Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/492

486 a marvel of cheapness. Two cents would buy a large melon, and the same money was gladly accepted for a bunch of grapes which would furnish a dinner for a very hungry man. A great deal of wine is raised in this region; three hundred thousand acres are said to be devoted to the culture of the grape in the Caucasus, and about forty million gallons of wine are made annually. Wine is plenty and cheap; the Russians refuse to drink the wine of the Caucasus, just as Californians affect to despise that of their own State. We are told that a large part of the so-called foreign wine sold in Tiflis and other cities of the Caucasus is really the product of the country under fictitious labels.

"We have already mentioned the use of petroleum in the locomotives of the Trans-Caucasian Railway. Where we stopped for fuel and water the petroleum-tank was side by side with the water-tank, and there was no sign of wood-yard or coal-heap. A few minutes charged the tender with petroleum and water, in separate compartments, and then we moved on, just as on any other railway line.

"It is delightful riding behind a petroleum locomotive, as there are neither cinders nor smoke. After the fire is started the furnace door is not opened; the fireman regards the flame through a hole about two inches square, and regulates it just as may be desired. They told us that steam could be more evenly maintained than with coal or wood; there was no excess of steam while waiting at stations, and consequently no necessity for 'blowing off.' Wonder what railway in America will be the first to adopt the new fuel?

"The Trans-Caucasian Railway was begun in 1871; its starting-point was at Poti, which has a poor harbor and stands in marshy ground, so that fevers and malaria are altogether too common. In 1878 Russia came into possession of Batoum, which has a good harbor, and immediately a branch line sixty miles long was built from that city to connect with the railway. Now nearly all the business has gone to Batoum. Poti is decaying very rapidly, but for military reasons it is not likely to be abandoned.

"By the treaty of Berlin Batoum was made a free port, and the Russians were forbidden to fortify it; but they have kept the Turkish