THE FA'IMIKi; ()!• ATJ, Till-: iioATS ! 1)7 



Lu ami tiM III' I his j(»unii'\ , and I lie <-lHilrra cn'riiiiiL; ii[) t liaL 

 coast, and the (|iiarMnl iiir wliidi miuiil fnllow in its 

 track, introduced an rlcinciit of niKcitaiu dcla\- wliidi I 

 cDuld ]\ni aflord lit ritjk. I had. I hcicrnrc. to aim at the 

 second best, whicli I knew to he a certain liiid. This was 

 calh'd the "'■dMaimun Dauh" or Monkey .Moiinlain. a small 

 liul isolatetl ranij,'!' on the Aidin railway, and ahont two 

 hundred mih's from the coast. I hupeil that, once on the 

 sj)ul, I shouKi he alile to hear oi allernati\'e ranges in- 

 liahited by this goat, but, excerpt tn a ver\' limited extent, 

 this did not ])rove to l)e so. 



The radwax' kiip'S at Sm\'riia can do most tliino-.s that 

 they wish, and. thanks to tlieir fricmlh' co-operal ion, we 

 reached ('hardak, a station close to one end of the moun- 

 tain. fi\'e ndnutes under the week IVom London. I ra\idlin<'' 



O 



<V" Atlu'ns ; and the return |ourne\' li\' ( 'oiisiaiit inoph' was 

 accuniplishetl almost exactly m the same lime. Here we 

 were at one end of a precipitous range seven or eight miles 

 inlengt h. Tlii'>e clills rose abruptly from the phnn to a height 

 ofabouttiftee]! huutb'eil feel .and at their base we }tilehe(l our 

 cam] I. An angle in the rocks made an excellent tirephice, 

 ami a little cave a conxcnieiil cedai- where we kept our 

 sup[>l\' ot" water. This had to be brought ti> us dailx t'n'm 

 the nearest \ iHage. Ii\c miles otl'. lor the niouniain \\a-. ai 

 the time o( (»ur visit, waterless. In I'ront, a narrow strip 

 of pliin divide(l us from the basin of a gi'cat salt lake ten 

 miles lunu" and li\c miles bro.id : or rather an expanse of 

 white salt slime, tor as we saw it. at the eihl of a long 

 drought, oidy a traction of its surface was covered with 

 water, and rhat, whateNci' the weather on the mountain, 

 was nearly always as still as glas.s, reHecting the white clitis 



