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JOURNEY ALONG THE CAUCASUS.

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lation. This country, particularly towards the mountains,abounds with deer, roebucks, foxes, and wild cats, whichrefemble the domeftic kind, but are much larger, and of twocolours, reddifh, and grey with dark ftreaks. Befides thefe thereare, a fmall fpecies of wolves, a few jackalls, hares, mountainmice, and the Spalax TjpMe, or large blind mole. Of wild-fowl, particularly in autumn, large and fmall buftards, partridgesand pheafants, are common here.

On the 9th of September, I undertook a journey to the for-trefs of Conftantinogorfk, which was of great importance to me,as I wifhed to have a nearer profpect of the Befhtau, and atthe fame time vifit the fource of the fulphureous bath in itsvicinity. I propofed to travel farther to the excellent acidulatedfprings fituated beyond the line, near the villages of the Abaf-fines belonging to the family of Dfhentimir.

From Georgiefsk, we proceeded over a rifing fertile piaincovered with excellent grafs, and continued our journey alongthe banks of the rapid Podkuma that flowed with an undulatingcurrent down to the left. We firft travelled to the Weft andS. W. leaving Lyffie Gora or the fox mountain, which is fituatedbeyond the Podkuma on our left; we then proceeded by thepoint where the river makes a confiderable winding round thefteep and woody weitem fide of that mountain. About halfway on our road we found a picquet of Kozaks ; and graduallyturning in a S. W. dire&ion, we reached a rifing piain whichwas thinly though uniformly covered with wood and fpreadingplants, fuch as indicated a more mountainous country and a

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