THE STULEVEESK PASS. 417 



of this break in the chain stand two rocky giants, the 

 northern unquestionably the Dychtau of the map, a 

 terrifically steep-sided peak, with a glacier flowing in a deep 

 trench at its foot ; the other a nameless summit, certainly 

 exceeding 16,000 feet in height, and too precipitous to 

 bear much snow or ice. While admiring, and endeavour- 

 ing to carry away a recollection of, the noble outline of 

 the group I have attempted to describe, we could not help 

 regretting that such grand mountains should have been 

 deprived of their legitimate honours by a mere volcanic 

 accident like Elbruz. In Koschtantau and Dychtau the 

 Caucasus would have had a worthy king and queen. 

 Elbruz is at best a bloated monarch, and has little beyond 

 size to recommend him. 



Immediately to the north was the serrated chain which 

 separates the upper valleys of the Tcherek and Uruch 

 from the minor glens, the streams of which flow inde- 

 pendently to the plain, between the two rivers. Looking 

 east, the conspicuous feature of the near view was a pro- 

 jecting summit of the main chain, which reached a greater 

 vertical elevation in less lateral sjDace than most mountains. 

 It rose immediately out of the valley in a series of precipices, 

 separated by most disproportionately small ledges, and I 

 believe, if the icy cap of the mountain had toppled over, 

 there would have been nothing to stop its fragments until 

 they reached the bed of the Uruch. The greater portion 

 of the Adai Khokh group was hidden by the nearer ranges ; 

 beyond some of its northern spurs, two or three distant 

 snow-peaks were visible, in one of which we easily recoo-- 

 nised Kazbek. 



The train of horses followed us quickly up the pass, and 

 when they rejoined us on the summit, we found the men 

 in high good-humour at the unexpected easiness of their 

 day's work. The first descent on the eastern side was 



£ £ 



