455 } 



XII. 



ON MOUNT CAUCASUS. 



BY CAPTAIN FRJNCIS fVILFORD. 



nPHIS appellation, at leaft in its prefent ftate, is not 

 ^ Scanfcrit ; and as it is not of Gr^<:/^« origin, itisproba- 

 ble,that the Greeks received it through their intercourfe 

 with the Perfiayis. In this fuppofition, the real name of 

 this famous mountain fhouldbe Cafus or Cas ; ^orCauor 

 Cob, in FerfiaUy fignifies a mountain. Now, if we tranf- 

 latc this appellation of Coh-cas into Sanfcrit, we fhall 

 have Cas giri ; or according to the idiom of the fpo- 

 ken dialects, Cas-ghar or Cas-car ; and, really, fuch is 

 the prefent name of the mountainous region, in which 

 Ptolemy afferts, i\\2ii iht Cmicafus , properly fo called, 

 was fituated. This country, which very much refem- 

 bles the valleys o{ CafnmiTy and Nepal, is mentioned in 

 the Ayeen Akbery ; and was furveyed a few years ago by 

 my friend Mirza-Mogul Beg. It muft not, how- 

 ever, be confounded with the famous country of Cajh- 

 ghar, or Cajh-car to the eaftward of Sevnarcand ; though 

 the appellation and its etymological derivation be the 

 fame. 



The true Snnfcrit name of this mountain is C^hafa-gl" 

 riy or the mountain of the Chafas^ a moft ancient and 

 powerful tribe: who inhabited this immenfe range, 

 from the eaftern limits o^ India to the confines o{ Per- 

 fia ; and moft probably as far as the Euxine and Medi- 

 terranean feas. They are often mentioned in the fa- 

 crcd books of the Hindus, 



Their 



