From our platform we see the worn tracks in all directions. Yet not a single Kurdish tent, no shepherd, no wayfarer can we descry in the wide landscape of the volcanic basin. We observe paved holes in the ground, where it is evident that bread has recently been baked. There are stone enclosures for penning cattle. More and more clearly we realise that the crater must be inhabited, and that this floating population have decamped at the approach of the soldiers. They will return the moment their backs are turned. Indeed the place has the worst reputation as a harbour of lawlessness; and the Turkish Government might well have disclaimed responsibility for our safety in a spot so remote and wild. They deserve our gratitude for what they have done. Have all quarry left the haunts of the great hunter, whose name is attached to one of the most remarkable among the mountains of the world? One of our party is prepared to swear that he saw two bears in the dusk of evening; they trotted away at his approach. And indeed, one night, I myself was awakened by something rummaging between the outer and the inner roofs of our tent. There are no dogs here; was it a bear? I rose, but could discover nothing--only the fact that our sentries were in a dead sleep. At nightfall our escort light extensive bonfires, and sing the wailing love-songs of the East. At intervals the bugle sounds; then there rises a loud cheer. The bugle, the cheers, the leaping flames, the tremulous chantings--even our watchmen are not proof against the contrast with such excitement of the heavy stillness of the midnight hours. And perhaps the bears have joined the brigands in taking to flight. For eight whole days we remained upon the mountain, busily employed in examining the crater and its surroundings, and in making a careful plan. We had been joined by Captain Elliot and Mr. Monahan, Her Majesty's Consuls respectively at Van and Bitlis. Captain Elliot was desirous of making use of this favourable occasion in order to study Nimrud. He gave us most valuable assistance in measuring the crater; and while he and Oswald were engaged with our telemeter within the basin, I was reading with the prismatic compass from one point to another along the summit of the cliffs. By the time their labours were completed, I had prepared a drawing of the interior, as well as of some of the features of the crater walls. [249]