Hew Morrison Collection > Adhamh agus Eubh, no Craobh Sheanachais nan Gàël

APPENDIX. 287
these, ihe proper ovthography for inch is innis;
Uterally, lie ufthe sea, or, ofthe tvater.
Ararat, an oracular or sacred term for a mountain
of the East, doubly expressive of the solar worship,
probably on account of its two stupendous peaks.
The foUowing graphic picture of this notable moun-
tain from the pen of Sir Robert Ker Porter, may
not be uninteresting to the generahty of our
readers, viz. : —
" As tlie vale opened beneath us, in our descent, my whole
allention became absorbed in the view before me. A vast
plain peopled with countless viUages ; the towers and spires
of tlie churches of Eitch-mai-adzen arisingfrom amidst them ;
the glittering waters of the Araxes fiowing through the fresh
green of the vale ; and the subordinate range of raountains
skirting the base of the awful monument of the antediluviau
world, it seemed to stand a stupendous link in the history of
man ; uniting the two races of men, bcfore and after the flood.
But it was not until we had arrived upon ihe flat plain that I
beheld Ararat in all its amphtude of grandeur. From the spot
on which I stood, it appeared as if the hugest mountains in
tlie world had been piled upon each other, to form this one
subHme immensity of earth, and rock, and snow. The icy
peaks of its douhle heads rose raajestically into the clear and
cloudless heavens ; the sun blazed bright upon them, and the
reHeciion sent forth a dazziing radiance equal to other suns.
This point of the view united the utmost grandeur of piain
and height ; but the feelings I experienced while looking ou
the mountain are hardiy to be described. My eye, not able
to rest any iength of tirae on the biinding glory of its sum-
mits, wandered down the apparently intermiiiable sides, till I
could no longer trace their vast lines iu the niists of the hori-
zon ; when an inexpressible impulse iraraediately carrying ray
eye upwards, again refìxed my gaze on the awful glare of
Ararat ; and tliis bewildered sensibility of sight being answer-
ed by a sirailar feeling in the raind, for some moments I was
lost in the strange suspension of the powers of thought."
All true etymology can be supported by history
or some concurrent circumstance or circumstances.
That the name of Ararat, hke that of every other
remarkable mountaiu, is Cabahstic or Sacred, its