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108 THE EX?L(^T^ATTON OF THE CAUCASrS of the Northern Caucasus, lying along the outwai'd slopes of the limestone range that turns its precipices to the snows. It was one of the main defensive resources of the tribes in their struggle against Russia. Beyond it lie the first of the ' longitudinal trenches,' the bare basins between the limestone and the crystal- line schists. Presently the valley widens, and the traveller sees on either hand smooth green buttresses, dotted by grey human nests and broken by tawny spurs. The landscape is dull and ineffective, and a gleam of snow here and there fails to vivify it. The eyes are gladdened when, at the point where the stream from the silver mines of Sadon and the path to the Urukh over the Kamunta Pass join the Ardon, the granite mountains close in on the river. Above the hamlet of Nukhal a low precipice, overhanging the entrance to the gorge, is pitted with fortified caves. These were the main defence of the Ossete population of the upper valley of the Ardon in former days. The country-side is full of memorials of ' old, unhappy,' but not as yet ' far-ofi" things.' A Piussian bayonet may often be seen serving as a spike to the native hunter's staff. The ascent is steady to a meadow, in which stands the Cossack post of St. Nikolai (3950 feet), sheltered by walnuts and pinewoods at the entrance both of the Zea Valley and of the Kassara gorge. Here we found a substantial cottage, containing one or two rooms furnished with tables and sofas, the last tolerable sleeping- quarters on this side of the pass. The mountain sides slope up with extraordinary abruptness, and on all sides the highest crags are snowy. St. Nikolai lies in one of the great clefts which rend from top to bottom the central of the Caucasus. Within three miles east and west the clift's ridge tower 8000 to 8500 feet above the Ardon. The average slope of the hillsides, therefore, is abovit 1 in 3 : an angle of at least 30°. Compared to the Darial, the scenery of the Kassai'a gorge is less savage, but more romantic. Broken tiers of granite, or porphyritic buttresses, spring up into the air in noble curves. Wliite peaks shine between them ; glaciers send down waterfalls among their hollows. The river tumbles in a succession of cascades and rapids ;
Tlii: .MA.MISOX PASS AND UEJil 109 the road runs close to it. The Kassara is an open defile, not a water-cut cleft like the Via Mala. The rocks are fringed with fir-forests, which recall the giants of Corsica rather than the meagre stems of the Alps. So romantic a portal raises high expectations. But as above the ravine of the Averser Rhein, which shares on a smaller scale some of the characteristics of the Kassara, the road emerges into an upland basin, destitute of forest, where wide pastures rise in uniform slopes, over which the higher summits appear only at intervals. The valley of the Nardon, the eastern source of the Ardon, up which runs the path to Kobi—trodden by my party in 18G8—and that to the Georgian valleys, falls in on the left. The highroad turns west- ward, and mounts steadily to the village of Teeb, the chief place of the upper valley. The scenery on the ascent to the Mamison Pass is as dull as that of any Graubiinden carriage-pass, except when the heights of the Tepli Group are thrown up against the early morning light. The road, terraced along the northern side of the valley, rises steadily but not steeply. Near a ruinous Refuge we met some bidlock-carts drawing stones. A four-horse tarantass was so far beyond the experience of the animals that the leading paii- dashed violently down the hillside. After a few yards the cart and cattle turned a wild somersault, and were brought up in a confused mass against a great boulder. To our amazement, the bullocks shook themselves free of their broken harness, and rose to their legs apparently little the worse for the adventure. Had the drivers been Italian peasants, they would have owed a votive tablet to the nearest shrine. On the walls at Crissolo, in the Po valley, I remember a very vivid representation of a similar catastrophe.' Soon after this enlivening incident we crossed the infant Ardon, less than a mile from its parent glaciers, two small ice-fields enclosed in a rocky cirque, and then by one long zigzag mounted ' Since there are next to no roads in the Central Caucasus, there are naturally few vehicles. The cart of the country is a rude, large liasket placed on runners, which form a sledge in winter. In summer a low pair of wheels are attached under the forepart of the runners. They travel about two miles an hour, and creak horribly.
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108 THE EX?L(^T^ATTON OF THE CAUCASrS<br />
of the Northern Caucasus, lying along the outwai'd slopes<br />
of the<br />
limestone range that turns its precipices to the snows. It was<br />
one of the main defensive resources of the tribes in their struggle<br />
against Russia. Beyond<br />
it lie the first of the '<br />
longitudinal<br />
trenches,' the bare basins between the limestone and the crystal-<br />
line schists. Presently the valley widens, and the traveller sees<br />
on either hand smooth green buttresses, dotted by grey human<br />
nests and broken by tawny spurs. The landscape is dull and<br />
ineffective, and a gleam of snow here and there fails to vivify<br />
it. The eyes are gladdened when, at the point where the<br />
stream from the silver mines of Sadon and the path to the<br />
Urukh over the Kamunta Pass join the Ardon, the granite<br />
mountains close in on the river. Above the hamlet of Nukhal a<br />
low precipice, overhanging the entrance to the gorge, is pitted<br />
with fortified caves. These were the main defence of the Ossete<br />
population of the upper valley of the Ardon in former days.<br />
The country-side is full of memorials of<br />
'<br />
old, unhappy,' but<br />
not as yet '<br />
far-ofi" things.' A Piussian bayonet may often be<br />
seen serving as a spike to the native hunter's staff.<br />
The ascent is steady to a meadow,<br />
in which stands the Cossack<br />
post of St. Nikolai (3950 feet), sheltered by walnuts and pinewoods<br />
at the entrance both of the Zea Valley and of the Kassara<br />
gorge. Here we found a substantial cottage, containing one or two<br />
rooms furnished with tables and sofas, the last tolerable sleeping-<br />
quarters on this side of the pass.<br />
The mountain sides slope up with extraordinary abruptness,<br />
and on all sides the highest crags are snowy. St. Nikolai lies in<br />
one of the great clefts which rend from top to bottom the central<br />
of the Caucasus. Within three miles east and west the clift's<br />
ridge<br />
tower 8000 to 8500 feet above the Ardon. The average slope of<br />
the hillsides, therefore, is abovit 1 in 3 : an angle of at least 30°.<br />
Compared to the Darial, the scenery of the Kassai'a gorge is less<br />
savage, but more romantic. Broken tiers of granite, or porphyritic<br />
buttresses, spring up into the air in noble curves. Wliite peaks<br />
shine between them ; glaciers send down waterfalls among their<br />
hollows. The river tumbles in a succession of cascades and rapids ;
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