steepness. The idea of climbing either of them seemed too insane to be so much as suggested, and even the lower spurs of the mountain above the meadows of Betscho are so tremendous that it looked as if a stone dropped from the top of either of the peaks would scarcely stop rolling before it reached the valley. There was no mistake about it, the Caucasian Matterhorn was found at last, only here we had one Matterhorn piled on another, and then multiplied by two.' [!]

It is evident that there is still abundant work for the Alpine Club to be found in the Caucasus for some time to come. Yet this noble peak, which was estimated at not less than 16,000 feet in height, is neither marked nor named upon the Russian Government map; so that Mr. Freshfield and his companions may justly claim the credit of being its discoverers. Equally unnoticed is another mountain to the west of Uschba, known by the name of Tungzorun, which was judged by our travellers to be probably the highest summit in this part of the chain. On the other hand, the map perversely marks a regular pass 'straight up the centre of an ice-fall which for height, breadth, and purity 'exceeeds anything of the kind in the Alps, forming 'a frozen cascade' of about 4,000 feet in height, and of a dazzling whiteness, similar to that of the wellknown glacier of Rosenlauï. The Russian engineers appear, indeed, to have given up this part of the chain as a bad job, and contented themselves with a very superficial and distant survey of the peaks that were visible from the northern plains. Doubtless they did not reckon on adventurous English travellers penetrating into these wild regions, so as to expose their shortcomings.

The valley of the Ingur, with its numerous and important tributaries, while it affords the nearest glimpses

of these mountain marvels, is not less remarkable for the extreme beauty of the lower scenery. Mr. Freshfield and Mr. Tucker vie with one another in their ecstasies over the transcendent loveliness of the scenes through which they passed. 'It is quite impossible (says 'the former in one place) to convey in words any idea 'of the landscape, or the grandeur of the scale, which 'placed the scenery beyond comparison with any of the 'show-sights of Switzerland. The enjoyment of these beauties was moreover enhanced by the facility with which they were beheld, presenting so strong a contrast with the difficulties they had recently encountered. "The excellently-made paths down the valley ordinarily 'run along the crests of the spurs, and their beauty 'is almost indescribable. The path wanders at will, 'now on this side of the ridge, now on that, as if 'itself doubtful whether the more enchanting spectacle 'be afforded by the broad vale of the Mushal Aliz, 'dotted with towered villages, and backed by the long and finely curving glaciers of the main chain, or by 'the deep pine-clad gorge on the southern side, across which the Leila mountains raise their snowy crests."

Unfortunately there it another side to this enchanting picture. The valley of the Ingur is emphatically one of those regions where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile. The Suanetians, as the inhabitants of this secluded district are termed, are beyond comparison the worst people in the Caucasus. Herr Radde, a German savant resident at Tiflis, who appears to be the only traveller that had previously visited these valleys, had given a most unfavourable description of the inhabitants, in whom the savage stupidity of their looks, and the insolence and rudeness

of their manners, served as a just indication of the ferocity of their character. The inhabitants of one village are constantly engaged in hostilities with those of the next; robbery and murder are so frequent as scarcely to be accounted crimes, and individuals are frequently to be met with who have committed ten or more murders. At Jibiani, the highest village in the valley of the Ingur, where Mr. Freshfield and his companions ignorant at the time of the character of the population-had hoped to find a kind of Pontresina" from whence to explore the neighbouring mountains, the villagers proved so insolent and aggressive, that they were obliged to hasten their departure, which in the end they were not able to effect without coming almost to an open conflict. Nothing saved them from robbery and violence but the fact that all three travellers were armed with revolvers, weapons whose unknown powers are regarded by the barbarians of the Caucasus with a kind of mysterious awe. "The difficulty" (as Mr. Freshfield observes) 'lies in enforcing this impression 'while keeping clear of actual fighting. The travellers appear to have displayed, on this as on other occasions, a degree of coolness combined with resolution highly creditable to the character of the Alpine Club.

'The nature of the country' (remarks Mr. Freshfield)' has, no doubt, had a great share in forming the 'savage and wild character of its inhabitants. A large 'basin, forty miles long by fifteen broad, is shut in on 'all sides by glacier-crowned ridges, and the only access 'to it from the outer world, is by means of a narrow, 'and at times impassable, ravine, or over lofty mountain passes. The Russian Government, after carrying their arms into the valley, endeavoured for a time to

enforce the submission and tranquillity of the people, by maintaining military posts within their territory, but these have been gradually withdrawn, and the Suanetians have been left to the enjoyment of virtual independence, and at full liberty to follow their own. 'wicked ways of theft and murder to their hearts 'content. A post of ten Cossacks, still stationed at Pari, one of the most westerly villages in the valley, is the entire military force maintained by the Russians in the district, and was, indeed, the only sign of Russian authority which the travellers had met with after leaving Kazbek.

From Pari they directed their course once more across the central chain; but this time by a known pass, occasionally frequented by the peasantry of the adjoining valleys, and over which it was possible to drive cattle, as the travellers learned by meeting a party of Suanetian peasants, who had been on a 'cattlelifting' expedition across the pass, and were returning with eleven cows which they had stolen from the Tartars of the Upper Baksan. These Tartars, who are Mahommedans, and a branch of the Circassian stock, proved to be in all respects a very superior race to those on the southern side of the range; and at Uruspieh, the place where our travellers fixed their head-quarters for the ascent of Elbruz, they found a hospitable reception, comfortable quarters, and a faint tinge of European civilisation. 'Only two days' journey from the Russian watering-places of Pjätigorsk and Kislovodsk, Urus'pieh is frequently visited by Russian travellers or 'officials, and even the rambling photographer has 'carried his camera thus far.' The native 'princes," as the chief men of the village were styled, were far

better-informed men than any that had been previously met with; they were familiar with the events of the Crimean War, and were evidently disposed to look with favour upon Englishmen. One of them had been in the Russian service, spoke Russian fluently, and had sufficient hnowledge of the other countries of the west to be aware that Englishmen lived exclusively on beefsteaks and porter, and apologised for not being able to supply them with their national food!

What was more to the purpose, they entered warmly into the pursuits of the travellers, and furnished them with every assistance for the ascent of Mount Elbruz, an enterprise that appears to have really presented little difficulty to such practised mountaineers as Mr. Freshfield and his companions, although they suffered severely from the intense cold, aggravated as it was by a violent wind. The prospect from the summit is pronounced to be decidedly superior to that from Mont Blanc, the Pennine Alps looking puny in comparison 'with Koschtantau and his neighbours from Elbruz. But although the mountain is in fact, like its rival in the Alps, far easier to ascend than many of the inferior peaks of the chain, there is really no room to wonder that none of the previous attempts had been successful, a point which we concur with Mr. Freshfield in regarding as completely established. It must be

always borne in mind that not only were the former explorers untrained to Alpine work. and unaccustomed to glaciers, but they were unprovided with ice-axes and ropes, those invaluable safeguards to the mountaineer, the importance of which was sufficiently shown on the present occasion, Mr. Freshfield himself having slipped into a concealed crevasse, which, had he not been