2-969-832 - /Heritage Images

Snowstorm in Armenia - Dr. Sandwith and his Party crossing the Allah-Akbar Mountain, on their way from Kars, 1856. 'As we press onwards the wind arises, blowing the snow in all directions and almost blinding us; so we begin to fear for our safety...our horses are staggering; each man has been rolling over and over in gullies, and dragging his horse through drifts...we none of us have much strength left, but we all feel it is truly a battle for life...A perfect hurricane arises, blinding man and horse, and teaching us too well the meaning of the word tipe - a word which freezes travellers with horror, since every winter hundreds of people are lost in these tepes, or snowstorms...My own servant Ismael....reports that all my baggage is lost, and that one of my horses is perfectly helpless...We ride on over the crest of a trackless mountain blinded by snow, and half frozen by cold...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.