298 THE entomologist's record. 



peaks half as high again as Mt. Blanc, always appeals irresistibly to 

 the imagination. The amazing diversity of peoples and languages, 

 and of physical conditions, suggests possibilities of an infinite variety 

 of faunistic problems. 



Fired by a desire to get a glimpse of this •wonderful land, if only to 

 pass over the Russian steppes on the north, through the heights them- 

 selves, to catch sight of the lofty cone of Kazbek, of the mighty two- 

 headed Elbruz, to visit the old Georgian capital of Tiflis, so often 

 besieged and razed by Persian and Tartar, by Hun and by Turk, to 

 explore the burning plains of Aderbadjian, and to view the luxuriant 

 vegetation of Batum, attracted by thought of mystery, the onme 

 ifinotum pro uiaj/nifico, I did not hesitate to accept a cordial invitation 

 to visit some Russian entomological friends in their own home, and in 

 their company explore some of the marvels which Nature has so 

 lavishly bestowed on this favoured region. 



Circumstances delayed my departure, but the date of my return 

 was of necessity fixed in advance, so my trip, though long in distance, 

 was of the briefest in time. It was not until the last day of August 

 that I reached Vladikavkaz, after six days in the train from Dover. 



Vladikavkaz, as its name implies*, is the key to the Caucasus, 

 and during the years of bitter warfare between the Russians and the 

 iBountaineers it was a most important military post. It is a spacious 

 town, of some 80,000 inhabitants, laid out in wide rectangular streets, 

 bordered mostly with one-storied houses, which gives it that unfinished 

 look which is characteristic of Russian provincial towns. It is situated 

 about 2,200ft. above the sea, on the plains of the Tver and Kuban 

 provinces, the granary of Europe, at the foot of the great range of the 

 Caucasus, at the opening of the Darialj gorge, which is the chief pass 

 through to the valley of the Kura, and to Tiflis on the south. This 

 gorge is, in fact, the gateway between Europe and Asia. 



I had a few hours to spare in the afternoon and evening, so took a 

 fly as far as Balta, at an elevation of 2,754 feet, the first stantsia, 

 or military post, on the road to Tiflis, at the entrance to the gorge. 

 High mountains rise abruptly out of the plain, and the Tver bustles 

 down busily from the watershed, fed by streams from the glaciers of 

 Kazbek,! the snowy peak of which could occasionally be seen, 

 reddening with the evening glow. In the scrub beside the road, I 

 found our familiar Central European Oli/nt/iosniis (/n'sco-aptera 

 De Geer {=Thamnntrizon cincrcua L.), was chirping merrily in the 

 thickets ; Lciito/i/njes punctatii^siiiia''- Bosc, fell into my net as also the 

 Alpine Staiiroilerus apiicariiis, L. and C/iort/iippiis paralleliis, Zett. 

 Staurodcnis bicnlor, Charp., was abundant and for a minute I thought 

 myself in East Kent. I also took St. coi/natiis, Fieb., an interesting 

 South Russian species that I had not previously seen alive. 



* Most places in the Caucasus have Tartar names, that are Rcnerally used by 

 the natives, as opposed to the official Russian names. Thus, Vladikavkaz is called 

 Kap hdi, " The head of the Pass," and Elbruz is Mwfj Tan, " Thousand heads " 

 and EJizevtpol is Gandja. 



I This name is derived from two Tartar words, dar or derc, a gor^e and yitl, 

 a road. It lias no real connection witli the name of the Princess Daria of Tamara, 

 the heroine of Lermontoff's " Demon." Derbend is the corresponding,' Persian 

 orni. 



t Kazbek is a personification. Kaz a proper name, and bek a Tartar title, 

 given to landowners and persons of good positions. 



