256 M. Raumer's Contribution to the Biblical Geographic of 



silvery waters of the Araxes flowing through the verdant her- 

 bage of the valley, and the lower mountain chain, which formed 

 the basis of that tremendous monument of the antediluvian 

 world, which seemed as it were to stand like an immense link 

 in the chain of man's history, uniting the antediluvian with the 

 postdiluvian world : Not until we reached the level of the plain 

 did I see all the gigantic proportions of Ararat. From the spot 

 on which I stood, it seemed as if the greatest mountains of the 

 world had here been piled upon each other, to form this single 

 colossal mass of earth, rock, and snow. Its double icy summit 

 was majestically outlined on the clear expanse of ether, and re- 

 flected the rays of the sun with a radiance nearly equal to other 

 suns. From this point, the mind felt the grandest impressions 

 which mountains and extensive plains are calculated to give; but 

 I am inadequate to describe the feelings which rushed upon my 

 mind on the aspect of the mountain. My eye, incapable of 

 dwelling for any time on the resplendent brightness of its sum- 

 mit, descended along its seemingly boundless declivities, till their 

 gigantic outline could no longer be traced in the obscurity of 

 the horizon, so that they were irresistibly thrown back on the 

 sublime splendour of the peaks of Ararat. " The name which 

 the Turks give to this high mountain is Agridagh, the Arme- 

 nians call it Macis ; all, however, revere it as the haven of the 

 great vessel, which saved the father of the human race from the 

 waters of the deluge. Since the days of Noah, its inaccessible 

 summit has been trodden by no mortal foot. Attempts have been 

 made at different times to ascend its enormous cone, but in vain. 

 Insurmountable obstacles exist in its form, its snow, and its 

 glaciers ; and the distance from the commencement of its icy 

 region to its summit is so great, that the cold would prove fatal 

 to whoever had the resolution to persevere in the attempt" — " A 

 wide valley," Sir R. Porter continues, " separates the two snowy 

 peaks of Ararat." In another passage, he describes how, in the 

 midst of this beautiful landscape, Ararat stands unrivalled in 

 majesty, and clothed with the light of heaven*. Onwards from 

 Erivan, he sees before him many monuments of antiquity t round 

 the base of this immense mountain. " We really," says he, " here 

 come into converse with the earliest periods of the world. Some 

 • Sir E. K. rorter, ji. 225. t H^i''- V- ^^l- 



