TRAVELS 



IN 



THE CENTEAL CAUCASUS AND BASHAK 



CHAPTEE I. 



EGYPT AND PALESTINE. 



Introductory — Choosing a Dragoman — Djebel Mokattam — The Nile 

 Steamer — The Mecca Caravan — Sail for Syria — A Poor Traveller — 

 Struck by Lightning — Syrian Sloughs and Storms — The River Kishon — 

 Arrival at Jerusalem — An Idea worked out — -'Vive la Mer Mortal' — 

 Jericho — We fall among Thieves — The Jordan Valley — Capture of a 

 Standard-bearer — Ferry of the Jordan. 



Before carrying mj readers into tlie primitive wilds of 

 Bashan, and amongst the unknown valleys and ridges of 

 tlie Caucasus, I must give some explanation of the circum- 

 stances which induced me to undertake the journey I 

 am about to describe. In many summer holidaj^s, spent 

 among the Alps, I had acquired a taste for mountain 

 scenery, and when an opportunity of being absent from 

 home for a longer time than usual presented itself, I 

 looked for some country where the zest of novelty would 

 be added to those natural features which chiefly at- 

 tracted me. For many reasons the Caucasus seemed to be 

 the very region I was seeking. Less distant than the 

 Andes or the Himalayas, its mountains were yet unknown 

 to ordinary travellers, and none of our countrymen had 



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