56 SAVAGE SVANETIA, 



once tlie glow induced by the climb had 

 worn off, the wind from the snowfields almost 

 cut us in halves. 



The tur were in sio-ht of us whenever we 

 chose to peep over the ridge at the back of 

 which we lay, and though their path to the 

 feeding grounds lay right past us, they were 

 so far oiF and the wind so much m our favour, 

 that we could smoke and talk in safety. 



Just below us lay a patch of snow of some 

 few acres in extent, and here about mid-day 

 I noticed a couple of small butterflies playing 

 in the sunlight, where it shone brightest on 

 the snow. As I used as a boy to collect 

 butterflies, I was very interested in these 

 little creatures, so at variance with all their 

 surroundings. I don't think there was a 

 flower of any kind within half an hour's climb 

 of where we were ; from the snow over which 

 they were disporting there was hardly a 

 blade of grass in sight, and yet they seemed 



