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162 THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAUCASUS been left behind. In 1868 we rode up from Naltshik to Balkar in two (lays. A Cossack will reach Karaul in the same time ; but mountaineers new to Eastern travel may find the days long enough ; for Turkish saddles, if difficult to be thrown out of, are irksome to remain in— though habit may do much. After the river has been crossed the forest becomes beautiful enough to call forth enthusiasm, even from those who are no novices in the Caucasus. Crags jut out from the green slopes home to delicate ferns ; and afibrd a moss-cradled brooks pour down out of secret hollows. The tall smooth trunks of elm and alder are festooned with the long streamers of creeping plants, the common rhododen- dron and. golden azalea grow to an immense size. A tarn, fringed with grasses, reflects on its surface the overhanging crags and boughs, and suggests a mid-day halt. We camped not far off" in 1868. In 1847, this neighbourhood was the scene of a more imposing en- campment. The famous Schamyl, the leader of the tribes of Daghestan, penetrated to this point in an attempt to raise the Central Caucasus, having with him a formidable host of Chechens and six cannon. His immediate object was to establish himself in the basin of Balkar and hold it as a citadel whence he might sally forth into the Kabarda, the inhabitants of which would, he hoped, make common cause with him. But the Tauli, or Mountain Turks, in place of welcoming their co-religionists, barricaded the great gorge against them ; the flocks sent from the Kabarda were cut off by the Cossacks, and one night the armed host suddenly struck camp and hurried back by forced marches to the forests of Chechnaya beyond Vladikavkaz. It was a critical moment in the history of the Caucasus when the Moslem host, with its banners and its knights in chain armour, such a host as we read of in the tales of the Crusades, retreated to its native fastnesses ; and the Russian Government owes no slight debt to the Balkar chiefs who prevented the flames of revolt smouldering on the shores of the Euxine from bursting into a blaze which would have spread from sea to sea.' ' I owe these particulars to Dr. Abich's Reisebriefe aus Kaukasischen Ldndern, vol. i. p. 457.
BALKAR AND BEZINGI 1G3 The valley above our caiaping-ground was completely closed by precipitous limestone cliffs, which seemed to form a hairier against all further progress. The — path already at some height above the Cherek, glimpses of which could only be seen from time to time at the bottom of a deep ravine— turned abruptly upwards, and climbed rapidly through the forest. Having reached a height of at least 1500 feet above the bed of the river, it struck boldly into the heart of the gorge, circling round ravines, and winding over the top of the perpendicular cliffs, where a fall from one's horse on the off-side woiild have led to a short roll, followed by a sensational header of many hundred feet. The vegetation, where- ever it could find room to cling on the shelves and crannies between the precipices, was magnificent ; pine and beech still predominated, though there was a sprinkling of other foliage. Single trees crowning some pi'ojecting crag, where, destitute of any apparent source of sustenance, the\^ yet contrived to maintain a vigorous existence, added much to the beauty of the defile. Alpine flowers for the first time showed themselves in company with the most delicate ferns, and even the grandeur of the surround- ing scenery did not make us forget to welcome such old friends. We could best appreciate the magnitude of the precipices immediately below us when a bend in the hillside enabled us to look back on some portion of the road already traversed; the cliffs on the opposite bank were even more tremendous. Half-w^ay through the defile, a spur of the mountains on the eastern side of the river juts out straight across the gap, and in fact does at one spot actually touch the opposite mountain, leaving the water to burrow undei'ground as best it may. The path descends on to the saddle connecting the rocky crown of this s?pur with the hillside from which it springs. This brow, from its position, commands a view both up and down the defile, to which there is nothing similar, or in the least comparable, in the Alps. The gorge of the Cherek is no mere crack in the lower slopes of the mountains, like it is rather a trench dug down those of Pfeffers and the Via Mala ; from their verv summits to a depth of 5000 feet or more. Behind
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BALKAR AND BEZINGI 1G3<br />
The valley above our caiaping-ground was completely closed<br />
by precipitous limestone cliffs, which seemed to form a hairier<br />
against all further progress. The — path already at some height<br />
above the Cherek, glimpses of which could only be seen from time<br />
to time at the bottom of a deep ravine— turned abruptly upwards,<br />
and climbed rapidly through the forest. Having reached a height<br />
of at least 1500 feet above the bed of the river, it struck boldly<br />
into the heart of the gorge, circling round ravines, and winding<br />
over the top of the perpendicular cliffs, where a fall from one's horse<br />
on the off-side woiild have led to a short roll, followed by a<br />
sensational header of many hundred feet. The vegetation, where-<br />
ever it could find room to cling on the shelves and crannies between<br />
the precipices, was magnificent ; pine and beech still predominated,<br />
though there was a sprinkling of other foliage. Single trees<br />
crowning some pi'ojecting crag, where, destitute of any apparent<br />
source of sustenance, the\^ yet contrived to maintain a vigorous<br />
existence, added much to the beauty of the defile. Alpine<br />
flowers for the first time showed themselves in company with<br />
the most delicate ferns, and even the grandeur of the surround-<br />
ing scenery did not make us forget<br />
to welcome such old<br />
friends.<br />
We could best appreciate the magnitude of the precipices<br />
immediately<br />
below us when a bend in the hillside enabled us to<br />
look back on some portion of the road already traversed; the cliffs on<br />
the opposite bank were even more tremendous. Half-w^ay through<br />
the defile, a spur of the mountains on the eastern side of the<br />
river juts out straight across the gap, and in fact does at one<br />
spot actually touch the opposite mountain, leaving<br />
the water to<br />
burrow undei'ground as best it may. The path descends on to the<br />
saddle connecting the rocky crown of this s?pur with the hillside<br />
from which it springs. This brow, from its position, commands<br />
a view both up and down the defile, to which there is nothing<br />
similar, or in the least comparable, in the Alps. The gorge of the<br />
Cherek is no mere crack in the lower slopes of the mountains, like<br />
it is rather a trench dug down<br />
those of Pfeffers and the Via Mala ;<br />
from their verv summits to a depth of 5000 feet or more. Behind