ery great occasions.
Inside the case containing the Russian order which the Emperor had
handed me at my farewell visit to him before returning home a few
weeks earlier, there had been instructions in French with regard to
the wearing of the different classes of the decoration, a similar plan
might prove useful in these days when British orders are freely
conferred upon foreign officers.

The city of Tiflis and the country around are worth seeing, and as we
had a car at our disposal we made one or two short trips to points of
interest. The Grand Ducal entourage and the staff did all they could
to make our stay pleasant. No Allied general had visited Transcaucasia
since the outbreak of hostilities, so that we were made doubly
welcome. At luncheon at the palace we made the acquaintance of the
Grand Duchess and of several young Grand Duchess nieces of the Grand
Duke's, with whom Wigram proved an unqualified success; in
conversation with these charming young ladies it was only necessary to
mention the name of the Staff Officer and they thereupon did the rest
of the talking. But after three or four days of comparative leisure,
Meyendorff announced that all was ready for us to go on to Batoum, so
we took up our residence in our railway-car again one evening after
dinner and found ourselves by the Black Sea shore next morning.

We were most hospitably entertained at Batoum by the general in
command and his staff, our railway-car being run away into a quiet
siding. We were driven out first to a low-lying coast battery in which
a couple of 10-inch guns had very recently been mounted, and where we
saw detachments at drill; it appeared that the _Breslau_ had paid a
call some four or five months before, had fired a few projectiles into
the harbour and the town, and had then made off; it was hoped to give
her a warm welcome should she repeat her tricks. The emplacement
between the two filled by the 10-inch was occupied by a huge
range-finder, apparently on the Barr and Stroud principle, with very
powerful lenses. We afterwards drove up to one of the forts guarding
the town on the land side, from which a fine view was obtained over
the surrounding country. Then we went on board the hospital ship
_Portugal_. A Baroness Meyendorff, cousin of our Meyendorff, was found
to be matron-in-chief, and she took us all over the vessel, which was
to proceed during the night to pick up wounded at Off, the advanced
base of the force which was movi