Puslapio vaizdai
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sieu', how it shone, how it glittered, how like the Alps indeed!

The host turned a smile of quiet appeal on the voluble enthusiasm of the Englishwoman. He hoped it would please his visitors to make some excursion or other under his care; he was a tried and trustworthy guide; he would undertake nothing too difficult for even the ladies, and he thought he could promise that none of them would be unduly fatigued. Here were the Tödi, the Bernina; there was Cortina d'Ampezzo, in the Dolomites; or if they preferred they might merely cross the Splügen with him. The Governor, with a clear conscience, would have enjoyed this little flight of fancy beyond measure; as things now were, he said in a hard, determined voice, the occasion was exceptional, and so should. the expedition be, too. He favored the best and the most: nothing would please him better than the ascent of Mont Blanc itself. Then he set his collar, and swallowed something.

At this suggestion La Malade gave a little cry of joy, and darted down under a table which had been concealed behind the open door. This, she declared, as her head bumped against the under side of the table, was her favorite expedition; she had been up fourteen times already, but it was every bit as interesting as ever. She whisked the cloth off the model, took hold of two corners of it, and Herr Axenquist laid hold of the other two, and thus the mountain was lifted into place. The host explained with a grave smile that the ascent was properly a matter of two days. It was best to get away from Chamouni at midday, and to . spend the night in the inn at the Grands Mulets. The trip, however, might well stand a little compression; they should achieve the entire expedition in that one afternoon. And as the weather was fine and settled one guide might be made to do for the whole party, while anything like a porter could very well be dispensed with altogether. Here, then, was Chamouni; there was the road to the Glacier des Bossons; here, up through the valley of the Nant Blanc, was the path to the Pierre Pointue, on the edge of the Glacier des Bossons itself; higher up, the Pierre à l'Eschelle, with a view of the Dôme du Goûter, and these various other eminences; here we cross the Glacier-and so on to the Grands Mulets. Entrez! Herein! Would they please be seated? such refreshment would now be set forth as the inn afforded.

Fin-de-Siècle whispered delightedly to the Governor that here was an original type in

deed; the Governor winced. The Count smiled and nodded; the Governor groaned.

A maid came in bearing a tray, and the thoughtful mountaineer now regaled his guests with tea and cakes. He also offered fans, for, thanks to La Malade and her new arrangement of the curtains, the temperature, even at this altitude of ten thousand feet, was distinctly warm. This volatile person accepted a fan, but refused the tea, sending the maid back for her own approved beverage. And as she opened her bottle for herself, with the dexterity that comes from long practice, she vented a bit of good-natured sarcasm on the people who would make her believe that all chalybeate waters were alike, and that she might just as well decide to please herself with St. Moritz without sending all the way to Tarasp. But she had not been born yesterday, and if there was one thing she knew more about than another, that thing was mineral springs. Who

had attended to the placing and marking of all the springs and baths on these reliefs if not she herself?putting them down in colors corresponding to their ingredients the salt-springs at Aigle, white; the sulphursprings of St. Gervais and. Stachelberg, yellow; and so forth. To all of which her entertainer, now in conversation with the Governor, bowed an indulgent acknowledgment over his cup of tea.

The Governor was scanning him closely. To put this grave, composed gentleman under suspicion was unjust; to subject him to restraint was outrageous. If every one who indulged his fancy was mentally deranged, what might people be thinking of himself? If these reliefs around them carried good cause for medical surveillance, how then with regard to the antiquities at Avenches? Nonsense; this man was as clear-headed as anybody else.

Their host rose suddenly and ordered the tea-things out. They must lose no more time, he said. The glacier should be crossed before the sun had got too high. They must press on to the summit. Their real, serious work was just about to begin. He quickly threw open the door of a little cabinet, and passed out an alpenstock to Aurelia West. He thrust an ice-ax into Zeitgeist's hand, and pressed upon the Governor a long coil of rope, which the shamefaced old gentleman received as it had been a penitential scourge. And here were spectacles of colored glass; the glare on the snow was so terrible-terrible. Was all ready? Allons; en avant! With care, mademoiselle! with care!

