THE NAKSAGAR PASS. 291 



liad apparently melted veiy recently, and the ground 

 was saturated with moisture. The stream we had followed 

 is nourished by the springs of an upper level of pastui-ages, 

 rising to a broad saddle which forms the ISTaksagar Pass 

 (8,813 feet) — the watershed between the Ingur and the 

 Zenes-Squali. The pass itself is so broad and flat at the top, 

 that it is difficult to tell the exact moment when the summit 

 is reached. Eound grass-covered hills shut in the view on all 

 sides ; the sledge- track goes downhill, at first very gently, 

 afterwards more rapidly, but there is no point where the 

 descent can be called steep. The stream, which rises on the 

 west side of the pass, and joins the Ingur at Jibiani, is 

 called the Quirischi. The path, becoming broader and 

 more beaten as it draws nearer the village, clings to the 

 slopes on the right bank of the torrent, which is joined by 

 another flowing through a short, glen from the steep and 

 jagged flanks of the Ugua. 



Signs of an inhabited country now followed one another 

 in rapid succession. Large herds of heifers were feeding 

 on the slopes, the projecting knolls were crowned with 

 stonemen, and we passed presently a hut near which was 

 a cluster of women and boys, wilder and more unkempt- 

 looking specimens than any we had yet seen. A tall tower, 

 a portion of a now ruined castle (said to have been built 

 by Queen Thamara), appeared perched on a commanding 

 knoll on the left bank of the stream, and gave us the first 

 warning of our approach to Jibiani. Our Gebi porters, 

 instead of seeming anxious to finish their job, took every 

 possible occasion to loiter on the road, and we vainly endea- 

 voured to incite the slow unwilling train to a final spurt. 

 Our entrance to Jibiani, and the commencement of our 

 Suanetian experiences, will be best placed at the beginning 

 of a new chapter. 



u 2 



