THE BAKSAX VALLEY. 875 



general cliaracter and direction ; the riversides are culti- 

 vated, and farmliouses are seen every half-hour ; the 

 lower slopes of the mountains are scantily v^ooded with 

 firs. A narrow gorge, from the upper end of which the 

 traveller obtains his last and finest view of Tuugzorun, 

 leads into a wide green basin, hemmed in on the north by 

 cliffs, the tawny hue and bold outlines of which reminded 

 us of pictures of Sinaitic scenery. The landscape was for a 

 time perfectly bare. On the right, in recesses of the hills, 

 we passed two villages, from one of which a low pass leads 

 over into the valley of the Tchegem, the next tributary 

 of the Terek on the east. The path then enters a second 

 defile, longer and more picturesque than the first, and 

 rendered pleasing to the eye by abundant vegetation, 

 which suddenly succeeds to the utter bareness of the glen 

 above. We thought a hamlet at its lower extremity 

 would be our joui-ney's end, but found there was still a 

 ride of some hours before us. 



After crossing the river twice, by new and solidly-built 

 bridges, the track leads across a wide grassy plain, sur- 

 rounded by ridges which no longer deserve the name of 

 mountains. Copious springs of the clearest water burst out 

 of the ground, and nourished a tall and rank herbage, the 

 home of myriads of insects, which persecuted most cruelly 

 both our horses and ourselves. A perfect plague of horse- 

 flies swarmed around us, and the backs of our coats were so 

 thickly covered with the insects that the cloth was scarcely 

 visible. At the lower end of this plain a considerable tribu- 

 tary joins the Baksan, on the left, and close to the junction 

 stands a group of old tombs, concerning which the natives 

 tell numerous legends. After wading the tributary, we had 

 still a long stretch of cornland to traverse, before reaching 

 Ataschkutan. As night came on, and the moon rose, the 

 coolness, and relief from our insect tormentors, were very 



