I^¥^®^^^^ 



Photo from George Kennan 



THE DARlElv PASS IN WINTER 



To cross the Caucasus in winter, even by the most practicable of the passes, is an under- 

 taking of no small difficulty. The traveler has often, literally, to dig his way through the 

 snow, as can be seen from the picture. 



he had entered into an engagement of 

 marriage, and that in view of this fact he 

 thought it would not be practicable for 

 him to join me in the proposed explora- 

 tion. From one point of view, it is per- 

 haps unfortunate that Mr. Hay's engage- 

 ment did not begin a year later. 



If he had gone to the Caucasus he 

 might have written a book even more 

 striking and brilliant than ''Castilian 

 Days," and might still have had the 

 happy married life and the distinguished 

 public career that were then awaiting 

 him. It is easy to imagine what a story 

 he would have given to the world if it 

 had been possible for him to get back 



into the Europe of Charlemagne, and 

 that practically is what he might have 

 done if he had explored the high and 

 wild ravines of southern Daghestan in 

 1870. 



After having made several unsuccess- 

 ful attempts to find a traveling compan- 

 ion in place of Air. Hay, I was even- 

 tually compelled to sail for Russia alone, 

 and reached St. Petersburg about the 

 first of July. In August I proceeded by 

 rail to Nijni Novgorod, took a steamer 

 down the River Volga to Astrakhan, cir- 

 cumnavigated the northern end of the 

 Caspian Sea, and finally landed early in 

 September at Petrovsk, a small port on 



1097 



