at he appeared able to give us was to show us where
these Englishmen had encamped the night before their ascent. We
consequently pitched our tents there, and settled ourselves for
the night. The night proved to be very stormy, with thunder and
rain, which was a bad lookout for us. However, we started at 4
A.M. the next morning, and had some very hard work up to the line
of perpetual snow. My interpreter and two of the sappers gave it
up before this, but I and the other, Corporal Fisher, held on.

"The whole of this time there was a thick fog, which now and then
cleared away, though only for brief moments, and enabled us to
get a splendid view of the country spread out as a map beneath
us, with cumuli clouds floating about. The snow which I mounted
was at a very steep slope, and quite hard, nearly ice, on the
surface. It was so steep that we could not sit down without
holding on tightly to our poles. Corporal Fisher was about half a
mile to my left, and had a better ascent as it was not quite so
steep. About two o'clock I began to get very tired, not able to
get up more than two yards without resting. This was caused by
the rarefication of the air. The mist cleared just at this time
for a minute, and I was enabled to see the summit about 1000 feet
above me, but still a further very steep ascent. Little Ararat
was also visible 3000 feet below me. It began to snow soon after
this, and became intensely cold. The two together settled me, and
I turned round, although very reluctantly, and sitting down, slid
over in a very few minutes the distance which had taken me so
many hours to clamber up. Corporal Fisher managed to get up to
the top, and describes the crater to be very shallow, although
the top is very large. The Kurd told me afterwards that the road
I took was very difficult, and that the other English explorers
went up a road which was comparatively easy. I believe, however,
that if the weather had been more favourable I should have
succeeded."

This was not his only mountaineering experience. Some weeks later he
ascended Mount Alagos--that is, the Motley Mount, from its various
colours. It is 13,480 feet above the sea, or about 3000 feet lower
than Ararat.

"We started with some Kurdish guides to the mountain, and after a
good deal of delay got to the p