¥«208 Scientific Intelligence — Miscellaneous. 



, trees to serve us as guides; then, indeed^ the compass had to serve, 

 . though even with its help, one might wander days and nights in 

 this woodland labyrinth, vainly seeking an outlet. There was still, 

 however, one resource, if all the above methods failed in determining 

 the direction of the camp — you could fire your piece until the waves 

 of sound reached it,^ and brought a thundering answer, which mostly 

 enabled you to find the right course. 



" Losing oneself in the woods, however, has in it nothing so very 

 terrible, except for the mere novice. Whoever is accustomed to 

 these green alleys — for whom the moss has for a hundred times 

 served as a bed, and the gnarled branches of the oak have formed 

 a canopy — to whom the possession of a good weapon and a sure 

 hand gives even in this wilderness the tranquillising conviction that 

 .he cannot starve, at least as long as his powder and lead hold out — 

 to him the thought of remaining even for weeks if necessary, separated 

 •from . his companions in the woody labyrinth, will not be too much 

 cast down. 



" Our three summer's wanderings gave us ample opportunities for 

 the observation of all the spectacles of nature ; the meteoric pheno- 

 mena of the alpine heights of Ossetia; the phantom armies of 

 figures formed out of the mists and clouds ; the terrible sublimity 

 of a storm on Ararat; the glaciers of the Kasbeck, with its stone 

 avalanches ; the variety of vegetation that changes its character ir 

 «very region, or the habits of life of the animals that have theii 

 abode in the high mountains, from the bearded Gypsetos, sailing 

 in majestic tranquil flight over the snowy top of Ararat, gazing down 

 upon it with a piercing glance, to the little humming Hymenoptera, 

 or Diptera, whom a gust of wind, or some inexplicable impulse of 

 insect curiosity, often carries up above the limit of the scantiest 

 vegetation. Still more, however, did we delight in the woodland scenes 

 exhibited by sun or moonlight, when we had deposited whatever we 

 had collected in safety in our own camp, arranged and packed with 

 due care any thing rare and precious, eaten with good appetite our 

 rice and venison, and then lay down on the herby carpet of the 

 forest to enjoy a siesta, or listen to the movements of animal life 

 around us ; taking care, however, to have our guns ready, that we 

 might loose no opportunity o^ enriching our ambulatory larder."— ^ 

 Iteise nach Colchis und nach den Deutchen, Coloniens jenseits des 

 Kaukasus, von Moritc Wagner, Leipsigy 1850. — Westminster Re- 

 view. 



