dreary
region, almost treeless and seemingly destitute of vegetation; some of
the scenery along the line was grand enough in a rugged way, however,
and near Alexandropol the railway traversed plateau land with outlook
over a wide expanse of country. Studying the large-scale map, it
looked as if one ought to be able to see Mount Ararat, eighty miles
away to the south, but there was a tiresome hill in the way
obstructing the view in the required direction.

Mention of Alexandropol suggests a reference to the pronunciation of
Russian names, which we always manage to get wrong in this country.
Slavs throw the accent nearer the end of words than we are inclined to
do. Thus in Alexandropol they put the accent on the "dro," not on the
"and" as we should. We always put the accent on the "bas" in
Sebastopol, but the accent properly is on the "to." In Alexeieff the
accent is on the second "e," and in Korniloff it is on the "i." You
will not generally go far wrong if you throw the accent one syllable
farther from the beginning of the word than you naturally would when
speaking English.

Twenty-four hours were spent at Kars, a filthy, but on account of its
associations and of the works being carried on, extremely interesting
place; unfortunately, I was not familiar with the story of Sir Fenwick
Williams' great defence of the stronghold during the Crimean War, for
the old battlements and outworks still existed, if in a ruinous
condition. We were taken all round the place by car, were shown the
elaborate magazines being excavated in the heart of a mountain, and
fetched up at one of the outlying forts in which a large garrison
resided. By this time I was getting quite accustomed to the ceremony
gone through when one met troops on parade or in barracks. You called
out, "Starova bradzye?" which being interpreted apparently means "How
are you, brothers?" There followed an agonizing little pause during
which you had time to think that you had got the thing wrong, had made
an ass of yourself, and were disgraced for evermore. Then they all
sang out in unison, "Wow wow wow-wow wow"--that, at all events, is
what it sounded like. Goodness knows what it meant. One had too much
sense to ask, because one might have got the two sentences mixed,
which would have meant irretrievable disaster. The effect, however,
when there were a lot of troops on the ground was excellent, as they
always performed their share with rare gusto. The rank and file
pa