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He seized the Chatelaine by the arm. Beware that crevasse-it was just here that the young English lady had gone down and dragged her guide with her. Be cautious, young sir; this ice-steep was treacherous enough, in truth; but three steps-cut so-were all that was needed. There was no cause for alarm yet; slowly and steadily, and all was well. But what was this, rushing, leaping, tumbling, crashing down, with an ever louder roar? Back, back, monsieur ! He pinned the Governor against the wall, and wiped the drops of sweat from his own forehead. Ah-h! it was happily past,-l' avalanche,-and none of them the worse for it. Well, then, here was the Grand Plateau, here the Mur de la Côté, here the Petits Mulets; but the summit, the summit, where was that? Was it in sight for none of them-not one-not one? He ran his hand excitedly through his long, disordered hair. Was it growing darker and colder? Was every one of them benumbed? His eyes shone with a wild glitter, and wandered aimlessly about over the peaks and valleys beneath them. Ah, it was the fog, the cruel, treacherous fog; but hasten, hastenhere was the path, and the refuge was not far ahead. Up, up! No; you must not, shall not lie there. His voice rose to a shrill, strident tone, a tone full of the cutting sweep of the mountain-roaring wind, a tone stung by the tingle of gust-driven ice-particles spinning on and on in remorseless eddies. He suddenly flecked his hand across his face. He gave a short, sharp cry, and clutched Zeitgeist by the arm. Had he felt it too? And did he not know what it meant? They were lost-lost! They should perish there on the mountain, like others before them; for it was the snowthe snow

The Englishwoman gave a shrill scream. "The young men stared in amaze-
ment. Aurelia West and the Chatelaine drew back in terror. The Gov-
ernor set his jaw, seized the unfortunate firmly by the arm, caught
the pointer out of his hand, and in ten seconds had con-
ducted the whole party down to Chamouni with a clear
head and a sure foot. He placed their host on the chair
beside the model, and gave him a glass of water. The
poor fellow weakly kissed his hand, and burst into tears.
On the way home Aurelia West overheard the Gov-
ernor invite Fin-de-Siècle to accompany them into
the Tyrol. This was the form that the Gover-
nor's penance took. She did not catch
the response, but she was willing
enough that it should have
been a no.

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VOICES FROM BEYOND.

LAY upon the borderland 'twixt sleep

And drowsy thought dim as a wavering dream;
All consciousness a far, faint, starry beam,
Like glint of torch within a cavern deep.
About me voices rose with windy sweep,
Till all the pulses of the air did seem
Aflame, and bubbling in a liquid stream,
Pouring upon me in one gathered leap.
They raised in me a power uncontrolled-

These mystic voices, rushing madly by;

My feet were set where wheeling planets rolled,

My head upreared within the flaming sky.
A god I was within my human mold,

To trample death, and all his might defy.

Susanna Massey.

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WH

NEGUS NEGUSTI, AND THE ABYSSINIANS.

A WARRIOR EATING.

WITH PICTURES BY THE AUTHOR.

HEN Gordon Pasha was shut up in Khartoum, and the Egyptian garrisons in the eastern Soudan were menaced by the Mahdi's fanatical followers, the British and Khedival governments deemed it advisable to send a pacific mission to King Johannes of Abyssinia, to enlist the favor and assistance of the Ethiopian monarch, in the evacuation by the garrisons and Christian inhabitants of the several Egyptian towns bordering on the Abyssinian frontier then threatened by the Soudanese, and to allow them to pass unmolested through his territories to the coast.

Sir William Hewitt had been appointed the English envoy for this purpose, and the campaign against Osman Digna having lulled for a while, there was a general rush of war-correspondents for this opportunity of writing up and illustrating an almost unknown region. So many wished to accompany the mission that the British admiral was compelled to refuse all the applicants. Hearing of this fact, I would not appear before him to face a refusal, and I flattered myself that, not having applied, I was free by some other means to try to accompany the mission through this VOL. XLIV.-58.

wonderfully interesting and almost inaccessible country. I hurried by the first steamer from Suakim to Massowah, the port from which the mission was to start inland, and I immediately called on the governor, an American gentleman who had been for years in the service of the Khedive, and was now the envoy deputed by the Egyptians for Abyssinia. To his good nature I am indebted for one of the most delightful and interesting journeys I have ever undertaken.

Mason Bey, on hearing of my great desire to accompany the mission, at once attached me to his staff. Before the sun had set on the day of my arrival, I was ensconced in the palace as a sort of under-secretary, with free use of the Bey's larder, cellar, and cheroot-box.

