The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-11-30
MOUNT ARAFAT.

MUM AikAKAl n
Hold, Lam not Il coward, ns you
q viii acknowledge since you know
here / have Travelled and where 1
4 now On my way, but not for all
= e gold which these temples once
Dntained would Lever apdertake
kgain TO ascend Mount Ararat, the
occurred mountain
Itwas De Thou who was speaking
TO us--three ofhis friends who were
seated with him one superb moon-
Flight night among the ruins of the
temples of Karnak, in upper Egypt.
After a long ramble through those
mute vestiges of the ancient civiliza.
tion Of the Pharaohs, we had all
stretched ourselves on the warm
sand that the winds of the desert
had heaped among the stones, and
each one seemed to have given him
selfup to his own special rcvcries.
De Thou, whom q fortunate chance
had added to our little company on
the shores of the Nile when he was
making his final preparations for a
voyage through the country of the
Gallas, had just come up to join us
{ as he had promised. And it was he
this dauntlcss explorer of regions
hitherto unknown; tif tall, power
fully built fellow, sixlaset in his Moor
ish' sandals of red leather, whose
superb figure and proud bearing in
dicatcd no ordinary degree ofencrgy,
courage and daring, who was openly
colfessing to having been overcome
hyfear ut least once in his life. 1t
was certainly very strange, to say
! the least oft.
\ He slowly seated himself on a
/. ruined column half buried in the
sand, and as if the recollection of
this adventure overcame him still, he
began to relate it to us. All the
surroundings were wonderfully in
harmony with his narrative. Be-
hind us, the majestic chaos of ruins;
masses of marble Jet black, and milky
y white, and around us the silence of
thatvast stretch ofsand, only broken
by the distant howl of the iackal
and the hou hou of the owl.
had inst been through the whole
Turco-Russian campaign in Asia
Minor, and many u time fought side
by side with my friends the Gcorgians
and the kourdes. AS soon as the
!, war was ended stopped for n time
in Bayazcd. One day,I do not know
why, this Colossus of the Caucus,
whose snowy summit rose before me,
and on which had been gazing in
cessantly, seemed to exercise u per-
fectiascination over me, and 1 deter
mined then and there to make the
ascent. 1 have always been apt to
yield to sudden impulses. 1 hurried
to the pasha, governor of the town,
to communicate my intention and
ask his advice.
"Do not attempt it," he said.
"fhat mountain is haunted by evil
spirits; the Agri-Daugh dcvours the
impious who dare to tread the green
turf on it's sides. But l know YOU.
. NJ. dc Thon, and you will never give
up this wild idea. If you will go,
choose twenty of my best horsemen
as anescort; they willaccompany YOU
to the foot of the mountain, if you
desire it. but not the boldcst among
them would venture to set his foot
on the side of the Mother of the
World from whose black rocks even
the birds fec in terror" l had al
ready in my service the Albanian
whom you have all seen on board
my "dahabieh," and who would fol-
low me into the very jaws of death.
One day when his body was
about to swing from the gibbct
for one of those innumerable
peccadillocs which cost u mans
life in time of war, had interccded
for him and obtained his pardon. He
sworc eternal gratitude, and has
shown himself ready to prove it by
the willingness with which he has nc
:companied me in my perilous wan
behring's to the center of Africa. So
] determined'to start with Ali, and
after n rough ride we reached the
foot of Mount Ararat. The chief of
the escort, who had frequently shak-
EN- his head in an onlinous manner
as VIC rode along, now quilted us
without uttering a word to wait our
return near Nakhitcllevan, and VIC
were left entirely alone. We had
brought n plentiful supply OF provis-
ions. These l confidcd to little
sheppard who was guarding his flock
not far from us, and made him PROM
Use to keep them for us and meet us
ut tho same place on our return in
THE evening. Then we started to
make the ascent. Day was Just
breaking, the sky was pure, the at
mosphere calm, and we were quite
sure of being able to return by
twilight. How shall l describe the
ascent? Araratis more than Is, 900
feet high, and often as we came upon
the scoria ofits eruptions we seemed
to be advancing to the assault OF
bare and tottering walls, which
crumblcd in fragments at our feet.
Still we got along bravcly, triumph
ing over innumerable difficulties, and
we finally drew near the. sum
init. Nevertheless, l,y this time
the sun had already passed
its zenith. During our journey we
had gradually exhausted the stock of
provisions which we carried in our
pockets, and to enable us to struggle
against the fatigue and giddiness con-
;sequent upon theascent we had emp
tied the last drop in our gourd. L
was about to give the order to start
on our return, when my Albanian,
who for some minutes had seemed
very nervous and disturbed as he