It Was In This Spot That A Trader's Party Of 126 Men, Well
Armed, Had Been Massacred To A Man The Year Previous.
Bad as the pass was, we had hope before us, as the Latookas explained
that beyond this spot there was level and unbroken ground the whole way
to Latooka.
Could we only clear Ellyria before the Turks I had no fear
for the present; but at the very moment when success depended upon
speed, we were thus baffled by the difficulties of the ground. I
therefore resolved to ride on in advance of my party, leaving them to
overcome the difficulties of the pass by constantly unloading the
animals, while I would reconnoitre in front, as Ellyria was not far
distant. My wife and I accordingly rode on, accompanied only by one of
the Latookas as a guide. After turning a sharp angle of the mountain,
leaving the cliff abruptly rising to the left from the narrow path, we
descended a ravine worse than any place we had previously encountered,
and we were obliged to dismount, in order to lead our horses up the
steep rocks on the opposite side. On arrival on the summit, a lovely
view burst upon us. The valley of Ellyria was about four hundred feet
below, at about a mile distant. Beautiful mountains, some two or three
thousand feet high, of grey granite, walled in the narrow vale; while
the landscape of forest and plain was bounded at about fifty or sixty
miles' distance to the east by the blue mountains of Latooka. The
mountain of Ellyria was the commencement of the fine range that
continued indefinitely to the south. We were now in the very gorge of
that chain. Below us, in the valley, I observed some prodigious trees
growing close to a Hor (ravine), in which was running water, and the
sides of the valley under the mountains being as usual a mass of debris
of huge detached rocks, were thronged with villages, all strongly
fortified with thick bamboo palisades. The whole country was a series of
natural forts, occupied by a large population.
A glance at the scene before me was quite sufficient; - to fight a way
through a valley a quarter of a mile wide, hemmed in by high walls of
rock and bristling with lances and arrows, would be impossible with my
few men, encumbered by transport animals. Should the camels arrive, I
could march into Myria in twenty minutes, make the chief a large
present, and pass on without halting until I cleared the Ellyria valley.
At any rate I was well before the Turks, and the forced march at night,
however distressing, had been successful. The great difficulty now lay
in the ravine that we had just crossed; this would assuredly delay the
caravan for a considerable time.
Tying our horses to a bush, we sat upon a rock beneath the shade of a
small tree within ten paces of the path, and considered the best course
to pursue.
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