384 PATIGORSK. 



Mont Blanc from Geneva ; the other mountains are from 

 twenty to forty miles further away. The principal bath- 

 houses, and the (gardens which surround them, are situated 

 in a sheltered hollow on the side of Machoucha. A long 

 boulevard, shaded by a double avenue of trees, which have 

 already reached a very tolerable size, leads up to the bath- 

 buildings : the gardens are well laid-out, provided with 

 numerous seats, and adorned with summer-houses, and 

 some curious statues with Greek inscriptions found in the 

 country. Nothing can exceed the cleanliness and comfort 

 of the baths, those appropriated to the ladies being, with 

 a thoughtful consideration for the weakness of the sex, 

 even provided with large looking-glasses. On one side of 

 a grotto, just behind the public library and reading-room, 

 stands a brazen tablet, on which is recorded the expedition 

 of General Emmanuel to the foot of Elbruz in 1829, the 

 attempt and failure of the German savants to reach the 

 top, and the supposed success of Killar in doing so. The 

 story is, of course, written in Russian characters ; we asked 

 our companion. Dr. Smirnov, the head-physician, what it 

 meant, and his reply was, ' Bah ! c'est une betise.' Our 

 own reasons for doubting Elbruz having found its Jacques 

 Balmat in Killar, I have entered into elsewhere.^ 



The ridge which forms the southern boundary of the 

 hollow in which the baths are situated is of a very extraor- 

 dinary character. According to Dr. Smirnov, whose theory 

 was certainly confirmed by the appearance of the surface, it 

 has been entirely formed by the deposit of the sulphur- 

 springsduring past ages. The handsomest building connect- 

 ed with the waters is the Elizabeth Gallery, a long arcade, 

 from beneath the arches of which a fine view of the town 

 and the plain below is obtained. A zigzag path, shaded by 

 thick oak copses, has been made to the top of Machoucha 



* See Appendix I. — ' The Elbruz Expedition in 1829.' 



