418 THE HUNTING GE0UND3 



minutes' rest would recruit my strength, and excite- 

 ment kept me from flagging. 



The only interruption to the solemn silence that 

 reigned in that high altitude was the continual 

 rumbKng and roaring of avalanches, from which at 

 times our route became extremely dangerous. Once 

 I thought it would be all up with us, as the entire 

 side of the mountain seemed to be giving way, and 

 an enormous mass, containing thousands of tons of 

 earth and rock, came tearing past us with a roar 

 far exceeding that of the artillery at Sevastopol, 

 increasing in velocity, and overwhelming everything 

 in its course. It was a moment pregnant with 

 peril, more especially as, immediately afterwards, 

 huge boulders of rock and debris broke away and 

 came spinning down the slope as if the invisible 

 gigantic fiends, who are said to reside in these 

 regions, were playing at bowls. However, my com- 

 panions were Mussulmen and fatalists, and — if my 

 lono; residence in the East had not imbued me with 

 the same feelings — I was reckless and insensible to 

 fear, for as soon as the storm had passed we con- 

 tinued our route. Another long and tedious fag, 

 and we had attained our object, for we stood upon 

 the "loiuer bluff" of the summit of the El-Bruz, 

 being most likely the first of the human race who 

 had ever set foot upon it. 



It was a moment of intense gratification, far sur- 

 passing every preconceived idea, for the panorama 

 that suddenly burst upon our eyes was so grand, so 