On the afternoon of Monday, April 7, 1884, the flagships and forts of Massowah thundered a salute, as the Admiral landed and was received by Mason Bey at the palace stairs. In less than an hour the mission started on its adventurous journey. Before we had quitted the plains of Monkolu the sun had passed away, and as we began to struggle over the rough, undulating ground toward the Abyssinian chain of mountains, a deep, yellow gloom suffused the sky. But this soon gave way to the powerful but mellow light of the African moon, which was now casting long shadows of our men and beasts over the silver sand. Here and there the moonbeams lighted up in ghastly distinctness some wild Arab warrior, peering at us in curiosity from the bush along the road. A few miles farther, and the route turned abruptly to the right, and gradually began to narrow into the bed of a dried-up watercourse. We were now within a short distance of Saahti, our intended halting-place for the night.

Presently, a few hundred yards in front of us, some white tents stood boldly out in the moonlight. To our surprise we found cookingfires blazing, and an evening meal already

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pared for us. A good friend had arrived in advance of our party, pitched tents, and prepared a sumptuous repast. We owed all this courtesy to a gay old slave-dealer, who had recently given up dealing in live stock in favor of dead, which he sold in the shape of butchermeat to the various steamers coming into the port of Massowah. I had seen this gentleman at the beginning of our journey, doubled up on a small donkey, and dressed in his ordinary fashionable attire, a light pink stuff gabardine, with yellow silk-embroidered sash bound round

test we had yet experienced. Many of us were compelled to swathe our heads in wet towels to lessen the chance of sunstroke. In the afternoon of the second day an officer with twenty men, sent down from the mountains by Balata Gubru, a frontier chief, arrived in camp for the purpose of taking over the king's presents, and of relieving our bashi-bazouk guard, which now returned to Massowah. At sunrise the following morning we moved in a southerly direction, skirting the Ailet hills along a mule-path, through mimosa woods teeming with

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his waist. His face, almost cadaverous in its contour, was framed by a white bullion fringed turban; his eyes were sparkling; and a sinister smile played about his lips.

game. We halted for the night at Sabagumba, where our guns found plenty of quail to embellish the evening meal. An hour before dawn found us ascending the Rara Pass, and at midday we camped in the narrow valley of Genda. Our mules had not had so happy a grazing-place for many a day. The ground was covered with wild clover, fine grass, and buttercups. A brook wound its way down the valley, sprawling over rocky beds, and hemmed in by tall grasses. Our sportsmen were soon busy on the sloping sides of the valley, thick with foliage and full of guinea-fowl. We remained in this happy place for one day, awaiting the arrival of the lieutenant of the Abyssinian chief Ras Alula. This officer came about midday, with an escort of a hundred ragged-looking fellows clothed in cotton knee-breeches, with togas in various stages of dirt slung about their shoulders. While a few were mounted on mules, the majority tramped on foot, armed with spears, swords, and muskets ranging from the first specimens of that arm to the modern Remington. There was no discipline or order with these warriors. They herded together in groups, or lounged about camp in pairs, staring and gazing at us in the rudest curiosity. Their leader, a short, spare man, with narrow face and close, cunning eyes, was a person of some distinction. He told us that Alula anxiously awaited our coming, that he was deputed to act as our guide through the passes to his chief's camp, Our day's rest at Ailet was one of the hot- which had been pitched on the plateau of

Though our camping-ground was at least four hundred feet above the plains, yet there was no perceptible difference in the temperature. The thermometer was steady at something like ninety throughout the night. An hour before sunrise we struck camp, bade farewell to our gallant host, and started for Ailet. We soon began to experience rough traveling. Immediately on leaving Saahti, the aspect of the country changed. The ground was strewn with huge granite boulders, and here and there patches of stunted mimosa or wild olive-trees broke our route. Always ascending, moving over chains of low hills, we kept to the driedup watercourse, the bed of which so narrowed that it was difficult for us to make our way even in Indian file. The sun beat down upon our little caravan, making life almost unbearable. Occasionally we would be fanned by a slight breeze as we surmounted some ridge, from which the sight of the floating vapors still clinging to the faint blue peaks of the distant mountains cheered us with the fact that we were slowly though surely approaching a country of cool shades and running waters. Scorching sun, burning rocks, and shadeless mimosa-bushes held their own till we arrived at the wells of Ailet.

Asmara, seven thousand feet straight up the mountain.

