108 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



limb of the Rion below Gebi. I venture to 

 think that any English equestrian who was 

 unused to these rough constructions would at 

 first hesitate before crossing at all, and when 

 he did would certainly prefer to cross, if cross 

 he must, on his own feet and not in the 

 saddle. One of our party, Platon, came near 

 to having good cause to regret that he had 

 not done thus ; for in spite of the sure-footed- 

 ness of Caucasian ponies, the holes in this 

 bridge were in such unfair proportion to the 

 solid parts that the poor little quadruped, 

 putting a fore leg through a wide opening, 

 came on his knees and all but rolled over, 

 horse and rider, into the river below. 



Of course there were no lights in Gebi. 

 Men in the Caucasus believe that Nature 

 knows best when it is time to work or play 

 and when to sleep, so that the moment the 

 sun is down, unless they are hunting or acting 

 sentinel in their fields, the villagers lie down 



