A WEIRD EIDE. 145 



It was a steep ride, and a toilsome one up 

 the long slope which led to the summit, but 

 though the men were silent and sulky, the 

 scene was one which silence suited well. The 

 tall trees, straight and white in the moonlight, 

 seemed climbing the mountain side in closely 

 serried ranks, their upturned roots half 

 wrenched from the scanty soil here and there 

 by wind and tempest, twisting and writhing 

 throuo'h white lio'ht and half shadow like the 

 serpentine growths in Dore's weird pictures, 

 while every here and there a gap m tlieir ranks 

 gave us a glimpse of the moonlit majesty of 

 Ushtba's cold beauty. 



When we wound our way down a water- 

 course mto Latali the villao-e was dark and 

 silent, so that we found our way into the open 

 court -yard set apart for travellers, unannounced 

 and unwelcomed. There were four walls 

 round a small square of bare earth, with 

 no roof save an awning at one corner, and 



VOL. TI. L 



