I felt sure that
the Turks could not be far behind us, and I looked forward with anxiety
to getting through the pass before them.
The natives of both Tollogo and Ellyria are the same in appearance and
language as the Bari; they are very brutal in manner, and they collected
in large crowds on our departure, with by no means a friendly aspect.
Many of them ran on ahead under the base of the rocks, apparently to
give notice at Ellyria of our arrival. I had three men as an advance
guard,--five or six in the rear,--while the remainder drove the
animals. Mrs. Baker and I rode on horseback at the head of the party. On
arriving at the extremity of the narrow valley we had to thread our way
through the difficult pass. The mountain of Ellyria, between two and
three thousand feet high, rose abruptly on our left, while the base was
entirely choked with enormous fragments of grey granite that, having
fallen from the face of the mountain, had completely blocked the pass.
Even the horses had great difficulty in threading their way through
narrow alleys formed of opposing blocks, and it appeared impossible for
loaded camels to proceed. The path was not only thus obstructed, but was
broken by excessively deep ravines formed by the torrents that during
the rains tore everything before them in their impetuous descent from
the mountains.
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