PERSIAN TRAVELLING—DEPARTURE FROM TABRIZ—BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY—LAKE OF SHAHEE—STATION OF RAHDARS—KHOI; TOWN; GARDENS; PLAIN—AGRICULTURE—ELAUTS—CONVENIENCE OF TENTS—COURDISTAN ROBBERS—HERDS OF MARES—FRONTIERS OF PERSIA AND TURKEY—BAYAZID—MOUNT ARARAT—RECEPTION IN THE TENTS OF THE ELAUTS—DIADIN; THE EUPHRATES—IBRAHIM PACHA; VISIT TO HIS ENEMY TIMUR BEG; RECEPTION AT THE CASTLE OF TURPA CALEH—DEPOPULATION OF THE COUNTRY—OMEN—RIVER ARAXES—CONDUCT OF THE AGA OF ALWAR.
The mode of travelling in Persia is easy and commodious. In winter they generally begin their journey at sun-rise. The baggage proceeds, and then the master. He breakfasts either before he sets off, or in a more pleasant spot on the road, (regarding in each case the advantage of a stream of running water as the motive of preference;) and thus he allows time for his luggage to reach the stage before him, and his people to prepare every thing for his reception, spread his carpets, and get the necessary articles for cooking his dinner. On his arrival he eats his choshtá, or intermediate meal, and then sleeps. At sun-set he takes another repast (his noshtá); and his servants then pack up every thing ready for his departure the next morning. He proceeds by easy stages, generally from five to six leagues a-day, which, as he always rides his own horses, is a good day’s journey at the common rate of travelling. If he has a Mehmandar with him, he is fed and lodged and travels entirely at the public expence. When the Mehmandar arrives at the village, he produces his firman, (in which the kind and quantity of the articles to be provided are specified;) and demands a correspondent supply from the inhabitants.
1st June, 1809. We left the Khoi gate of Tabriz at seven o’clock, and in six hours and a half reached Ali Shah, a distance called by the people of the country six fursungs, and which I reckoned at twenty-four miles. From the top of our lodging at Ali Shah, I could see the mountain near which Tabriz is situated, I can therefore place exactly the bearing of our route, at N. 75 W. We kept to the Eastward of the plain in consequence of the difficulties along the road through the centre, which was then in many places overflowed.
Near Tabriz on the left, are some gardens and houses, called Hucknavar; then the village of Mayan. To the Eastward of the city itself, is a conspicuous hill called the Bahalil Tapé, which abounds in every kind of game. Having travelled three miles from Tabriz on a bearing nearly N. we came to a bridge of nine large and three small arches, thrown over the river Agi, which, flowing from E. to W. falls at length into the lake of Shahee. The river rises near Ardebil; and is fordable by mules where we crossed it, though we preferred the bridge, which happened indeed to be in better repair than those between Teheran and Tabriz. At about four miles from the city, we passed a village called Alwar; and three miles further another of the same name, each surrounded with a cultivated territory, intersected by a thousand dikes and kanauts. The greatest part of the plain is of a soil strongly impregnated with salt; and as in every other district of the same quality, we witnessed the curious effects of the vapour, (called Ser Aub) which overspread the plain. About four miles before we reached Ali Shah, we crossed a bridge of four arches, over a pool of standing salt water. The industry of agriculture was visible, and the crops of barley and corn were luxuriant and promising.
The plain of Tabriz extends far to the W. and S.; the mountains which border it on those directions being just designed in very light tints in the horizon. To the Northward and Eastward it is bounded by hard-featured lands of an inferior elevation, indicating on their surfaces the minerals below. There are several pretty villages situated to the North, on the declivity of the mountain about three or four miles from Ali Shah, and which, together with it and others to the W. are in the Mahalé or district of Ghunéh.
The lake of Shahee is about seven fursungs from Ali Shah, and the middle of the long mountain (which extends into the centre of the lake, and which now appeared isolated on the horizon of the plain) bore S. 50 W. of our station.
