io8 CASUALS IN THE CAUCASUS 



its fall. Beard moss hung from dislodged stones, 

 weeds grew in every interstice. Across narrow em- 

 brasures the spiders had laced l^eir webs in skeins of 

 silver, and on the slender cables dewdrops gleamed 

 like fairy tears. A fragmentary oratory gave sanctuary 

 to4he owls, and beneath the rude altar a deep, dark 

 pit yawned mysterious and weird, Valhalla, perhaps, 

 for the souls of slain heroes. Here the sun's rays never 

 penetrated. All was destruction, desolation, death. 



A shelter of any kind, so wanderers say, is preferable 

 to no shelter at all, and we had to camp out somewhere, 

 but the gruesome stronghold seemed a place to get 

 away from, not lodge beside. 



We groped our way onwards to a smiling glade, 

 through which the river raced, and cavernous bowers, 

 overhung with lofty trees, told of Pan's existence. 

 Firewood was very plentiful, and we soon set the cold 

 at naught. The horses, hobbled, made tremendous 

 meals. Like all of us. Picnics at twilight are much 

 more enjoyable than the humdrum affairs of daylight 

 hours. We christened our camp " Lake View," 

 because it overlooked a natural dam. Not to mention 

 the ones it overheard. 



Nothing could be worse than the mosquitoes of 

 these damp woods, except the stuff we bought in 

 Tifiis to keep them off. They were hardly big enough 

 to call mosquitoes, being infinitesimal midges hanging 

 in clouds over rotten tree stumps, and circling in 

 wreaths in lush recesses of the forest. The smallest 

 breath of air drove them away, but, unfortunately, 

 in this deep tangle of vegetation air was scarce. Kenneth 



