A LOVELY ALP. 247 



long time followed a ridge, narrow at first, but gradvi- 

 ally broadening into grassy undulations ; on one side the 

 ground broke away suddenly towards the Rion, on the 

 other it sank more gradually into a barren recess, a branch 

 of the Tchosura valley, above which rose a steep-sided 

 range covered with small glaciers. The height of 8,500 

 feet we had already gained was sufficient to give us a good 

 panorama of the Upper Rion basin, which served to con- 

 firm our previous estimate of its beauty. The ridge we 

 were walking along now bent round to the northward, 

 and separated the water flowing down into the Rion at 

 Gebi from the upper basin of the stream, which joins the 

 river close to its meeting with the Glola-Squali. Far 

 below us, on our right, we looked down into a deep wooded 

 defile, the outlet through which this stream escaj)es. Here 

 the track began to descend, but first made a long sweep 

 round the hillside, before finally plunging into the beauti- 

 fully-timbered little plain, at the mouth of the narrow glen 

 which leads up, due north, to the Gurdzieveesk Pass. 



Knowing that this, the chief part of the day's walk, 

 was still before us, we grudged bitterly the 2,000 feet of 

 height thus lost, and, having now been five hours on the 

 march, determined to stop, and open our provision-wallet. 

 The beauty of the spot, and a spring bubbling up under 

 a clump of alders, formed additional inducements to a 

 halt. The level meadow in which we were sitting was 

 partially covered with trees ; the glades were filled with 

 lush herbage, and bright with many flowering plants. 

 Grassy ridges, rising above the level of the forest, but 

 not reaching that of perpetual snow, shut ofl' this se- 

 questered nook from the lower valley, and immediately 

 overhead, on the east of the narrow trench, which off'ered 

 a way up to the crest of the mountains, the steep snowy 

 sides and tower-like summit of Tau Burdisula cauo-ht 



