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IX
NEW PLANS FOR IRRIGATION. ECHMIADZIN
In the afternoon we—the five members of the commission—
were sitting in our hotel discussing the results of our investiga
tions up to date, and various possible plans for cultivating
the land. While Captain Quisling stood by the window for
a moment he saw a violent whirlwind sweep down from the
hill above the town and along the main street—just the way
wc had come—whirling up the dust in a tall column. It
stopped when it reached the open space outside the hotel.
But wc continued our discussion, ignoring the vagaries of
the weather outside.
Presently, however, the noise in the street became so much
louder and more noticeable that wc had to look out. Wc
jumped up and saw that the whole place was flooded by large
quantities of water which came swirling down the streets
from above. The water rose quickly ; soon the street in
front of the hotel was a rapid river, the square and park were
inundated, and there was no exit from the hotel without
getting into deep water. People went wading along on the
pavements, keeping close to the wall, carriages were up to
their axles, automobiles splashed through water which was
not very far from their motors, horsemen galloped by amid
showers of spray, and a frightful din punctuated with shouts
and screams rose into the air in all parts of the town.
What on earth had happened ? Before sitting down to
work wc had noticed a black thunder-cloud drifting across
the sky above the mountains in the north, but without
attaching much importance to the sight, as the sky blackened
like that so often without it coming to anything. Apparently,
however, this cloud had been of unusual calibre, and there
had been a regular cloud-burst over the mountain slopes,
especially in a narrow ravine through which a small river
runs down to the town. This river, becoming tremendously
N
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