RECEPTION AT URUSPIEH. 371 



walk tlian one of my ankles became painful, as if it had 

 been badly sprained, and I was therefore obliged to stop, 

 and mount one of the horses we had brought up from the 

 village. The pain and stiffness, no doubt resulting from 

 the cold, gradually wore off, ajid I was glad to dismount 

 halfway. The train of porters overtook us about an 

 hour out of TJrusijieh, and we walked in together. I 

 never saw better walkers than these Tartars, not only on 

 a hillside, but — what is even more remarkable amongst 

 mountaineers — upon flat ground. They gave us a start, 

 and caught us up easily in the ascent of Elbruz, and now, 

 when Tucker, wishing to try their mettle, j)ut on a sj^urt 

 across the meadow, they walked with apparent ease at a 

 pace of five miles an hour, and soon caused our friend to 

 rej)ent the trial of si:)eed he had rashly provoked. These 

 men are the raw material out of which Caucasian guides 

 will have to be made, and, if the great language difficulty 

 could be overcome, there is no reason why they should 

 not, with a little practice in ice-craffc, become firstrate 

 companions for a traveller wanting to explore the glaciers 

 of this part of the chain. 



We entered Uruspieh, and reached the guest-house 

 almost unobserved ; but we had not been there many 

 minutes before our native companions spread the news of 

 our return, and a crowd of excited villagers flocked into the 

 room. Several minutes passed before the story was fully 

 understood : our burnt faces, and the partially-blinded 

 eyes of the two men who had accompanied us, were 

 visible signs that we had in truth spent many hours on the 

 snowfields, and the circumstantial account and description 

 of the summit given by the porters seemed to create 

 a general belief in the reality of the ascent. The scene 

 was most entertaining. The whole male population of 

 the place crowded round us to shake hands, each of our 



B B 2 



