THIRD JOURNEY TO THE CAUCASUS. 323 



civilization prevailed on the northern slopes of the 

 Caucasus, and it is here perhaps that we must look 

 for the centre of origin and rallying point of the tribes, 

 which have at different times deluged Europe. 



I resist the temptation to describe Moscow, and 

 will only refer to the feeling experienced there of 

 being thoroughly in Russia, i. e. on the border-land of 

 European and Asiatic culture. One has this sensation 

 more keenly if, like ourselves on this occasion, one 

 comes from Asia and therefore brings a vivid feeling 

 for Asiatic life and doings. This is hardly to be put 

 into definite words. "In Asia", said one of my fair 

 travelling companions, "dirt and rags are not repulsive, 

 here they certainly are". This is in fact quite charac- 

 teristic of the transition from Asiatic to European 

 civilization. The Asiatic in spite of dirt and rags 

 always exhibits a certain degree of manly dignity, 

 which the European in rags invariably lacks. 



The Russian proper, i. e. the native of Great 

 Russia, forms a true transition between Asiatics and 

 Europeans, and is therefore the proper and successful 

 carrier of European civilization eastward. The con- 

 verse way, of which the Panslavist Russians now often 

 dream, the renewal of the "rotten West" by the native 

 energy of Asia, has certainly no great likelihood of 

 being ever realized. It can indeed not be denied that 

 there lies a danger for the development of Europeo- 

 American civilization in the fact, that Europe has be- 

 come the voluntary teacher of Asia in procuring and 



utilizing the instruments of power, which the former 



21* 



