Shkara, Ushba, and Tetnuld, owing to their being so conspicu-
ous from the valleys at their base, and even from the distant
lowlands, are at this moment among the best-known peaks of
the Caucasus. Twenty-five years ago they were unrecognised, and
hardly even named. Shkara, when seen from the distant lowlands,
was described as Pasis Mta, because it is not very flir from
the passes at the Rion (Phasis) sources, just as Monte Leone
was called the Simplon— or St. Plorab— by the contemporaries of
De Saussure.
Tetnuld and Ushba preside over Suanetia, as the Jungfrau
and Wetterhorn do over the Bernese Oberland. Owing to its
peculiarly graceful form, Tetnuld was one of the first peaks to
attract attention from Caucasian travellers. M. E. Favre speaks



ofio



26



THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAUCASUS



of it as 'the gigantic pyramid of Tetnuld.' Herr von Thielmann

writes : —

' Tetnuld, the most beautiful of all the mountains of the Caucasus, stands
out from the chain in the form of a gigantic pyramid of the height of 16,000
feet. The dazzling whiteness of its snowy mantle, combined with the grace
of its form, produce an effect simdar to that created by the Jungfrau, whde
to complete the comparison a conical peak, smader but equady beautiful,
like the Swiss Sdberhorn, rises up by its side.'




Before leaving England I liad studied photographs of the
mountain, and found, as I thought, the right way up it. The most
convenient starting-point was obviously Adish. From the pastures
above that village the snowfields at the western base of the
final peak could, by crossing a spur, probably be reached with less
trouble than by ascending the glacier they feed, wdiich drains into
the Mujalaliz or valley of the Mulkhura.
