PANORAMA FROM THE SUMMIT. 367 



east and west. We turned to the left, and faced tlie 

 wind, for a final struggle. The ridge was easy, and, led 

 by the porters, we marched along it in procession, with 

 our hands in our pockets, and our ice-axes under our 

 arms, until it culminated in a bare patch of rock sur- 

 rounded by snow. This summit was at one end of 

 a horseshoe ridge, crowned by three distinct eminences, 

 and enclosing a snowy plateau, which, even to our unlearned 

 eyes, irresistibly suggested an old crater. The rocks which 

 we picked up, and carried down with us, are of a volcanic 

 character. We walked, or rather ran, round the ridge 

 to its extremity, crossing two considerable depressions, 

 and visiting all three tops ; under the farthest, a tower 

 of rock, we found shelter aiid a quite endurable tem- 

 perature. There we sat down, to examine, as far as 

 possible, into the details of the vast panorama. The two 

 natives pointed out the various valleys, while we en- 

 deavoured to recognise the mountains. Light clouds were 

 driving against the western face of the peak, and a sea of 

 mist hid the northern steppe — otherwise the view was 

 clear. Beginning in the east, the feature of the panorama 

 was the central chain between ourselves and Kazbek. I 

 never saw any group of mountains which bore so well being 

 looked down upon as the great peaks that stand over the 

 sources of the Tcherek and Tchegem. The Pennines 

 from Mont Blanc look puny in comparison with Kosch- 

 tantau and his neighbours from Elbruz. The Caucasian 

 groups are finer, and the peaks sharper, and there was a 

 suggestion of unseen depth in the trenches separating 

 them, that T never noticed so forcibly in any Alpine view. 

 Turning southwards, the double-toothed Uschba still 

 asserted himself, although at last distinctly beneath us ; 

 the greater part of the summits and snowfields of the 

 chain between us and Suanetia lay, as on a relieved map, 



