d hy the barren summit of the 11111 e. the top of the Ale tshuha, it is pt ta t . i ous tract which connects the Besntau situ t , tl. •l ad jacent heights, appears to run 1 !lie fly io : !Ion with the stream of the liver Klima already mentio. d 0.1.1 eminences rising progressively as they XII 11(1 1.0••,tre,S the south-west, till they unite with the Ell.urto., situated near to the sources of the rivi r Cuban.
'[he Elburus is the most distinguish( 41 of the emi nences that seems to have attracted the woad' .• of Pro fessor Pallas in this quarter. The account w•lich he gives of it and of the adjoining elevated ridges is as fol lows. " From Nladshary," says he, " we first descried the snowy mountains of the Caucasus. During the whole of this day's joorney, they appeared particularly distinct to us on account or the serenity of the air, and exhibited in their train a most magniliceot spectacle. Besides the lofty and colossal Mortis, which tow4 red above an the others, and as it were guarded the whole chain on its western extremity, there were four principal groups crowned with show, which were particularly conspicuous by their irregular summits. The black mountains, or as they are usually called here Tshernye Cory, appear ed at this distance like a regular wall which connected the snowy mountains that rose above it, while it formed their basis. The height of these black mountains is ap parently equal to that of the Beshtau, though the latter is 150 versts distant from the Former; and that pal t of the Elburus which is covered with snow appears to be above double the height of the Besl.tau, which. however, is much nearer the place whence we viewed the sr- vast piles. The other groups of these snowy moinItLihs ap pear to the eye one-third lower than the F.Ihuros: tile most conspicuous are the broken ismums near the rise of the Aredon. and the summits f Kasibek Lcyond the source of the Terek." In a note it is rem t' at the Elburus is not inferior, perhaps, to :Mont 131.,;.c. The difft rent surrounding tribes, it seems, distim.,nish it by different names. Fran what particular nation it h...s received the name of Elburus has not been a.,certaincd. But in those parts it appears to have bee n pitconl upon as a fit object will w hi•h to connect s of the no tions of the prevailiog superstition. It is cons:to red as
the residence of the I.ing of the hobgoblins. e,u:s1 cd by the app Dshim Padishah : in t t i shucks of an • etc war, it serves . i • the discomfited u t o.ts. The most conside r. l Ie t.t t..e mountains. it is o ,erred, which form a chain st its the Elburus, arc Nets .ergno, ID .‘tn• -s tsh, which lie near the suit of the Kuma and Podkuma between these and t: e tht re tow ata.s the cast, Mount Urdi, nod c untains of K. noshall, as well as several oth( rs. Towards the north east of the Beshtau, an -.sive plain pie sents itself to the eve, over which there is, in clear we: :her, a prospect even as far as Kislar ;um Coe Caspian Sea.
It has already been relnarkee:, t t the mountains contain abucdcnt stores of satious v .u.thie minerals. There is di•osed i t the s. me onartel a co pious supply of other kinds of natural wealth, equally deserving of attention. Many of the vales in this district are extremely fertile ; and an abundance is every where within reach of some of the substances, from which the most effectual aid may be obtained towards exciting the principles of fertility inherent naturally in a soil. or add ing to those which thus even in their original state they possess. There are found here, in different quarters, ara bie land of an excellent quality, meadows, pastures, and extensive and valuable tracts of woodland ; which last produce the finest forest-trees of various kinds, furnish an inexhaustible supply of fire-wood, and by affording places of refuge for a profusion of useful game, make amends for the inconvenience with which, indeed, also they are in some degree attended, of offering haunts to animals of prey.
In the same tract of territory, several important ri vers run in different directions ; such as, on the Russian side of the mountains, the Terek, the Cuban, and Kum ma ; on their southern quarter, by which they are con nected with the Persian dominions, as well as more im mediately with several other less considerable states, the Rian, the Rut', and the Aras. The whole region, too, is intersected in all its parts with a vast profusion of minor streams, tributary to these or other considerable rivers.