Introduction
North of the Persian and Armenian table-land we come to the isthmus between the Caspian and Black Seas. Along this isthmus runs the great Caucasus range, which rises like a wall out of the Russian plain on the north, and is bordered on the south by the rolling downlands of Georgia. The whole of this region forms the land-communication between the Russian plain on the one side, and the Armenian and Iranian table-land on the other. It is thus a sort of corridor or side-passage between the northern and southern gateways of Europe and Asia. The Caucasian isthmus is, geographically, very complex. The main range contains rocky valleys and secluded corners, where the racial drift of ages has been stranded, and can be seen to this day. A northern spur of the volcanic Armenian highlands, known as the Kars plateau, comes at one point (a little south of Tiflis) within a short distance of the main Caucasus range.[1] South-east of the range also the land rises in the Kara Dag uplift on to the Iranian plateau. Between the Armenian and Iranian plateaux and the main range of the Caucasus there is an expanse of open plain and downland lying at levels of 1,500 to 2,500 feet. Protected by the great Caucasus range on the north from the winds of the steppes, and by the Kars plateau on the south from the cold of Armenia, this region, known as Georgia, is favoured with a mild winter and a hot summer. It has, moreover, an abundant rainfall, thanks to the proximity of the Black Sea and the absence of any large mountains to catch the rain-bearing winds from this quarter. The climate of Georgia is thus between the sub-tropical conditions of
- ↑ See Map.
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