acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

396 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
the path turned abruptly into one of the wild gateways
by which the Zeitun district is reached.
Through this narrow gorge came the milky-white
Zeitun Su, with black precipices towering above
it for a thousand feet or more as sheer as precipices
may be. Rain was falling, and through the pass
drove a fierce rushing wind as if following the only
outlet from higher country. The path went comfortably
on a wide scrub-grown shelf so high above the
river that on going to the edge and looking down
the depth was in gloom, but so far below the summit
that on looking upwards trees that fringed the precipice's
edge seemed to be foreshortened into Japanese
dwarfs. The Zeitun bands had never found much
difficulty in holding this narrow approach ; with good
reason, it seemed, the military road crossed the
mountain-ridge behind Marash rather than go by
this walled pass, where ten riflemen might hold back
a thousand.
Nor was the gate the only difficulty on this route.
Beyond it lay a district of steep-sided hills, dotted
with pines but perfectly bare beneath—a surface
of disintegrating schist which in rain resolved itself
from rock into a treacherous greasy pulp beyond
imagining. Until you actually got on this tallowlike
stuff and began climbing a slope, difficult enough
if firm, you would never credit how nearly impassable
it was. Only by zigzagging and severe effort could
any headway at all be made, and the guides said that
worse was to follow. On reaching that part, however,
a narrow stone-paved path was found, going up
and down these incredibly slippery hills. I heard afterwards
that Zeitun] is well understood the advantage in
defence provided here, and had built the paved way
for their own purposes and no more, making it only
wide enough for men in single file, and leaving a
wide unpaved stretch to stop the passage of Turkish
guns. My informant explained further that this
paved path had been built with American money,
subscribed in relief of Zeitfmlis.