the various communities on each side of the Beskid to agree to give their support to the project. At every opportunity which presented itself and at every folk-mote, he never failed to point out the advantages and the need of such a trade route until he had obtained their promise for fullest cooperation.
More than ten environing townships sent their representatives to the final conference held in Tukhlia at which they were to discuss and make plans for the construction of the new route. This was a day of great rejoicing for Zakhar. He not only assumed the full responsibility for its surveying and planning but also undertook, for sometime before it was begun, the task of organizing the work for its construction. In addition he set five of his own sons to work on it one of whom with his portable blacksmith shop was to be constantly present at the scene of the project to give the necessary assistance.
Each community supplied several workmen with tools and provisions. Under the critically discerning direction of Zakhar Berkut, this trade route was completed within a year. Its advantages at once became apparent to everyone. Trade connections with all of the rich mountain country and the valleys below it made the entire Carpathian region come alive and there began a brisk, profitable exchange of produce. Sheep-skin coats, cheese, herds of cattle and sheep went out of Tukhlia and wheat, rye and linens came in return.
This trail was more than a valuable trade route, it was a vital means of communication, bringing together culturally the communities on either side of the Beskid, which were of one nationality but divided between two different ruling governments.
Of course the Tukholian trade route was not the first in the Carpathians. There was an older and far more famous one called the Duklan Pass. The kings of Halich and Rus did not like this route because it represented a connecting link between the communities on each side of the Beskid, encouraging them
51
