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THE PATHS TO SUAXKllA 185
hour they are not 'at work' above the last moss and Uchen. Such
was not the spirit of my early companions. A. W. Moore, one of"
the keenest of the founders of the Alpine Club, held it as an axiom
that the true mountaineer explored ever\' valley as Avell as every
crest of his favourite mountains, and in the case of the Oberland and
Monte Rosa he carried this principle into practice. The traveller
who groes to the Caucasus and confines his curiositv to the '
frostv
Caucasus '
shows himself a degenerate mountaineer, a creature
physically specialised, perhaps, but intellectually maimed. There
may be over-specialisation in sport, as much as in science and
industry. Have we not heai'd of climbers who cannot bring them-
selves to waste time on snow and ice, so devoted are they to
perfecting themselves in the gymnastics of rock-climbing ; of men
who can scale a boulder or a rock-tooth, but cannot find the right
mountain ?
way up a great
The subjugation of Suanetia has been a boon to the Suanetians,
and also to the wandei'er, to whom it opens the Paradise of the
Caucasus. The peak-hunter may be attracted thither chiefly by
the virgin southern crest of Ushba. For the rest, he may prefer
Karaul, or the Mis.sess Kosh. But the mountaineer who can be
satisfied with summits of 13,000 to 15,000 feet, or who appreciates
passes, may find in the ranges that encircle this great valley oc-
cupation
for several svimmei's.
I have myself been in and out of Suanetia eight times, by seven
difterent tracks. I have been twice thi-ough the Skenis Skall forests.
I have also penetrated the still wilder foi'est of the Kodor, and
wandered among the scarcely less tangled woods that cover the
noi'thern slopes of the Laila. The Kodor forest is the greatest
in extent, and its canopy of foliage is denser. The traveller who
scarcely sees the sky for days, or finds his way barricaded by an
unfordable river, gets some hint of the diflaculties of ti'avel in
Africa or New Zealand. The Suanetian woods are more scattered,
and admit frequent open glades. The special quality, or charm, of
the Skenis Skali forests lies in the superb proportions of individual
trees— above all, of the pines and beeches, and in the extravagant
— I can use no other word— growth of the flowers. I have for