392 PATIGORSK. 



possibility of hiring horses at Naltschik for the whole jour- 

 ney to Ardonsk. The General kindly promised to write to 

 Naltschik, and tell the Commandant there to expect ns, and 

 to take care that horses were forthcoming on our arrival. 

 He also wrote to his subordinate at Patigorsk to help us in 

 hiring a carriage for the drive to Naltschik, the direct road 

 between the two 23laces not being furnished with post- 

 horses. We took leave well satisfied with the result of our 

 interview, though our minds were slightly troubled by a 

 spectre raised by something the General had said about 

 providing us with a ' specialist,' who would tell us where to 

 go and where not to go, a kind of Mentor who would have 

 found himself sadly out of place in our party. The threat- 

 ened companion, however, perhaps fortunately for himself, 

 was never assigned us. 



Our carriage, which was awaiting our return to the hotel, 

 took us quickly back to Patigorsk. The hurry of our 

 driver caused the only mischance of the day. Dr. Smirnov 

 had told us that General Chodzko (who, it will be remem- 

 bered, is the head of the Russian Survey which executed 

 the Five Yerst Map, and who had shown us much civility 

 at Tiflis) was staying at Essentuky. Our coachman had 

 been, as we believed, instructed to take us to the General's 

 lodgings, and as he drove on, we assumed that the house 

 must be at the Patigorsk end of the scattered village ; it was 

 not till we were fairly beyond the place that we discovered 

 he had no intention of stopping at all. Our ignorance of 

 Russian made the mistake irrejjarable, and we much 

 regretted thus to have lost the opportunity of talking over 

 our experiences with one of the few Russians who have any 

 real knowledge of the interior of the Caucasian chain. 



On the following morning, the military commandant of 

 Patigorsk called, and proffered his assistance in any 

 arrangrements we might wish to make. Paul and the 



