158 ARARAT. 



toolarge to be useful for mountaineering, and too heavy to 

 be carried by our men over rough ground. The three 

 porters now professed themselves ready to go without a 

 tent, but a second thunderstorm delayed our start till 4.30. 

 With fuel we had load enough for four men ; but as the 

 owners of the horses declined to be of any service, Fran9ois 

 and Paul had to carry one of the bags between them. 



Striking up the spur behind the huts, we made our way 

 as directly as possible towards the mountain, traversing a 

 good deal of rough ground, and crossing several hollows, 

 by which we lost time, and partially deceived ourselves as 

 to the progress made. The porters halted constantly, and 

 our pace was slow ; in about an hour and a half after 

 leaving the huts, we found ourselves in a hollow between 

 two spurs, and nearly at the snow-level. Here the porters 

 stopped, and declined venturing upon the snow. It was a 

 good place for a bivouac, and, although probably 500 feet 

 lower, we thought we were at a height of at least 9,000 feet. 

 We knew that the moon would allow us to start at mid- 

 night, and anxious moreover to save our men the fatigue 

 of acting as porters, we agreed to halt. The weather 

 looked promising, so we supped on ' Liebig ' cheerily 

 over a bright fire, and then rolled ourselves up in our rugs, 

 with little misgiving for the morrow, despite the hindrances 

 of the day. 



After a sound sleep (at least I speak for myself) we 

 were awake and stirring at 11.30 p.m. We had a glass 

 of hot wine all roundj and started at 12.10 a.m. The 

 first contretemps was the discovery that Fran9ois had, 

 despite my warning, allowed Paul to leave Tiflis without 

 proper boots, and that it was impossible he could come 

 on with us. He had set his heart upon ascending Ararat, 

 and therefore very reluctantly turned back. 



After climbing two snow-slopes, we gained a ridge com- 