The next day we entered on the most serious part of our journey. Our first few miles lay through mountainous scenery reminding me a little of our own Scotch Highlands, and still more of the Turkish Balkans. Birches, cedars, acacia- and box-trees, many rare orchids, and strange plants covered the sides of the gorges. Common flowers were in profusion; maidenhair ferns and lichens brushed us as we toiled on our way. Some of the guard in our front played upon pipes roughly made out of the bark of trees. The notes, sweet and mellow, seemed to start all the birds on our route into song. Climbing up almost perpendicular passes a thousand feet or more, skirting for a time a rocky precipice, we suddenly emerged into a narrow valley, the aspect of which was unlike any we had yet seen. The whole foliage of this part of the mountain was totally unlike that a few yards below us. It seemed to have changed as if by magic, so unexpected was the transformation from European delicacy to African crudeness of color-the Euphorbia candelabra gigantea, bursting into bloom with clusters of red and yellow blossom; enormous aloes in flower; and cacti parasites clinging to the rocks, or trailing in great luxuriance from the trees. The sun, which had been shaded from us by the dense foliage below, now blazed out in all its fierceness, flooding the fantastic valley with a brilliancy that was superb and almost overpowering.

Next day we arrived at the foot of our last, but most difficult, ascent. The Maiensi Pass is one of the steepest routes for the passage of human beings to be found on the globe. It was utterly impossible to ride our horses up it; so we were compelled to take to our mules, and we had to nurse even these hardy little brutes nearly the whole way. A shower of stones clattering down upon us discovered a horseman scampering toward our party from the mouth of the pass above. Saluting the Admiral, the messenger told him that the Ras (governor), his master, had seen us coming, and thus early sent his greeting. The route now narrowing into a rocky defile, we suddenly emerged on the great Abyssinian plateau. As this new world dawned upon us, the slight eminence on our right became alive with moving horsemen: at least fifteen hundred cavalry began to spread out over the plains in our front. At a given signal they turned sharply, facing our party, then charged with seeming fury straight at us. They were all fierce-looking men, with headgear of handkerchiefs of various colors, or simply a wide white tape tied round their close curly hair, after the fashion of the ancient Romans. Some sported lion-manes, which, fringing their dusky

faces, made them look almost as savage as that beast himself. Skins of black leopard, over their red and white togas, swathed their bodies. As with couched spears and uplifted targets they bore down upon us, they yelled like maniacs, madly shaking their weapons in mock defiance; and when within a few paces, with one accord they suddenly curbed their horses. So quickly was this done that their chargers reeled back on their haunches; each warrior at the same time lowering the point of his spear, and in silence bowing his body before the envoys. Then afar off from over the plain came the sound of drums slowly beaten. The horsemen, wheeling round our flank, now formed an irregular line in our rear.

When the cloud of dust that for a moment enveloped us cleared away, we discovered far ahead, on a rocky height standing out of the plain, a solitary white tent; on each side of it, sloping down to the plain, lines of infantry were drawn up, forming a broad avenue through which our party advanced. As we slowly moved between the lines of these dusky footmen, the drums deeply sounded an Amharic greeting, the interpretation of which was: "How do you do? How do you do?"

The bright sunlight shimmering on the silver bolts of the circular shields of the horsemen, and on the metal-plated trappings of their chargers; glittering on the myriads of spear-heads; brightening up the motley coloring of their headgear and red-striped togas; and, above all, the measured beating of the deep-toned kettledrums, greeting us in this odd fashion, made our first reception in Abyssinia a highly impressive one. The envoys dismounted a few paces in front of Alula's tent. That great chief walked forward, and shook them heartily by the hand. Ras Alula was a man of five-and-forty, of medium stature, with massive head, closeshaven face, and features somewhat Roman in type but almost as black as a negro's. This Roman resemblance was suggested even more by a toga thrown gracefully about his figure, giving him the appearance of a statue of the great Cæsar worked in bronze. But all this majesty was soon dispelled as he squatted on his throne and began gesticulating. The continued clutching at his drapery, the swaying of his body, and the long curved sword shaking out behind from the folds of his toga, gave the great Amharic chief more the appearance of a chimpanzee. The reception was cordial, but not effusive. Repeating the questions the drums were still asking: "How do you do? How do you do?" we in answer said, "Very well, thank you; and how are you?" Alula slowly replied, "Thank you, I am well." But to our anxious inquiries as to when and where we would meet the King, the Ras was very

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