VILLAGE OF ARGURI-VINEYARDS.

"As the morning broke, we were gratified at beholding the summit of Ararat, towering in full distinctness and grandeur before us, in the south-west ... The ground across which we travelled now. . . rose, at first imperceptibly, then more rapidly... and it soon became evident that we were now treading the base of the mighty mountain itself. Our path, for there was no road properly so called to guide us, soon became stony, and much steeper, so that the horses could scarcely get forward with the waggon; and seeing that large masses of rocks were scattered in every direction about us, we were obliged to admit, that to advance any further in this way was impossible. We had directed our course for the Armenian village of Arguri, the only one upon mount Ararat. It contains about 175 families, with a well built church, a pastor of its own, and a village elder or chief, of respectable condition. All the houses are of stone, and, agreeably to eastern custom, have flat level roofs of mortar covered with clay, holes for the admission of air and light, instead of windows, and court-yards enclosed with stone walls. The inhabitants live by the breeding of cattle and horses, and from their corn, which, however, is not raised in the immediate vicinity, on account of the stony nature of the ground. The richer class have vineyards adjoining the village.

"But the real treasure of this settlement, its very lifespring, is the little rivulet which has its source in one of the glaciers of Ararat, and finds a passage downwards, through the great chasm on its north-east side, to the village, which is situate on the level ground at its outlet.

"Besides this, there is another rill of exceedingly fine drinking water, which springs out of the rocky side of the same chasm, a few hundred paces above the village. There it is caught in pipes, and conducted into stone troughs, for the use of the cattle, when they return from

the pastures, which are without a tree to shade them from the scorching sun; while a number of young persons are generally seen collected in the evening, with their pitchers, under the cool brow of the rock, drawing water. The temperature of the air about Arguri is much more genial than in the valley of the Araxes; for . . . the vicinity of the snows on Ararat, from which refreshing currents of air are constantly streaming, produces a general and decided effect in cooling and purifying the atmosphere. For this reason Arguri is often visited by persons of quality from Erivan, who make it their residence during the hottest season of the year.

"This is the place, according to tradition, where Noah, after he came out of the ark and went down from the mountain, with his sons, and all the living things that were with him, had 'builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings upon the altar.' The exact spot is alleged to be where the church now stands; and it is of the vineyards of Arguri that the Scriptures speak, when it is said, And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard.' It is a remarkable coincidence, that the building of the church must be referred to an unascertained, but still very remote date and also, that the Armenian name of the village contains a distinct allusion to that occurrence ; Arghanel, in that language, means, to set, or plant, whence, argh, he planted; and urri, the vine; so that the tradition cannot be a modern fabrication, at all events.

"It was near one of these hallowed vine plantations, but about three miles below Arguri, that we were brought to a halt, and obliged to deliberate upon measures for conveying our effects onwards in some other way than in waggons, as hitherto. This could only be effected by having recourse to the villagers...

"I rode forward with Abovian, our interpreter, pulled up in an open part of the street, and requested the

village elder to be called. This person's name was Stepan Aga; he directed that a small herd of fifteen or twenty oxen, that were feeding outside the village, should be despatched for our luggage, with ropes to secure it; and he set out with me himself to the place where I had left my companions and our effects...

Stepan Aga gave us a friendly invitation into his vineyard, and seemed highly gratified when he saw us retire, from the heat of the sun, under the cool shade of its foliage, and quench our burning thirst, to our hearts' content, with the delicious grapes just ripening on Father Noah's vines . . .

...

...

"With respect to the selection of my head-quarters on the mountain, my . . . friend. . . had spoken to me of a little Armenian monastery upon the northern slope of Ararat, higher up than the village of Arguri, called St. James's The way thither leads through Arguri, the distance being about a mile and a half, and so our little caravan halted, under the outer walls of the monastery, towards evening, on the 11th of September. My first inquiry, on entering the court-yard, was for the pastor; he stood before me, a venerable old man, of tall stature, his head was grey, his beard was long,

his eyes deeply set and large... (his) gown, of blue serge, with a pair of common slippers, and woollen Persian socks... After a survey of the shelter he had to afford us, we had our baggage unpacked and laid down, for the present, in the court."

K

"My anxious longing to approach nearer to the venerable head of the mountain, would not allow me to remain long idle in the quiet of the monastery.

...

"On the 12th (24th) of September, at seven in the morning, I started on my way, attended by M. Schiemann. We took with us one of the Kossaks, and a peasant from Arguri-a hunter, and directed our steps, first to the ravine, and then along its left declivity, till we came to a spot where there were two small buildings of squared stone, standing near each other, one of which was formerly a chapel, and the other erected over a well -reputed holy . . . The fountain which springs out of a rock, at this spot, affords a clear drinkable water. . . (which is very scarce on Mount Ararat).

"From this chapel, we ascended the grassy eminence which forms the right side of the chasm, and had to suffer much from the heat, insomuch that our Kossak declared he was ready to sink with fatigue, and it was necessary to send him back. About six in the evening, as we too were completely tired, and had approached close to the region of snow, we sought out a place for our night's lodging among the fragments of rock . . . Our bed was the hard rock, and the cold icy head of the mountain our only stone. In the sheltered places around, still lay some fresh snow; the temperature of the air was at the freezing point. M. Schiemann and myself had prepared ourselves tolerably well for this contingency, and our joy at the enterprise also helped to warm us, but our athletic Isaac, from Arguri, was quite dispirited with the cold, for he had nothing but his summer clothing; his neck and legs from the knee to the sandal were quite naked, and the only covering for his head was an old cloth, tied round it. I had neglected, at first starting, to give attention to his wardrobe; it was, therefore, my duty to help him as far as I could; and as we had ourselves no spare clothing, I wrapped him in some sheets of grey paper which I had brought with me for the purpose of drying plants: this answered him very well.

"As soon as the darkness of night began to give way to the dawn, we continued our journey towards the eastern side of the mountain, and soon found ourselves on a slope which continues all the way down from ... the very summit... It is formed altogether of sharp angular ridges of rock, stretching downwards, and having considerable chasms between them, in which the icy covering of the summit disappears, while forming glaciers of great extent. Several of these rocky ridges and chasms filled with ice lay between us and the side of the mountain which we were striving to reach; we got successfully over the first ridge, as well as the beautiful glacier immediately succeeding it. When we arrived on