322 SUANETIA. 



At last, when we had all begun to grumble at the toil and 

 trouble of descending a Suanetian valley by a succession of 

 climbs of 2,000 feet each, we came upon a glade in the wood, 

 evidently a favourite halting-ground with the peasants of 

 the neighbouring villages. A fringe of pines and birches 

 surrounded the level plot of smooth greensward and 

 screened off the hot sun, the perfume of azaleas filled the 

 air, and the eyes rested on the noble picture made by the 

 deep pine-clad gorge beneath, and the central mass of 

 the Leila chain directly opposite us. ' Three silent pinnacles 

 of aged snow ' sent down long snake-like glaciers towards 

 the Ingur, one of them being a remarkable specimen of 

 what is technically known as a ' glacier remanie.' A wall 

 of rock lying across its path scotches but cannot kill the 

 glacier-snake ; as the ice slides steadily downwards, masses 

 fall over the cliff in the form of avalanches, and form a 

 fresh glacier below, which creeps down some distance 

 further towards the forests'. A thick girdle of pmes clothed 

 the lower slopes, which are broken by rocky spurs dividing 

 the beds of the several glacier-fed torrents. For once we 

 were glad to see the horsemen halt and unload their 

 animals, A fire was soon lighted with moss and pine- 

 chips, and Paul and Francois busied themselves cooking 

 ' kabobs,' while we reclined on the turf, regarding the 

 mountain-tojjs, more, I fear, in the spirit of lotos-eaters 

 than in that befitting members of the Alpine Club. Un- 

 doubtedly the difficulties of everyday travel in the Cauca- 

 sus exhaust much of that energy which finds vent in 

 Switzerland in scaling the highest peaks, but even in 

 the Alps there are moments when it is pleasant 



' To watch the long bright river drawing slowly 

 His waters from the purple hill,' 



without any thoughts of scaling the silent pinnacles in 

 the distance. 



When the time came to pursue our journey, we bade a 



