AGRICULTUEAL PURSUITS. 139 



Ushkiil held 10.000 Russians at bay until 

 artillery tumbled their little castles about their 

 ears ; but Svanetia yields nothing worth taking- 

 out of the country, barely enough to keep its 

 scanty population from starvation through the 

 long winter. The people themselves too are 

 very nearly useless for military purposes : for 

 in addition to being difficult beyond measure 

 to bring into that discipline necessary for 

 soldiers, these mountaineers, hardy though 

 they are at home, die off with terrible rapidity 

 if brought down to any of the military stations 

 in the lowlands or on the Black Sea coast. 



From Ushkul to Lachamul the crops are 

 wheat, grown in very small quantities, oats 

 and barley being the chief objects of the 

 agriculturist's care. Millet is grown, and 

 small crops of peas and beans, with a little 

 flax, are sometimes found in favoured spots. 

 Tobacco of a very coarse kind is grown in the 

 smallest possible quantities with much diffi- 



