276 ASCENT OF VENUS. 



the shout, and without reflection discharged his revolver 

 at the figure, now close in front of our horses and 

 himself shouting loudly, fortunately without hitting 

 him. As it soon appeared, it was no robber but an 

 Armenian, who imagined himself pursued by robbers, 

 and had dashed towards us in search of protection. 

 The Armenians generally pass in the Caucasus for 

 very shrewd and smart men of business, who possess 

 little courage . and perhaps for this reason like to 

 equip themselves in as martial a fashion as possible 

 on their journeyings. As it seemed, the gang of robbers, 

 which had terrified our Armenian, existed only in his 

 imagination. His incautiousness however might easily 

 have cost him dear, and the fault would have been 

 entirely his own, as according to the custom of the 

 country it is an understood rule, that one must never 

 approach chance travellers on a journey at a rapid pace. 

 Shortly after this exciting incident we were de- 

 lighted by a remarkable natural phenomenon. A brilliant 

 luminous apparition suddenly arose right before us on 

 the horizon of the boundless steppe. It gleamed with 

 a magnificent many-coloured light, was distinguishable 

 from a meteor however by its remaining immovable 

 at the same point of the heavens. We racked our 

 brains as to the cause of the phenomenon, which we 

 could only compare to a parachute rocket with coloured 

 fire. It soon however became weaker, and after a 

 short time shrank to the dimensions of a bright star. 

 It was the rising Venus, which appeared so remarkably 

 magnified and coloured through the mist of the steppes 



