de by side from
the handle-bars. It was always our custom, especially on diplomatic
occasions, to have a little flag of the country associated with that of
our own. This little arrangement evoked a smile from the Vali, who, when
the exhibition was finished, stepped forward and said, "I am satisfied, I
am pleased." His richly caparisoned white charger was now brought up.
Leaping into the saddle, he waved us good-by, and moved away with his
suite toward the city. We ourselves remained for a few moments to bid
good-by to our hospitable friends, and then, once more, continued our
journey toward the east.

[Illustration]

II

THE ASCENT OF MOUNT ARARAT

According to tradition, Mount Ararat is the scene of two of the most
important events in the history of the human race. In the sacred land of
Eden, which Armenian legend places at its base, the first of human life
was born; and on its solitary peak the last of human life was saved from
an all-destroying flood. The remarkable geographical position of this
mountain seems to justify the Armenian view that it is the center of the
world. It is on the longest line drawn through the Old World from the Cape
of Good Hope to Bering Strait; it is also on the line of the great deserts
and inland seas stretching from Gibraltar to Lake Baikal in Siberia--a line
of continuous depressions; it is equidistant from the Black and Caspian
Seas and the Mesopotamian plain, which three depressions are now watered
by three distinct river-systems emanating from Ararat's immediate
vicinity. No other region has seen or heard so much of the story of
mankind. In its grim presence empires have come and gone; cities have
risen and fallen; human life has soared up on the wings of hope, and
dashed against the rocks of despair.

To the eye Ararat presents a gently inclined slope of sand and ashes
rising into a belt of green, another zone of black volcanic rocks streaked
with snow-beds, and then a glittering crest of silver. From the burning
desert at its base to the icy pinnacle above, it rises through a vertical
distance of 13,000 feet. There are but few peaks in the world that rise so
high (17,250 feet above sea-level) from so low a plain (2000 feet on the
Russian, and 4000 feet on the Turkish, side), and which, therefore,
present so grand a spectacle. Unlike many of the world's mountains, it
stands alone. Little Ararat (12,840 fe