There is no competent local authority to which to appeal
in case of difficulties. While the old chieftains have lost much
of their feudal or patriarchal authority, the new starshinas or
village mayors, appointed by the Government, are in the more
remote districts treated with very scant respect by their com-
munities. The people are inveterate bargainers and have no



68 THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAUCASUS

sense of time. If a traveller lets them discover that he is in a
hurry, or is dependent on their aid, they will take every advantage
of the situation. Though not bloodthirsty, they are quick-tempered,
and it is their custom to wear arms, and their habit to draw their
daggers when excited. The action, it is true, is in most cases little
more than an oratorical gesture, but there have been exceptions —
a Russian Governor of Mingrelia was once poignarded by a
Suanetian Prince — and it is obviously expedient to observe the
limits of polite discussion. The high-handed manner which is almost
de rigucur with a llussian postmaster is quite thrown away on
the people of the mountains. The Caucasian traveller has further
to guard against the greatest enemy of explorers, and that which
the Alpine climber is least prepared for — different forms of illness.
