THE MOUNTAINEERS OF THE EUPHRATES 155 



concerning a square cave which had 

 been excavated thousands of years ago 

 in the face of a perpendicular cliff 

 of limestone on one side of the cas- 

 tle. Were there any inscriptions in 

 it, or any rock carvings? The natives 

 did not know. The next day I went 

 down the river a few miles to an old 

 Syrian monastery, plastered like a swal- 

 low's nest against the middle of the wall 

 of the Euphrates canyon, here only some 

 four hundred feet deep, but very narrow. 

 In the wall of the monastery was a Syriac 



inscription upon a large stone imbedded 

 in the wall about six feet below the roof. 

 The only way to copy it was to let one- 

 self down by a rope over the side of the 

 building. As I sat in a bight of rope, 

 dangling in space, the guides on the roof 

 cried out, "Look, look, down there in the 

 river." I looked, and there, far down 

 below us in the yellow, muddy water, 

 was the body of a man floating rapidly 

 along. When I was pulled back to the 

 roof, I inquired what sort of man he 

 was. The guides only shrugged their 



