A BREAKDOAVX OX THE STEPPE. 435 



weather the views of the snowy chain and Kazbek may 

 make this drive interesting, but when these are hid, 

 nothing" can be duller, or more monotonous. Archonsk is 

 a decayed military post, now inhabited chiefly by a tribe 

 of lean and hungry pigs. 



We had travelled nearly five miles beyond it, when the 

 wheel of one of our ' telegas ' flew ofl^, and shivered into 

 atoms ; the ' rules of the post ' prevented our extricating 

 ourselves from the dilemma, by jumping into a return- 

 cart, which actually passed us, on its way to Vladikafkaz ; 

 and we were compelled, after sending the driver of the 

 broken vehicle back on one of his horses to fetch another, 

 to take Paul into our cart, and leave Fran9ois in the 

 middle of the steppe, with a revolver and the luggage, to 

 aAvait the arrival of a fresh ' telega.' The rain had now 

 ceased, and pursuing a gentle but steady ascent, at a 

 slow pace, we gradually left the verst-posts, and a num- 

 ber of exceedingly tijDsy Eussian soldiers, behind, and at 

 nightfall entered Vladikafkaz. Long rows of white- 

 washed buildings, used apparently as barracks and go- 

 vernment stores, lined either side of the road. We 

 thought the town would never come to an end, when 

 suddenly our horses' hoofs rang on macadam, and in 

 another minute, we were crossing our old friend, the 

 Terek, by a handsome stone-bridge, built by an English 

 engineer. 



At a distance of a few hundred yards, on the opposite 

 bank of the river, stands the posthouse, a large and 

 imposing building, which serves both as an hotel, and as 

 a club for the numerous ofiicers stationed at Vladikafkaz, 

 who, at the moment of our arrival, were giving a ball to 

 the ladies of the place. Having secured good rooms, the 

 best dinner they could give us, and a bottle of champagne, 

 to celebrate the conclusion of our rambles in the un- 



V F 2 



