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A MAGNIFICENT PROSPECT 215
I could see no one. At length I made out a figure,
but lost it almost at once in the driving vapour ; it
soon reappeared, however, and then proved to be
Ighsan, coming from a direction opposite to that in
which he had gone. He said he had lost his way
in the fog, an explanation which seemed reasonable
at the time, but afterwards I felt sure that the incident
contained more, and suspected him of having
met some one in the ravine. At least this was the
only spot I could connect with a remark he let fail
in anger a few weeks later.
It must have been about three o'clock when we
reached a level stretch of track, evidently the summit
of the pass, though nothing could be seen confirming
this idea. The mist was thick as ever, swirling in
great wreaths which alternately hid and revealed dark
rocks and slopes, here covered with rime. And then,
as the path descended gently, the vapour thinned, in
fifty yards the fog was left behind, we emerged into
our feet,
clear sunshine, the ground dropped away at
and my astonished eyes rested on a wide sunlit country
far below, under a clear blue sky. The change was
so sudden and unexpected that presently I went back
a few hundred yards to see if the fog were still on the
reverse side of the mountain, or whether the clearing
had been general. There it still was, sure enough,
dense and raw as ever, rolling along the slopes,
but keeping on that side of the ridge as behind
a wall.
The prospect from the pass was magnificently wide.
From north-west to south-west distant isolated peaks
covered with snow bounded the view ; from southwest
to south-east were continuous ranges of snowclad
mountains. lo^hsan named them in order as
they came, and had them correctly by the map.
In fact I hardly know whether map or man should
receive the more credit for accuracy, the agreement
was so complete. In the north - west was Bozak
Dagh, beside Kirshehr ; beyond it dim white ridges
close to Angora ; and westward of these, and nearer,