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CHAPTER X SUANETIA Kovpii'iSos . . airav ynp tuTi tu 7rXi)ft)f iidxifiw ov avvTirayjiivov. STRABO, Lib. xi. C. 2. HERE are sceptics who venture to deny that the most delightful of old English story-tellers, Sir John Mandeville, ever travelled, or even existed. But this much is certain, that an author writing under the name of Mandeville, in the reign of Edward iii., told the following strange tale of the Caucasus : ' In that KjTigdom of Abcaz is a gret niarvaylle. For a Provynee of the Contree that hathe well in circuyt 3 jorneyes, that men is clepen Hanyson, alle covered with Derk- nesse withouten ony brightnesse or light, so that no man may see ne here, ne no man dar entren in to hem. And natheles thei of the Contree seyn that som tyme men heren voys of folk and Hors nyzenge and Cokkes crowynge. And thei seyn that the Derknesse befelle by Myracle of God. ' For a cursed Emperour of Persie that highte Savu-es, pursuede alle Cristeue men to destroye hem and to compelle hem to make Sacritise to his Ydoles and i-ood with grete Host in alle that ever he myghte for to confoundc the Cristene men.' The Christians were miraculously 2:>reserved by a great cloud, which came down on the heathen host, who have ever since wandered about in the darkness. An Arabian geographer. El Masudi, describes a Lost Valley in
the same region in terms, it is true, trenching SUANETIA 203 less on the marvellous but sufficiently similar to suggest a common basis for the legends. El Masudi's valley is enclosed by a wall raised from below upwards, two miles high and fifty miles in circumference. This barrier renders it impossible to go within the enclosure. By night many lights may be seen in it in different places, and by day are discovered ^illages, men, and cattle, but everything ajjpears little, on account of the height from which the spectator looks down. Nobody knows what nation the inhabitants belong to, for they are unable to climb up, and no one who ascends to the top can go down to them.' The more old travellers' tales I read the more convinced I become that nine times out of ten there is some truth at the bottom of them, some foundation in fact for the most picturesque superstructures of fancy. Hanyson reads very like an anagram of Soany, Saures might easily be Chosroes, the clouds that gather under the great peaks and overshadow the southern valleys at their feet might very well be represented as covering a land of darkness. The Suanetians keep herds of horses, and much poultiy. Both stories, the English and the Arabian, seem to me to be probably based on the vague reports of wanderers who hatl stood on the ridge of the Latpari and seen the green pastures and white towers of Suanetia far below through the breaks in the storm-clouds. Let us, too, halt here for a moment in our travels in order to collect some details as to the natural characteristics, past history, and present Valley of the Caucasus. condition of this Lost Suanetia, the country of the Suans— excluding Dadian's Suanetia on the Skenis Skali— is the whole upper basin of the Ingur abo^'e the great gorge through which it finds a way out to the lowlands near Sugdidi, a town some fifty miles west of Kutais. It is about forty miles long by fifteen broad, and in size and general features may be compared to the valley of Aosta. The Laila chain will then take the place of the Grand Paradis, the Zagar Pass that of the Col de la Seigne, and the ' Sprenger'a Translation, vol. i.
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the same region in terms, it is true, trenching<br />
SUANETIA 203<br />
less on the marvellous<br />
but sufficiently similar to suggest a common basis for the legends.<br />
El Masudi's valley is enclosed by a wall raised from below upwards,<br />
two miles high and fifty miles in circumference. This barrier<br />
renders it impossible to go within the enclosure. By night<br />
many lights may be seen in it in different places, and by day<br />
are discovered ^illages, men, and cattle, but everything ajjpears<br />
little, on account of the height from which the spectator looks<br />
down. Nobody knows what nation the inhabitants belong to,<br />
for they are unable to climb up, and no one who ascends to the<br />
top can go down to them.'<br />
The more old travellers' tales I read the more convinced I<br />
become that nine times out of ten there is some truth at the<br />
bottom of them, some foundation in fact for the most picturesque<br />
superstructures of fancy. Hanyson reads very like an anagram of<br />
Soany, Saures might easily be Chosroes, the clouds that gather<br />
under the great peaks and overshadow the southern valleys at<br />
their feet might very well be represented as covering a land of<br />
darkness. The Suanetians keep herds of horses, and much<br />
poultiy. Both stories, the English and the Arabian, seem to<br />
me to be probably based on the vague reports of wanderers<br />
who hatl stood on the ridge of the Latpari and seen the green<br />
pastures and white towers of Suanetia far below through the<br />
breaks in the storm-clouds. Let us, too, halt here for a moment<br />
in our travels in order to collect some details as to the natural<br />
characteristics, past history, and present<br />
Valley of the Caucasus.<br />
condition of this Lost<br />
Suanetia, the country of the Suans— excluding Dadian's<br />
Suanetia on the Skenis Skali— is the whole upper basin of<br />
the Ingur abo^'e the great gorge through which it finds a way<br />
out to the lowlands near Sugdidi, a town some fifty miles west<br />
of Kutais. It is about forty miles long by fifteen broad, and<br />
in size and general features may be compared to the valley of<br />
Aosta. The Laila chain will then take the place of the Grand<br />
Paradis, the Zagar Pass that of the Col de la Seigne, and the<br />
'<br />
Sprenger'a Translation,<br />
vol. i.