246 CAUCASIAN GLACIERS AND FORESTS. 



provide themselves v\^itli a substantial shelter while spend- 

 ing the summer on the mountains. It is only rarely, and 

 in certain districts, that huts at all resembling the Swiss 

 chalets are met with. I only recall three instances — two 

 in the Uruch valley, and one close to the source of the 

 Rion. In general the herdsmen are contented with a 

 slight shelter, constructed of a few boughs and a sheep- 

 skin, Avhich can afford very little protection in bad weather. 

 Close at hand a forked stake is driven into the ground, on 

 which, if the owner is at home, he hangs his gun. This 

 and a milkmg-pail constitute nearly all the furniture of a 

 Caucasian shepherd, who, as the flock under his charge con- 

 sists mostly of sheep, oxen, and horses, is spared the deli- 

 cate and complicated cares of a large dairy establishment. 



Having passed the last of the shepherds' bivouacs, 

 we steadily followed the somewhat steep zigzags of the 

 sledge-path, until it surmounted a brow which had pre- 

 viously cut short our view. Dawn had not yet broken, and 

 the graceful forms of scattered copses of birch and fir 

 formed a fairylike foreground to a long moonlight vista 

 up the Tchosura to the glaciers and snowcajjped summits 

 of the main chain. Deep below, in the dark shadow of 

 the valley, the white towers of Gebi were distinguishable, 

 and behind us the bold peaks of the Schoda chain stood 

 out against a sky palmg with the first approach of day- 

 break. A herd of horses, disturbed by our early move- 

 ments, trotted off across the hillside, which now became 

 more open. 



The path still mounted, and soon even the birch, the 

 tree always found nearest the snow in these regions, 

 was left behind. A host of alpine flowers, amongst 

 which the white rhododendron was again conspicuous, 

 covered the ground, only just free from snow, which 

 still lay in deep drifts in the hollows. The path for a 



