254 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



witli it in large quantities everywhere in 

 Svanetia. 



Once again, towards mid-day, when we had 

 left the river's course and diverged into a region 

 of pine-trees, amongst which already lay some 

 sprinklings of new-fallen snow, we rested to 

 divide a small maize loaf (our last) amongst 

 us in a wild ravine, where a rugged grey water- 

 course came precipitously down to the valley 

 from a snow peak, which almost seemed 

 to bend over the newly-burnt pine forest 

 round us. 



It was as grim and beautiful a picture of 

 ruin and desolation as nature ever exhibited, 

 and the want of my lunch annoyed me far 

 less than the want of skill in my clumsy 

 fingers to produce some souvenir of the charred 

 stumps, stern mountain, and rugged water- 

 course, with their patches of new-fallen snow. 



A poor lunch is no great evil to men who 

 have work to do ; the worse it is the sooner 



