174 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



ally discovered at the burial of the present 

 prince's wife. 



Having rested well and thoroughly at 

 Etseri, we started at about nine next morning 

 with our kind hostess's good wishes thick 

 upon us, and a very substantial souvenir of 

 Etseri cheer ready in our pockets for future 

 consumption. Fortune had made up her 

 mind to smile on us again, so that riding 

 easily along in the sunshine by a compara- 

 tively good road, I was not a bit surprised to 

 find the g-ame we had souo-ht under all manner 

 of difficulties come now to meet us on the 

 high road. 



We were rounding the corner of a pme- 

 covered precipice about two miles from the 

 village of Lachamul when Platon, all excite- 

 ment, whispered, ' A bear, sir, a bear ! ' For 

 a moment I did not see her, but dismounting, 

 I peered over the edge of the path into the 

 valley between our hill and the next. 



