•21 G THK TKREK VALLEY. 



from rocks and cold. For a long time we tlioug-ht they 

 would fail wlien brought into contact with snow and ice, 

 but the way in which the men of Pari crossed the steep 

 snow-slopes between the valleys of the Nakra and the 

 Baksan in them, quite disabused our minds of this pre- 

 judice. Such being the ordinary style of shoe of the 

 country, it may be imagined what surprise our double- 

 soled and heavily- nailed English boots created, and we 

 used often to hold up our feet, as a show, in the villages, 

 while some arithmetical genius endeavoured to count the 

 nails in the soles. The last sandal having been satisfac- 

 toril)" strapped and re-arranged, our train moved on. 



The path, a fairly-marked one, steadily rose above the 

 Terek, the highest source of which was now in sight, issuing 

 from a small glacier at the base of Zilga Khokh, a fine peak 

 at the point where the ridge over which our pass lay 

 joins the watershed. Numerous springs burst out of the 

 hillside, and their channels were bright with masses of the 

 yellow blossoms of the ranunculus. The final climb to the 

 pass was up a steep slope of shale, on which a good deal of 

 snow was still lying. Our native companions were silly 

 enough to prefer a straight course to the well-made 

 zigzags of the path, the pains expended on the construction 

 of which caused iis some surprise; the rest of the party, how- 

 ever, stuck to the zigzags, except Moore, who kept with the 

 porters, in order to have an eye on their dealings with our 

 goods. As they soon lost breath, and wanted every 

 minute to sit down, he had enough to do to drive them 

 before him, and his difficulties suggested to our minds a 

 comparison between his present position and that of Enid 

 when driving the unruly steeds before her through the 

 waste. By our several routes we all arrived at nearl}^ the 

 same point on the ridge, which is over 10,000 feet in 

 height. The actual crest was bare, but plenty of snow lay 



