Untitled

KASBEK AND THE OSSETE DLSTIUCT 95
torrent, which at this time of day was fordable ; and
boys vohmteered to go with us to the post-station.
one of the
A well-marked
path led us above the united torrents ; on a neighbouring brow, we
were told, stands a pile of stones, resembling an altar in shape, and
covered witli the horns of chamois and wild goats. This s])ot is held
sacred bv the Chetchen inliabitants of the neiohbouringf village, and
once a year they repair hither, sing strange chants, and make
offerings to the local deities. Ere long
the defile of the Da rial
opened beneath us, and a short descent brought us to the Terek.
OSSETE SHEPHERDS
Our return did not create much excitement at first at the Kasbek
post-station. The inmates seemed to take it as a matter of course
that we had not really been to the top, but equally as a matter
of course that we should say we had. We roused up our inter-
preter, who, still unable to shake off an attack of fever, was in a very
gloomy mood, and through him despatched a messenger to look for
our porters, whom we had left encamped at 11,000 feet the previous
morning. The commission was quickly executed. In the evening
the porters returned, bringing in safety all our belongings, including
a pair of snow-spectacles, which had been mislaid in a start in the