Abstract
LITTLE though the methods and spirit of sport have in common with those of science, each subject is greatly indebted to the other. Our knowledge of the habits of big game is mainly due to hunters; and for the first great advances in mountain cartography and in the study of high mountain regions, we are indebted to climbers. In the early days of the Alpine Club some of its members, at the suggestion of John Ball, placed instruments on summits that were accessible only to mountaineers, and thus obtained meteorological records much wanted at that time. Subsequently, another group of members of the Alpine Club turned their attention to the Caucasus, where their explorations resulted in the first accurate knowledge of its lofty summits and its great snow-fields and glaciers. Of the Alpine climbers who have taken part in this work, Mr. Douglas Freshfield was one of the earliest, was the best qualified as a geographer, and has been by far the most persistent. His “Central Caucasus and Bashan”(1869), which has taken place as an Alpine classic, helped to rouse the first interest in England regarding the former mountains; and now, after thirty years' further work has been done, he has collected the principal results into a monograph, which is unquestionably the best illustrated book in the literature of mountaineering.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
G., J. The Caucasus1. Nature 55, 440–442 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/055440c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055440c0