196 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



put my hand on it; and felt it thumping 

 against his sides, I was fairly frightened, 

 though I admired his pluck for doing the 

 heavy collar work we had been doing all day 

 as gamely as he had done. 



The first few versts were easy going 

 enough, the track being by the bed of the 

 Rion, with our faces set towards the peak 

 and glacier of Erden. As we crossed the 

 Kalmac, a small tributary of the Rion, I 

 actually saw and caught a tiny trout, just 

 enough for me to be able to swear that there 

 are such fish in these streams. 



By the banks of the Rion, we noticed for 

 the first time to-day the lovely velvety wings 

 of the Camberwell beauty, a butterfly tliat 

 during the rest of my journey became the 

 very commonest of all the many objects of 

 beauty around us. Near villages they seemed 

 as difficult to catch as they would be in 

 England, but about Lapur they were as tame 



