education to his sister Rusudan. This princess seized the crown in 1224. During her reign, the Mongols again entered the Caucasian isthmus and committed dreadful ravages. From this time up to the foundation of the new Persian kingdom (A.D. 1500), the history of Georgia is mixed up with that of the conquests of Zenghis-Khan and of Timoor-Lang (Tamerlane). Only now and then may be seen the flash of some heroic attempt to free the country from its oppressors, inspired rather by the despair of the oppressed than by any determined hopeful effort to regain their independence. Momentary successes left to the oppressed a time to breathe; but ever and anon the cruel conquerors returned with the destructive sweep of the tempest. Several heroic combats, from 1305 till 1346, obtained for George VI. the title of "Most Illustrious." Again, in 1388, Timoor ravaged Georgia and carried away the king Bagrat, who, during his captivity, feigned conversion to Islamism; and thus having gained the confidence of his conqueror, he requested an army in order to re-enter his own kingdom for the purpose of restoring the inhabitants to the faith of Mohammed. The Mongol warrior fell into the snare and granted the army. As soon as Timoor discovered the treachery, he became furious as a lion, and re-entered Georgia, where, in three successive expeditions, he devastated the towns, the cultivated lands, and the monasteries; slaughtered the inhabitants; destroyed not fewer than 700 villages; while George VII., son and successor of Bagrat, concealed himself in the most inaccessible fastnesses of the Caucasus. At last, in 1404, Timoor finally abandoned this unfortunate country, and George descended from his mountain retreat, taking in succession Tiflis and the principal fortresses occupied by the Persians, and had the pleasure of reigning a few years in tranquillity over his beloved but desolated country, still reeking with the blood of its slaughtered inhabitants. Ten years afterwards, Alexander, of the house of Bagrat, united under his dominion all the Georgian countries.

From 1500 to 1703, i.e., to the reign of Vakhtang VI., the last king of the chief branch of the family of Bagrat, twelve princes reigned, of the name of David, Luarsab, Simon, or George, all tributaries to Persia, sometimes in a state of rebellion, but always the unhappy victims of intestine dissension. In 1618 Shah-Abbas carried captive 50,000 Georgians of both sexes, and dispersed them over all the Persian territories. The kingdoms of Khakheti, and of Khartli were formed from the fragments of Georgia, but have since been dismembered and again re-united. At this epoch the provinces were governed by khans. At length (1703) Vakhtang VI., who attached his name to a code long venerated, and one of the most warlike sovereigns of the Caucasus, broke from obscurity by displaying the most brilliant virtues, until he was conquered, and, having exhausted all his resources, he threw himself into the arms of Russia, and retired to Astrakhan to die in peace. For a long period the religious zeal of the Georgians, and the horror they have always manifested of Mohammedanism, led them secretly to court the alliance of Russia. This wary power had, since the reign of Ivan Vassilievitch, extended her dominions even to the foot of the Caucasus; and from the year A.D. 1555, several Cherokee tribes had recognised themselves as her vassals. In 1586 a king of the Khakheti put himself under the protection of the Czar Fedor; and three years afterwards a Georgian ambassador was sent to implore his aid against the Turks. Such solicitations being often repeated, the Russians soon coveted the possession of these Caucasian provinces, and in recent times have amply gratified their desires. In 1722 Peter the Great crossed the defile of Derbend and laid siege to Old Shamaki, where some of his subjects had been treacherously assassinated by the Persians. A treaty granted him the possession of the provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea; but some years after they were restored to Nauli-Shah. At last, Heraclius II. came to the throne of Georgia. He, wishing to rid himself of the domination of the Persians, constituted himself a vassal of Catherine II. of Russia by the treaty of Georgievsk (July 24, 1783). Twelve years afterwards a Persian army ravaged his estates in order to avenge his desertion; Aga-Mohammed Khan besieged Tiflis, gave it up to pillage, put all to fire and sword, and carried off 20,000 prisoners. From Russia, Heraclius received only an inefficient assistance; he soon sank, however, overwhelmed with grief; and died in 1798. His son George had a reign equally unhappy and turbulent, constantly engaged in fighting against the mountain tribe of the Lesghis and the Persians, until at length he implored the protection of Paul I., and then died with the sad certainty that he was the last king of Georgia. At first the queen Maria, his widow, wished to oppose the pretensions of Russia, and even stabbed the officer Tzitzianoff, who was sent to conduct her to Moscow, but she at length surrendered; and shortly afterwards her son David (A.D. 1800) gave up the entire kingdom, and with his mother retired to St Petersburg.

From this date Georgia merges into the history of the Russian empire. In 1810 the chief of Imerethi made an abortive attempt to shake off the Russian yoke, but he was compelled to flee to Turkey, and his principality thence became a province of Russia. Under her all-grasping dominion fell several other petty states successively; and her conquests during her last wars with Persia and Turkey have been confirmed by the treaty of Turkmanchai in 1828 with Persia, and by that of Adrianople in 1829 with Turkey. Since these treaties were signed Russia has been engaged in endeavouring to subjugate the highland tribes in order to consolidate her power, and to assimilate the education, laws, and government to that of the rest of the empire. In this she was steadily working out her purpose when the war broke out which has already wrought many changes in this country, and is likely to work many more before the restoration of peace.

In almost all the large villages of Khakheti stand strong villages, stone towers, which are said to have been built by the nobles of the country as a defence against the Lesghians. In the palmy days of Georgia, not only the mountains of Lesghistan, but those of Daghistan (Schamyl's country), were subject to it; but since the conquest by Timoor, Georgia has become more and more enfeebled, while the hardy mountaineers in their turn made continual attacks on their neighbours, especially the rich Khakhetians, whom they regarded with the same feelings of contempt and envy that Roderick Dhu may have felt for a thriving Lowland farmer on the banks of the Forth.

