MY JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS. THE HERMIT'S STORY.

Once I had a desire to enter the deepest places of the Caucasus Mountains and find a most silent, completely remote place, where no human foot could ever be, such that it could fully meet the requirements of a truly silent life. And I knew that such a place could not be found anywhere in this region, except in the ridges of the Kartalinsky Pass, which I once had to cross when we left the Black Sea province for the Kuban region, for reasons that the Lord knows, and which, perhaps, it would be indecent to declare, because, of necessity, I would have to enter into the sin of condemning many. Therefore, it will be best when we fulfill the word of the Holy Scriptures: "Let not our lips speak out the works of men" (Psalm 16:4).

Taking what I needed for the road, I went to this terrible, uninhabited country. For several days I walked along the road that goes to this pass, but approaching it, I turned right, and the unusually harsh terrain took me into its bowels.

First of all, it struck me with its complete desolation, so that there is no longer any trace of human habitation here. The country is unfriendly in everything. The vegetation is thin, the forest is mainly coniferous and in some places trees of extreme size and height and thickness, ravines, precipices, gorges. Sometimes it was necessary to climb through rocks and stone crevasses with incredible effort, and sometimes with the danger of falling into the abyss because of the cliffs. For several days I remained in this country, marveling at the variety of objects and the wonderful arrangement of rocks, cliffs, and hills. The terrain was striking in its vastness and great extent, and was all filled with an extraordinary variety of visible things.

At the entrance to the great and terrible gorge stood, like vigilant guards, two of the highest mountain spires, as if forbidding me by their formidable appearance to enter this vale of weeping and the valley of death. Looking down into the abyss, I was struck by a terrible fear: it resembled the abyss of hell, which had no limit, neither in depth nor in breadth; having made the sign of the cross and calling, according to his custom, the all-powerful intercession of the Most-Blessed Mother of God to help him, he began to descend... steep and rapid; the very bottom of the abyss, beyond the distance, was not visible, and not even the sound of the river flowing in the depths was heard. For almost the whole day he went down to the bottom, resting his hands on the ground, and stretching his legs forward, he moved on his back.

I have seen many animal lairs, heard the roar of animals, when, having noticed a person, they run out of fear, rushing headlong into the abysses and crevices of the mountains.