Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-11-23
MOUNT ARAFAT.


acknowledge since you know where have
travelled and where 1 am now on my way,
but not for all the gold which these temples
once contained would ever undertake again
to ascend Mount Ararat the accursed noun
tain"
1t was De Thon who was speaking to US
three of his friends who were seated with
him one superb moonlight night among the
ruins of the temples of Karnak, in Upper
Egypt. After long ramble through those
mute vestiges Of the ancient civilization 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 himself up to his own
special reveries. De Thon whom fortu-
nate chance had added to our little COM
pany on the shores of the Nile when he was
making his final preparations for voyage
through the country of the Gallas, had just
come up to join us as he had promised. And
it was he-this dauntless explorer of regions
hitherto unknown; this tall, powerfully
built fellow, six feet in his Moorish sandals
Of red leather, whose superb figure and
proud bearing indicated no ordinary degree
of energy, courage and daring, who was
openly confessing to having been overcome
by fear at least once in his life 1t was GER
tainly very strange, to say the least of it.
He slowly seated himself on a ruined col
umn 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 sur
roundings were wonderfully in harmony with
his narrative. Behind us. the majestic chaos
of ruins; masses of marble jet black, and
milky white and around us the silence of
that vast stretch of sand, only broken by the
distant howl Of the jackal and the hou hou of
the owl.
had just been through the whole Turco-
Russian campaign in Asia Minor, and many
time had fought side by side with my friends
the Georgians and the Kourdes. As soon as the
war was ended I stopped for time in Bay
azed. One day. l do not know why, this
Colossus of the Caucasus, whose snowy sum-
nit rose before me, and on which l had been
gazing necessarily, seemed to exercise a per-
feet fascination over me, and l determined
then and there to make the ascent. have
always been apt to yield to sudden impulses.
I hurried to the pasta, governor of the town,
to communicate my intention and ask his adj
vice.
'Do not attempt it," he said ''That
mountain is haunted by evil spirits; the Agri-
Dagh devours the impious who dare to tread
the green turf OH its sides. But know YOU,
NJ. de Thon, and you never will give up this
wild idea. II yon will go, choose twenty of
my best horsemen as an escort; they will &C
company you to the foot of the mountain, if
you desire it, but not the boldest among them
would venture to set his foot on the side of
the Mother of the World, from whose black
rocks even the birds flee in terror" had
already in my service the Albanian whom
you have all seen on board my ''dahabieh,"
and who would follow me into the very jaws
Of death. One day when his body was about
to swing from the gibbet for one of those
innumerable peccadilioes which cost mans
life in time of war, l had interceded for
him and obtained his pardon. He swore
eternal gratitude, and has shown himself
ready to prove it by the willingness with
which he has accompanied me in my
perilous wanderings to the center of Africa.
So I determined to start with Ali, and
after a rough ride we reached the foot
of Mount Ararat. The chief of the escort,
who had frequently shaken his head in an
ominous manner as we rode along, now
quilted us without uttering word to wait
our return near Nakhitchevan, and we were
left entirely alone. We had brought plen-
tiful supply of provisions. These confided
to little shepherd who was guarding his
flock not far from us, and made him promise
to keep them for us and meet us at the same
place on our return in the evening. Then we
started to make the ascent. Day was just
breaking, the sky was pure, the atmosphere
calm, and we were quite sure of being able
to return by twilight How shall describe
the ascent2 Ararat is more than Is, 900
feet high, and often as we came upon the
scoria Of its eruptions we seemed to be adj
vancing to the assault of bare and totter-
ing walls, which crumbled in fragments at
our feet. Still we got along bravely, tri-
umphing over innumerable difficulties, and
we finally drew near the summit. Neverthe-
less, by 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 en-
able us to struggle against the fatigue and
giddiness consequent upon the ascent we had
emptied the last drop in our gourd. ! was
about to give the order to start on our re-
turn, when my Albanian, who for some min
utes had seemed very nervous and disturbed
as he scanned the soil closely, suddenly ex-
claimed
"Master, where are the stones2"
"What stones do you means"
"Why, the stones that wo could see above
us, from where we were standing few min
utes ago. Those on which Noah's ark rested
during the deluge-where are they2"
''You are crazy. Ali. Do yon not see that
they are covered by a hundred feet of snow?
Come, don't stop to think about that-come,
let US hurry to begin our descent, or night
will overtake us, and see clouds gathering
on the plain below"
"That is very unfortunate" replied he,
"but we ought to be able to see those stones.
Woe to him who climbs so high on this
mountain and fails to touch with his hand
the sacred rock from whence life descended
again upon the earth"
By this time piercing, icy wind began to
blow.
1t now seemed to me at each step that my
feet were weighted down with hundred pound
weights; there was ringing in our ears, our
breath came in quick gasps, and it was evil
dent that we must descend as quickly as pos
sible to avoid suffocation from the rarefac-
ton of the air. For awhile we proceeded
without pause. We descended the slopes of
glaciers and stepped over the ridges of OBJ
sidian, shining and slippery as glass, but soon
the clouds enveloped us, and we entirely lost
our bearings. Stumbling along the steep
in zigzag fashion, while the sun sank
lower and lower in the horizon. Finally we
emerged from the fog; patches of snow al
ternated with masses of blackened rock. We
were now in ravine which we were COM
PEELED to cross. Suddenly my companion
stopped 'sMaster, look towards the center,
on that table of granite; there is some one
there Let us ask him the way"
l advanced a few steps, but what ] beheld
made the hair on my head fairly bristle with
horror. Yes, in the center of the granite
table human form was crouching in the
shadow A gaunt and hideous old man three
times the size of any living man. In his i'm
mense crooked fingers he clutcaed a whole
quarter of a sheep, raw and bleeding, which
be was devouring. The blood ran in streams
along his bony arms and dripped upon his
knees A frightful smile distorted his face.
1t was evident that All saw this gigantic
phantom as well as myself for he had turned
LII al, ot,nIo y,,1