OF THE OLD WOULD. 357 



and ill the wildest luxuriance, whilst the loveliest 

 flowers bloom in perfection ; amongst which I noticed 

 the tulip, anemone, hyacinth, ranunculus, rose, pink, 

 jasmine, and violet, besides numberless other species 

 with which I was not previously acquainted. The 

 lower spurs of the Caucasus, the grandest of mountain 

 ranges, rise about seven miles to the eastward of the 

 village, and run parallel to the coast. The lower 

 ranges are clothed with dense and almost impene- 

 trable primeval forest, whilst the higher are covered 

 with perpetual snow, and generally enshrouded by 

 mists. 



The heavy falls of rain, and the melting of snow 

 and ice on the momitains, in the summer, when the 

 power of the sun is strong, swell the numerous rivers 

 and watercourses into mighty torrents, causing them 

 to overllow their banks and inundate the surrounding 

 country ; forming large marshes or bogs, which, at 

 certain seasons of the year, are almost alive with 

 waterfowl of different kinds, whilst snipe and wood- 

 cock are to be found in thousands. 



It is my belief that swans, ducks, and geese of all 

 kinds, besides snipe and woodcock, choose these 

 secluded and almost inaccessible spots to breed in, 

 migrating here for that purpose from all the other 

 comitries of Europe. I have killed seventeen dif- 

 ferent species of duck and teal in one j heel, the water 

 in places where the weed abounded on which they 

 feed being black with them. Tliey were evidently 

 unaccustomed to the sound of a gun, for, when the 



