VALLEY OF NICKSAR. 
699 
Cossack villages of the Don. The houses are all formed of the 
same material, and put together in the same way ; but their as¬ 
pects were a little different, from a necessary adaptation to a dif¬ 
ferent climate. Here, they are all flat-roofed, and with each its 
respective colonnade or veranda. The building is raised on stone 
or wood foundations, pretty high from the surface of the ground, 
and the lower part, within, is the residence of the cattle ; the 
raised single floor is reserved for the family. In another hour 
we passed the village of Bashi Chifflick, situated on a rapid 
stream, which flows southward into the greater river, now far from 
our sight. For six miles onward, our course lay through a forest 
tract of immense fir-trees, leading to one of our accustomed 
steep and winding descents ; which conducted us over a stony 
and dangerous road, hanging on all sides with thickets of dwarf- 
oaks. Bad as the path was we followed our leader at a fast trot, 
but which career being now and then impeded by a fall of some 
of the baggage-horses, full an hour was consumed before we 
entered the hollow of the valley. By measurement, I am sure 
the descending sweep of this oak-covered part of the mountain 
would have added another six miles, to the same number we 
had just traversed under its fir-woods. 
The scene we now entered is called the valley of Nicksar; 
and it presented a picture of rural prosperity and beauty per¬ 
fectly Arcadian. Gently swelling ground, carpeted with verdure, 
groves, and sparkling rivulets; and wherever I turned my eyes, 
houses appeared amongst the foliage, and widely spreading vines 
hanging clustering on other fruit-trees. The variety of these 
latter, are hardly to be numbered; and the luxuriance of their 
growth is scarcely credible in our harsher climates. But the 
whole scene gave me an idea of some of the finest parts of 
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