322 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



engaged in immortalising the scene, we strolled 

 through a rough, ill - tended garden, and regaled 

 ourselves on pomegranates, and then, not without 

 reluctance, once more inserted ourselves into our 

 saddles, and bidding adieu to the Prince and his 

 enchanting domain, galloped down to the boats, and 

 pursued our northward course. 



After rounding the low promontory of Pitzounda, 

 we found ourselves approaching the northern frontier 

 of Abkhasia. The undulating plains which separate 

 the lower range from the sea gradually narrow, and 

 through them numerous streams take their winding 

 course. The gorges by which these issue from the 

 mountains become more clearly discernible dark and 

 gloomy portals to unknown and mysterious valleys 

 beyond. Above all towered the stupendous Ochetene, 

 rearing its snow-crowned summit to a height of about 

 13,000 feet. Distant scarcely twenty-five miles from 

 our ship, its altitude seemed even greater, and it re- 

 duced to insignificance the intervening range, which, 

 though from 7000 to 8000 feet in height, was free 

 from snow, and presented that rugged and precipitous 

 aspect which characterises the limestone formation 

 generally. From the Ochetene to the Djoumantau, 

 the main chain is composed of a series of peaks of 

 an almost uniform elevation. It forms the north- 

 eastern frontier of Abkhasia, and separates that pro- 

 vince from the Circassian tribes of the north, serving 

 as a barrier which, except at one or two points, is 



