A TREMENDOUS GORGE. 403 



wliich could only be seen from time to time at tlie bottom 

 of a deep ravine — turned abruptly upwards, and climbed 

 rapidly through the forest. Having reached a height of 

 at least 1,500 feet above the bed of the river, it struck 

 boldly into the heart of the gorge, ci: cling round ravines, 

 and winding over the top of the perpendicular cliflPs, where a 

 fall from one's horse on the ofF-side would have led to a 

 short roll, followed by a sensational header of many 

 hundred feet. The vegetation, wherever it could find 

 room to cling on the shelves and crannies between the 

 precipices, was magnificent ; pine and beech still predomi- 

 nated, though there was a sprinkling of other foliage. 

 The way in wliich a single tree often crowned some pro- 

 jecting crag, where, destitute of any apparent source of 

 sustenance, it yet contrived to maintain a vigorous exis- 

 tence, added much to the beauty of the defile. Alpine 

 flowers now for the first time showed themselves in com- 

 pany with the most delicate ferns, and even the grandeur 

 of the surrounding scenery could not altogether blind us 

 to the presence of such old friends. 



We could only appreciate the magnitude of the precipices 

 immediately below us, when a bend in the hillside enabled 

 us to look back on some portion of the road already 

 traversed ; those on the opposite side were even more 

 tremendous. Halfway through the defile, its course is 

 bent by a spur on the eastern side of the river, which 

 juts out straight across the gap, and in fact does at one 

 spot actually touch the opposite cliffs, leaving the water 

 to burrow underground as best it may. The path descends 

 on to the saddle connecting the rocky crown of this spur 

 with the hillside from which it springs. This point, from 

 its position, commands a view both up and down the 

 defile, to which there is nothing similar, or in the least 

 comparable, in the Alps. The gorge of the Tcherek is no 



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