>78 SECOND EXCURSION TO THE 
chap. Caverns and gloomy passages hewn in the 
; solid rock, whose original uses are now un- 
known, presented on every side their dark 
mouths. Upon the most elevated part of this ex- 
traordinary eminence there is a beautiful plain, 
covered with a tine turf : here we found the 
Rosa Pygnuea of Pallas, blooming in great 
beauty. This plain, partly fenced by the mould- 
ering wall of the fortress, but otherwise open 
to the surrounding precipices, appeared to 
be as lofty as the summit of the cliffs upon 
the Sussex coast, near Beachy Head. All 
the other mountains, valleys, hills, woods, and 
villages, may be discerned from this spot. 
While with dismay and caution we crept upon 
our hands and knees to look over the brink 
of these fearful heights, a half-clad Tahtar, 
wild as the winds of the north, mounted upon 
a colt equally unsubdued, without any saddle 
or bridle, except the twisted stem of a wild 
vine, galloped to the very edge of the pre- 
cipice, and there, as his horse stood prancing 
upon the borders of eternity, amused himself 
in pointing out to us the different places, in 
the vast district which the eye commanded. 
We entered into one of the excavated cham- 
bers; a small square apartment, leading to 
another upon our right hand. Upon our left, 
a narrow passage conducted us to an open 
