276 EUROPE 



of beeches and fir trees ; and interspersed with mountain 

 pastures, meadows, and moors. Conifers form the upper 

 tree belt and are followed by a strip of elfin woods 

 of dwarf pines and other shrubs. The usual alpine 

 carpets commence at 6,500 feet and extend to the summit. 

 Caucasia. The region comprised between the Black 

 Sea and the Caspian, and between the steppes of Russia 

 and those of Persia, is extremely diversified alike in its 

 relief, climate, and vegetation. Thrown as a 'steep and 

 lofty barrier athwart the path of the south-west winds 

 which sweep across the Black Sea, the Caucasus range 

 causes a heavy precipitation, which in the west reaches 

 over 80 inches yearly, and gradually dwindles to 20 

 inches towards the east. This rainfall is spread with 

 a fair regularity throughout the year. At the same 

 time the conditions of temperature, at least in the lower 

 parts, are warm or temperate with a mild winter. Cauca- 

 sia has a climate analogous to that of western-central 



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China, especially in the mountain district, or again to that 

 of the southernmost Appalachians. 



Such ideal circumstances make the Caucasus essentially 

 a land of heavy and dense forests contrasting sharply 

 with the surrounding arid areas. The development of 

 warm temperate evergreen rain-forests is opposed by the 

 temperature minima of the winter and the scarcity of rain 

 in the autumn. For these reasons and owing to the well- 

 defined seasonal rhythm, the forests remain of the broad- 

 leaved summer-green type, like those of the northern 

 slopes of the Elburz. The centre of the greatest luxuri- 

 ance is to be found in western Caucasia, in a lower belt 

 along the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Europe 

 possesses no region of richer profusion than the ancient 

 Colchis, well known from earliest times for its in- 

 describable beauty. Another distinctive feature of its 



