Geographical Notes

Abstract

AT the meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday two papers were read, both dealing with the Caucasus, midway between Kazbek and Elburz, Here the chain towers up in two great parallel crests, containing within a few square miles at least half a dozen peaks over 16,000 feet in height, an elevation probably reached nowhere else by the summits of the crystalline crest. Two of these peaks are recognized as the second and third summits of the Caucasus—Koshtantau, 17,091 feet; and Dychtau, 16,924 feet. One of the papers, by Mr. A. F. Mummery, described his ascent last summer of Koshtantau, while Mr. H. W. Holder dealt with the peaks of the neighbouring Bezingi Glacier. From Mujal, on the south-west of the Zanner Glacier, Mr. Mummery and his companion made their way round by the Thuber and Gvalda passes to Bezingi in order to make the ascent from that side. The arrangement of this part of the chain, Mr. Mummery states, is, from an Alpine point of view, very curious. There is a lofty ridge with occasional aiguilles, from the southern slopes of which stretch the great icefields of the Thuber, and there is a second and rather less lofty ridge to the north and parallel to it, from the northern flank of which flow the Basil-su and its various affluents. In the narrow trough between these two ridges lies the head of the Gvalda Glacier. Though seldom so clearly marked as in this instance, the same system of short parallel ridges may be traced throughout the whole central group, with the result that the upper and middle basins of the great glaciers are nearly always parallel to the main ridges, and it is only when the drainage from these catchment basins reaches the head of the lateral valleys that the ice sweeps round and flows away at right angles from the watershed. The Gvalda Glacier is probably the most important on the south side of the Caucasus, and far exceeds in size any on the south slope of the Alps. Its basin probably exceeds in extent that of the Glacier du Géant, to which it is not without a resemblance. The Caucasian glaciers in this part of the chain are much less crevassed than the Alpine, apparently due to the lesser inclination of the great glaciers, and possibly to the greater thickness of their ice. With reference to Caucasian forests, Mr. Mummery has some interesting observations. The upper valley of the Basil-su can still boast a fairly extensive forest; but partly by the axe, and mainly by the agency of the sheep and goats, the forests are fast shrinking. Below a certain point in the Basil-su Valley, not a tree, not a bush is to be seen; the country has been denuded by the flocks of the natives. Mr. Mummery is inclined to attribute the extraordinary contrast between the treelessness of the northern valleys and the dense forests of the southern less to climatic differences than to the form in which the wealth of their respective inhabitants exists: in the one case, oxen, horses, sheep, and goats; in the other, well-tilled and neatly fenced fields and orchards. Though at first sight it appears difficult to believe that sheep and goats can destroy the forest over great stretches of country, a careful examination of the Upper Basil-su shows that the cause is sufficient to produce a continuous contraction of the forest area, and leaves it a mere question of time as to when the last tree in that valley shall be cut down and burnt. After overcoming many difficulties, Mr. Mummery reached the summit of Koshtantau, the first time the mountain had been scaled.