The natives of Georgia—forming about four-fifths of the Native entire population—belong to the pure Caucasian race, and have always been as much celebrated for the Circassians for the fine athletic frames of the men and the beauty of the women. For both sexes these qualities have created a large demand—the males to serve in the armies, and the females to become inmates of the harems of the Turks. From this horrid traffic the Georgian nobles long derived their chief revenue, valuing their serfs only for the money which they could obtain for them in the Turkish markets. Since the interference of the western powers of Britain and France in 1854 the traffic has been much checked. Large numbers of the celebrated Mamelukes were Georgians. Under the Russian dominion, the distinction which divided the whole population into the two classes, nobles and serfs (nearly the same as masters and slaves), though still subsisting, has been much modified. The power of life and death which the nobles claimed, and exercised without scruple, has been expressly abolished. The Georgians belong nominally to the Greek Church; but both clergy and people are fearfully ignorant. The Bible was translated into their native tongue as early as the beginning of the fifth century; and the benefits, though as yet little perceptible, promise to become greatly extended by means of a good printing press which the Russians have established at Tiflis.

The Georgians pretend that their language, so far as etymology is concerned, is a perfectly complete and independent idiom. Monsieur Brosset, however, shows that the Georgian tongue is one of the great Indo-Germanic family, and proves this by a careful comparison of the roots appearing in Georgian writings of different ages, especially those found in their most ancient books. Accordingly, this language may fairly be stated to hold a middle place between Sanscrit and Pehlivi or ancient Persian. But in its formation there has been a large implantation of Indian radicals on the ancient Median stock. In the present Georgian language there is a large intermixture of Armenian, but only as borrowed words from a foreign idiom. The accumulation of consonants in Georgian gives a rugged harshness to the pronunciation, which renders it an excellent language for public speaking. There are certain fixed laws for the formation of their compound words; and it is especially rich in grammatical inflexions. Its declensions are very simple, being the same for nouns, adjectives, and pronouns; but it employs some pronouns either isolated or inseparable, either in the nominative or accusative, which are subject to very complicated rules. The theme or root of the verb is found in the third person singular of the perfect tense, as in the Semitic tongues, and consists of from one to five radical consonants, with one or two vowels having uniform sounds. Each person has its peculiar characteristic; and the tenses of the indicative mood are seven, of which three are past and three future; while certain particles serve to give the indicative a conditional or subjunctive meaning. In Georgia there are five principal dialects—the Khakhethi, the Iméréthi, the Ming-réli, the Guri, and the Khartli. The purest, say the native scholars, is spoken by the Plichavs and the Khvsovs, who dwell north of the Khakhethi, on whom they depend. The knowledge of Turkish and Persian is so general in Georgia, that writers often use the synonymous terms from these languages instead of the pure Georgian. There are often to be met with also, especially in the journals of Tiflis, many French and Latin words, mostly borrowed from Russian sources. "The prosody of Georgian poetry is similar to that of the Greek and Latin—founded on the tones and accents," says Eugenius, in his Tableau Historique de la Géorgie. "The limited number of the syllables," on the contrary, according to Brosset, "with the final rhyme, which has been borrowed from the Turks, is the only rule of Georgian versification." The most ancient Georgian book now known is the translation of the Bible, executed in the eighth century by St Euphemius or Euthymius; and the most celebrated original monument of this literature is the Poem of Tariel, composed by General Rustaveli, who lived in the reign of Thamar. The complete title of this curious poem is, "The Man Clothed in the Skin of a Tiger," or, "The Amours of Tariel and of Nestan Darejan." It displays a rare fecundity of invention, and a singular richness of imagination; and it seems to be in great part drawn from Persian sources. In another composition the same poet has celebrated the exploits of Thamar. The Georgians have two heroic poems—the Bararamiani, and the Rostomiani. They also still hold in high estimation Visramiani and Darejaniani, two prose romances whose respective authors were Sarg of Thmogvi, and Mosi of Khoni. The collection of hymns, religious as well as national, by the patriarch Antoni, enjoys deservedly great popularity. The Code of Vakhtang, and also the Chronicle of Vakhtang, are among the most important prose remains in the Georgian language.

Klaproth, Tableau Historique, Géographique, Ethnographique, et Politique du Caucase, 8vo, Paris, 1827; Chronique Géorgienne, translated by Brosset the Younger, 8vo, Paris, 1831; Valckachi, Description de la Géorgie, translated by M. Brosset, 8vo, St Petersburg, 1841; Sir Robert Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, London; Eichwald, Reise in den Kaukasus; Gambs, Voyage dans le Russo-Méridionale; Baron von Haxthausen, Transcaucasie—Sketches of the Nations and Races between the Black Sea and the Caspian, London, 1854; Goldenstadt, Reisen nach Georgien; Missionary Researches in Armenia, 8vo, London, 1834; Dictionnaire Géographique, Paris, 1828; Spencer's Travels in the Western Caucasus, 2 vols., London, 1838; Paolini and Irsbach, Georgian and Italian Dictionary, Rome, 1629; Ghai, Georgian Grammar in Ross, 8vo, Petersburg, 1802; J. S. Vater, Graecische oder Georgische Sprachlehre, 8vo, Halle, 1822; &c., &c.

Gulf of, an inlet of the sea on the W. coast of North America, separating the island of Vancouver from the mainland, and communicating with the Pacific on the N. by Queen Charlotte's Sound, and on the S. by the Strait of Juan de Fuca.