When we entered the hut and lit a candle to look around, until then the hut had been illuminated by the flame of a fireplace built in the corner opposite the entrance, we immediately saw that among the mountaineers present in it there were masters and servants. It turned out that a few hours before we arrived here, a detachment of eight Kabardians arrived here from Nalchik, hastily appointed to supervise the cattle thieves. The head of the detachment, Mr. Agubekov, a true Kabardian, behaved with such dignity and importance that he could be mistaken for the head of the Region or the entire Caucasus. He spoke Russian almost correctly, tried to pronounce every word with weight, intelligently and beautifully. After a few friendly phrases, he began to tell us that he knew Roseya well, had been to Rostov and Khar-
Kov, and in Sumy, and even in both capitals. He mistook us, as always happens in the Caucasus mountains, for engineers who were looking for useful minerals, silver ores, etc., and in the end, as a kind owner of the guardhouse, on the one hand, and on the other hand, as he insisted, he ordered his band to saddle up the horses and, despite the terrible bad weather, set off on the road in search of thieves - Karachais. We, of course, remain very grateful to the kind leader of the detachment for the fact that he freed up the dark guard room for us, otherwise most of us would have had to sleep in the open air in the rain, at temperatures of -2° C., in a very cold wind.
The next day, at five o'clock in the morning, having warmed ourselves up with some tea and said goodbye to the guard, who was rushing again to the guardhouse, we set off further in the direction of Elborus. After walking two or three turns of an inconvenient road, we again covered the mountain clearing, that is, the helot carpet of plant turf, along which, like a thick baruate carpet, the cart can be freely rolled without any noise but with undulating softness. Again, both in front of Bermamut and here, at every step you see herds of sheep and cattle, as well as herds of horses. Along the slightly lowered surfaces, in the gullies, at 5-6 turns, you can see koshes. The reality is extremely monotonous. In the rain and fog that haunted us that day, when the mountainous mass of mountains was not visible, and only a relatively small horizon had to be surveyed, it seemed as if you were drifting across your southern Russian steppe in late autumn or early spring, when the weather and cold were bothering you. The whistle of the jubran, i.e. Our ravine, or gopher, which the shepherd dogs eagerly chase after, further enhances the view of our steppe, as it appears at the beginning of March and after the snow has just melted.
Regarding the mountain gully, it must be noted that it is completely absent in other areas of the Caucasus Mountains, the edges of the front of the main ridge and its spurs, in the Alshy region, from 8000 to 9000 and even up to 9500 f. It is always found on sunny slopes, digging holes not in depth, which cannot be done in very rocky soil, but in the side, to the side or up the slope. Therefore, it is not difficult to tear open his burrow, which is what foxes very often do and, when they are hungry, bears, which the Jubran therefore often go to for breakfast.
Noel of the Kabardine guardhouse you can still freely turn 15-17 on the roads until you reach the ridge of the torus, standing perpendicular to the Kubane-Gersky watershed and rising to 10-11! thousand feet above sea level. Behind this ridge one can see a second, taller one, completely devoid of vegetation and seemingly consisting of nothing but bare, sharp cliffs of igneous rocks. This is according to the nickname “Black Mountains”, *) which run parallel to the main ridge far to the northwest in the Kuban Region. Both of these ridges completely cover the snow line of the mountains. Now you don’t see Elborus in front of you, despite the fact that you arrived at it only 10-12 turns in the right direction and are at an altitude of 8200 F.N. u. seas. From here the further journey can only be made on horseback. You need to stop at any cat, leave the carts and have a person with them who would keep a vigilant eye on things, otherwise a lot will be stolen by unwelcome hosts, of course, & neighbors, who usually gather from all the cats to find out who has come to their countries. Taking special horses and guides for a relatively inexpensive fee—noltora—two rubles a day for a horse and its owner—you can move east, to the upper reaches of the Malka, along which, after 6-7 hours of Fzda, you will approach the very glaciers of the King of the Caucasus—Elboruea.
But the trip to the Malkekim glaciers this time was not part of our plans; it was made by us under completely different circumstances, with other companions and at a different time, namely in 1892.
CHAPTER UG. Impressed by the Caucasus Mountains.