The Portland daily press., 1891-03-16
Mount Ararat.
IHarper's Bazaar,1


Beside the dusty road that runs, between
barren moors. cotton fields, and rice planta-
tions. from Tiflis to the military post of
Aralykh, stand two long files of poles bear
ing the magic wires .that link the romantic
East with the prosaic West One is the .ser-
want of the Gar, along the other flash the
frequent messages that England s::viceroy
speeds to the home government. This Iclose
association of rival but not yet openly con-
tending interests is picture in little of the
present history of the once barbarous eau
casus-Russia .thrusting slowly but cease-
lessly on toward the Indian frontier; Eng
land, watchfni and suspicious, shrinking
from giving offence. unwilling to take it.
The Interest centres nominally now around
a mountain group some twenty-five miles in
length by half that breadth, heaved up i'm
ages past from the surrounding plateau by
vast volcanic energies. which Western ma
tions have agreed to name Mount Ararat
This arbitrary Identification is quite un-
known to the surrounding tribes, who ,call it
by diverse titles, according to their nation
ality, the Armemians terming it Massis Len
sar, the Tartar hordes Agrhi-Dagh, and the
suggests the interest which the rocky mass
possesses for Christian minds. MEANS
mountain" being clearly connected In idea
with the tradition that this soaring peak first
emerged above the raging surges of the
Deluge, and that among its glistening pima
cles the ark of safety rested.
No other mountain, it is safe to say, is
known SO widely by name throughout the
world, but few are so seldom seen by English
speaking races. 1t stands in desOlate
country. haunted not long ago by roaming
bands of savage nomads, who robbed and
murdered with impunity; and even now,
though Russia has subjugated these and
tanned them into Cossack regiments, it is
said to be dangerous in the extreme to
wander far from the wooden barracks of
Aralyh without trusty escort. Yet, all un-
visited as 1t remains, it is perhaps the most
imposing natural monument on earth. 9th
ers there are that climb to lofter heights.
but none that rests, like 1t, free from all less
er rivals, giving at once its whole majestic
outline unhampered to the gaze. Springing
from the billowing plain Of alluvium and
volcanic ash, It's base $500 feet above the
sea, 1t rises by gentle curves and bold de-
clivities first through zone of bare and
rock-strewn whitish sand for 5000 feet; next
where the cooler air c0ndenses the hot va
pors from the lower ground, through 1000
feet OF green and pleasant pasture lands !;
then the vegetation dies away, and the dreary
slopes Of inky lavas follow until, at 1900
feet, the first few claws and bars of snow
begin to break the gloom, and so go spread
ing and thickening upward until the summit
CLEANS white and stainless against the blue,
IL 900 feet above the common level, Such is
Mount Ararat, upon whose crest, according
to local legends, the timbers of the ark still
lie, protected from proclamation by heavenly
hands that will allow no human footstep
near. So rooted Is this belief among the
neighboring Christians, that though the
mountain has been assembled more than
once, no evidence. however strong, will for a
moment lead them to believe that living man
has passed across the distant SHOWS Of
Agrei-Dagh.