ASCENDING MOUNT ARARAT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 127, 31 May 1893, Page 3

ASCENDING MOUNT ARARAT.

A recent number of the Pall Mali Budget contains the report of twe travellers, who, last June, proceeded to Aralyk, a military outpost at the foot of Ararat, with the purpose oi experiencing the sensations of Noah. They found the mountain had been several times ascended in recent years. The writer says : — We called on the commandant, who lent us a ccuple of Cossacks as an escort. "\Ye also picked up an Armenian, whose knowledge of Kurdish and of most of the principal Kurds on the mountain we judged might be useful, and engaged him to accompany us. At six next morning we resumed our journey on horseback. We made up a fairly imposing party, seven in all, being the two Cossacks, the Armenian just mentioned, our Tartar host of Aralyk (who had consented to come with us), Ispender and ourselves. The Cossacks, the Armenians, and the Tartar were armed to the teeth with rifles, daggers, and swords, while we ourselves carried revolvers. Four hours' riding brought ns to the Cossack encampment — two tents pitched a little below the top of the ridge connecting Great and Little Ararat, at a height of about 7,500 feet. Here a sheep was procured from a Kurdish village near by, and soon tive or six Kurds appeared, of whom we engaged two as porters. Portions of the sheep were cooked by the Cossacks over a wood fire, and when the sun set we got into our blankets and slept till sunrise. A trial trip with one of the Kurds then showed the^mountain to be in good condition and gave us the opportunity of falling in with and engaging another Kurd. I may menthat we had subsequent diih'culties "with the Kurds as to the amount of luggage they individually desired to carry, when the advantage of having a large number appeared. We then returned to the (Jossack camp, and moved up our party to a Kurdish village about an hour further up the mountain, where a tent was pitched for us. An admiring crowd surrounded us till we turned in for the night, our iceaxes and hob-nailed boots exciting great interest. Early next morning, leaving the two Cossacks and Ispender ■with the horses, the bulk of our luggage, and our spare cash, we began the ascent. For a couple of hours we traversed gently ascendiDg grass slopes much broken up by rushing torrents of icy water, and covered with many varieties of flowers, Grass grew more and more scarce as we got higher, until it stopped altogether at a height of 12,5000 feet above sea level. It was then about half-past two in the afternoon j the Kurds were unwilling to go farther that day, and we halted for the night. It froze hard, and we felt the cold extremely. Some small lava rocks formed a very insufficient protection against the bitter wind, and we were glad at 4'30 a.m. to get the first glimpse of the sun behind the Karabagh mountains. Half an hour later, taking with us only one of the Kurds, a man named Abdulla, my friend and I resumed the ascent. First came some snow slopes, then some fairly easy rocks. Then, about half-past nine, having attained a height of about 1-4,500 feet, we reached some steep clip's, up which a gully partially filled with ice fortunately provided us with a mode of ascent. This brought us to another cliff, up which we climbed by means of a similar gully, thus getting over a part of theimountain which hj>s turned many people back. Soon the low pressure of the atmosphere began to tell, and progreea became slow, as at every three or four steps we had to stop for breath. At 16,000 feet we were further inconvenienced by a strong smell of f-ulphur, duo to the natural decomposition of the rocks, which contain sulphide ol iron. All this time clouds had been gathering up, and now surrounded us, so we proceeded cautiously. At 12*30 we noticed to our delight a brass plate fixed to tho rocks. It recorded the ascent in 1888 of two Petersburg students of whom wo had heard in Erivau. A tmall registering thermometer affixed showed a minimum temperature of 48 deg. Centigrade. Another twenty-five feet brought us to a small plateau, and a terrific gust of wind riaht iii our faces told us we were on tho top. We wore between the two domes which rise slightly at either end of the summit, and we taw them for a moment as tho gust blew aside the clouds. We turned to the nearer one, which we ascended. View there was none, as tho clouds gathered round again ; and, fuow beginning to fall, we decided to descend immediately. As we turned back wo noticed to the north two small pyramids of piled. up stone, which proved to bo the records of tho two last aecents, that of the Petersburg students and that of tho Kussian officer. Wo did not fee the Ark.