A TAN'IWl.lSTNT! QUKST 281 



()iir lailiirc \vill not ])erliaps make our experiences tlic 

 less iuLereslini;' (o sport snieii. The cundiLions of llus 

 quest were unusually ditlicult, and the details may pci'haps 

 suii'ii'est to th(»>f who ninv follow us, the l)cst nu'ans of 

 overcoming them ; for tliough tins chapter may read like 

 an apology for our defeat, I do not pretend that we did 

 not make mistakes. AVliat Nimrod so inspired as not to 

 do so ? I only say that in addition to any errors of 

 judgment we may have made, we had more than our 

 share of Ijad luck. 



The Continental journey, the triple voyage, the 

 glimpses of Corfu, Athens, and lSm)'rna need not be 

 dwelt upon, TiCt me begin l)y describing the ground 

 we designed to hunt. Abruptly, out of the level 

 plain, springs one of the Pisidian ranges, the " White 

 ^Fountain,"' so called from its twin peaks of limestone, 

 which rise, to a height of 7000 ft., gaunt and bare 

 by contrast wiili their lower slopes, the last-named being 

 sombre-hued from the cypress and sci-ubby oak which, on 

 this side, clothe the base of the rano-e. Its Icadinsf feature 

 is a ravine of extraordinary depth dividing these peaks, 

 and literally cleaving the mountain to its roots. The tool 

 which has carved this narrow groove is a little stream which 

 seems quite out of proportion to the work it has acconi- 

 plish('(l. It |iur>U('s its silent wa}- 3000 feet below the 

 double summit, and through depths which never see the 

 sun. while nothing that has not wings cnn foll(»w its eourse 

 throughout. It actually disappears from view before it 

 reaches the plain, though an extensive cane brake, a 

 favourite resort of wild boar, marks the place where 

 it oozes forth auain. The sheer cliifs which face one 



