SUNI. 31 'J 



the white-crested Leila mountains, now doAYii upon the 

 green Mushalaliz, with its sparkling stream and castellated 

 hamlets, and across it to the peaks, precipices, and glaciers 

 of the central chain. We wandered on, feeling as if Ave 

 h'ld broken in on enchanted ground, and that it was all 

 too beautiful to be real. The nature of the path did not 

 disturb the even tenor of our thoughts ; its makers, with 

 remarkable ingenuity, had carried it first on one, then on 

 the other, side of the brow, and it was for a long time 

 almost level and free from stones. At length it turned 

 down the northern side of the ridge, as if to descend to 

 Mushalaliz ; but, desirous of gaining Suni,* in the other 

 valley, we plunged, under the guidance of our porters, 

 into the thickets, and soon hit another track remounting 

 to the left. 



Just below the watershed a clear little tarn nestled 

 among the trees. We crossed several wooded spurs 

 before we reached the verge of the meadows on which 

 Suni is built. The views, looking back towards Tau 

 Totonal and up the valley of the Adisch-Tshalai, were 

 wonderfully fine, their effect being heightened by the 

 rapid sweep of afternoon rain-clouds across the sky, and 

 the bright gleams of sunshine which shone out between 

 them. Just before emerging from the wood the horse 

 slipped on a miry bank, where the rains had carried away 

 the path, and fell several feet into a sort of slime-pit. 

 Happily, he neither damaged himself nor the saddlebags, 

 beyond covering both with mud. The fields around Suni 

 are more like Alpine meadows than is usual in this 

 country ; they are carefully irrigated by a system of 

 water-channels, and are fenced off from the surrounding 

 pastm-ages. There are fewer towers here than in the 

 upper villages, and the population is in appearance more 



* Spelt thus on the map, but generally pronounced Sureni. 



