2f)8 CAUCASIAN GLACIERS AND FORESTS. 



the forest, the variety of the foliage and the beauty of 

 the wild flowers gave us a constant interest. Dwarf 

 honeysuckles, campanulas, and wistarias were abundant, 

 and the tiger-lilies shot up in clusters, each spike bearing 

 from two to seven blossoms. Near the stream the sombre 

 foliage of the pines added, by contrast, to the effect of the 

 deciduous forest. Shortly before crossing the Glola-Squali 

 to the Mamisson road, we met a party of peasa nts appa- 

 rently going to look after their flocks, and armed, as usual, 

 with daggers. 



We arrived at Glola in four hours from our bivouac, 

 and going at once to the house where we had before found 

 lodging, attempted, by the aid of a few Russian words and 

 a great deal of pantomime, to explain our wants to the 

 people. Necessity is a wonderful sharpener of the wits, and 

 we all got on famously by the language of signs ; but there 

 was no question as to who was the leading pantomimist of 

 the company, and we thought Moore perfect in his grand 

 performances of milking the cow and mimicking a hen's 

 cackle, in order to procure us milk and eggs, until our friend 

 surpassed himself by 'riding a cockhorse ' on an ice-axe, and 

 prancing about, in order to intimate our wish for horses to 

 carry us to Gebi. Pantomime, on the part of the villagers, 

 explained that the horses were all on the mountain, but 

 should be fetched. We waited for them so long that after 

 we had finished our meal, Moore and I lost patience and 

 walked off, leaving Fran9ois with Tucker, whose heels, 

 although they had carried him pretty well across the pass, 

 were still in a tender condition. When the horses came at 

 last, the mistress of the house presented Tucker with two 

 loaves, made of a better quality of flour than the common 

 bread, and sent her son in charge of the animals. 



The day was fine, and the heat in the valley was great. 

 We retraced our footsteps of the previous Thursday until 



