Caucasus

Caucasus, a lofty range of mountains in Russia, traverses the lieutenancy of Caucasia from N.W. to S.E., and extends for a length of 700 miles between the Black Sea and the Caspian. It thus forms the boundary between Europe and Asia, which latter country the region more particularly resembles. It is composed for part of its length of parallel chains, connected by elevated table-lands. In the central chain are found the most lofty peaks - Mount Elbruz, 18,572 feet; Koshtan-tan, 17,123 feet; Dych-tau, 16,928 feet; and Kasbek, 16,546 feet. Across Kasbek is the Eng or Dariel Pass, called the Caucasian Gates, whereby Russia has her only carriage communication with her Transcaucasian territories, unless by the Caspian shore. The line of perpetual snow in the Caucasus is 11,000 feet. The rivers that principally drain the range are the Kuban and Rion, anciently Phasis, flowing into the Black Sea, and the Terek and Kur, flowing into the Caspian. Some portions produce only grass, though on the whole vegetation is vigorous, especially near the Black Sea, where the slopes are covered with immense forests of oak, beech, maple, ash, and walnut, while in the valleys are grown rice, tobacco, indigo, cotton, hemp, fruits, and various grain crops. The mineral products are extensive, and at Baku on the Caspian are rich petroleum wells. Though there are no active volcanoes in the Caucasus, the region is yet visited by earthquakes, and the principal peaks are evidently of volcanic origin.