and so narrow that there is only just room
for the carriage-road and the brawling river Terek side by side. The
pass by which this road crosses the main range, farther south, is known
as the Krestovaya Gora (Mountain of the Cross) and lies 7805 ft. above
sea-level. The Mamison Pass, over which runs the Ossetic military road
(made passable for vehicles in 1889) from the Terek (below Vladikavkaz)
to Kutais in the valley of the Rion, skirting the eastern foot of the
Adai-khokh, lies at an altitude of 9270 ft. and is situated a little
south of the main range. Scarce any of the remaining passes in this
west-central region are better than mountain paths; horses can traverse
the best of them only during a few weeks in the height of summer. They
mostly range at altitudes of 9000-12,500 ft., and between the pass of
Nakhar in the west and that of Mamison in the east there is not a single
pass below 10,000 ft. The best known in this section are the three
Baksan passes of Chiper (10,800 and 10,720 ft.), Bassa (9950 ft.) and
Donguz-orun (10,490 ft.), south of Elbruz; those of Becho (11,070 ft.),
Akh-su (12,465 ft.), Bak (10,220 ft.), Adyr-su (12,305 ft.) and Bezingi
(10,090 ft.), between Elbruz and Dykh-tau; and those of Shari-vizk
(11,560 ft.), Edena, Pasis-mta or Godivizk (11,270 ft.), Shtulu-vizk
(10,860 ft.), Fytnargyn (11,130 ft.), between Dykh-tau and Adai-khokh;
the Bakh-fandak (9570 ft.), between Adai-khohk and Kasbek; and the two
Karaul passes (11,680 and 11,270 ft.) and Gurdzi-vizk (10,970 ft.),
connecting the valley of the Urukh with that of the Rion. The most
frequented pass in Svanetia is that of Latpari (9260 ft.), situated in
the first of the southern subsidiary ranges mentioned above, and thus
connecting the valley of the Ingur with the valley of the
Tskhenis-Tskhali.

_Flora._--In this section of the range again the southern slopes are
clothed with vegetation of remarkable luxuriance and richness, more
especially in the region of Svanetia (42 deg.-43 deg. E.). Not only are
the plants bigger than they grow in the Alps, but the blossoms are more
abundant. Here again forests of _Coniferae_ predominate, especially on
the northern and eastern slopes; and the other distinguishing features
of the flora are gigantic male ferns (_Aspidium filix-mas_), _Paris
incompleta_ (a member of the Trilliaceae), _Usnea_ or tree-moss, box,
holly (_Ilex aquifolium_), _Lilium monadelphum_ and many of the familiar
herbaceous plants which fl