In my progress to Constantinople, I traversed a country in its conformation most picturesque, and in its productions most luxuriant. No traveller in any season, or in any direction, could have passed these scenes without admiration; but I saw them in all the richness of spring, contrasted with a winter in Persia; and after the leafless and barren region which I had passed, I enjoyed doubly the wild prodigality of vegetation, which in the early part of the year is displayed through Asia Minor. The impression therefore of delight which I experienced, was strongest at the first point of contrast; and the first verdure and foliage which I saw near Tabriz, appeared to me to constitute the very perfection of landscape.
2d June. If a writer of romance would describe beautiful scenery, he might select our departure from Ali Shah. We began our journey by a most charming moonlight; and the sky was delightfully serene. Just as the sun was rising we reached an orchard, (full of every species of fruit, particularly almonds, and) skirting the town of Shebester; which, embosomed in trees of every hue, was situated on the declivity of the mountains on our right.
Shebester is a large town, surrounded by several villages, and by more wood and cultivation, than any spot I had yet seen in Persia. Hitherto indeed the want of trees, either as a shade to the road, or as a relief to the inequalities of the heights, had been constant and uniform. We admired therefore doubly the beauties of our present course. Streams of running water were meandering in every direction amid the numerous willows, poplars, almonds, and other trees, which bordered our road: and at intervals the artificial dikes were opened to admit water into the beds of rice. The greater part of the country was covered with verdure, for the new corn was already well advanced both in maturity and plenty. Peasantry enlivened the fields by the labours of the spade or the plough.
After quitting Shebester we came in full view of the delightful lake of Shahee. It derives its name from the surrounding Mahalé, which may contain twenty villages. I was told that its waters are as salt as the sea, and that the sand over which they flow, produces the salt used at Tabriz. It extended itself N. W. and S. E. before us, and its Western extremities were terminated by a stupendous chain of mountains, whose snowy summits, softened by the haze, contrasted admirably with the light azure of the lake. As we proceeded, the long mountain (which I mentioned in the route of yesterday, extending itself and forming a peninsula in the lake) appeared to have no connection whatever with the surrounding lands; and, by a stranger to the real topography, would have been pronounced an island. Its termination (to the south as seen from our road) was in the form of a sugar-loaf.
Near Shebester we passed the village of Misholéh, and, lower down in the plain, those of Arsaléh and Halee, on the left of the road. Others indeed are seen at every turn, situated at small intervals on either side alternately, all in the Mahalé of Ghunéh. Among them are Besh-kefelout, on the left; Khomyéh, prettily surrounded with verdure, on the right; Shinwar, on the left again; Kuzec-dunar, on the right, three fursungs before we reached our stage at Tasouj; and on the left, about two miles from the borders of the lake, Alibanglou, the first place in the Bolouk of Aeenzaub. In this line we stopt and fed our cattle and ourselves; while a refreshing breeze from the Westward just curled up the waters of the lake, and waved the corn fields which extended themselves on all sides of us.
Our bread and moss was shared by a stranger who was going to Oroumi, a large town, distant thirty fursungs from Tabriz; and situated, by the pointing of his hand, S. 50 W. from us, on the left or West side of the lake, which the road continues to skirt through its whole course. On the East of the lake is Saouk Bolag, the site of the ancient city of Sheherivan. The country, through which we passed in the day, was interesting and picturesque; in every turn of the view enriched by the lake and its surrounding capes and mountains.
From all that I could learn in this region, (and I inquired of many who had travelled repeatedly over this part of Aderbigian), there appeared to exist no other lake than this of Shahee. And I have as regularly made direct inquiries about the situation of the city of Van and its lake, without obtaining any thing like a satisfactory answer. On the contrary, the very existence of such a place, and such a lake, was always denied; I mention this, when the position of Van has been clearly ascertained, to shew how general was the ignorance of the people on every subject which was not immediately within their own circumscribed district. Nor was I more successful in my inquiries on the real extent of the lake before them: every one said that it was very large, and that it reached further, than from its appearance we might suppose.
At about five miles from Tasouj, there is a village on the left called Rahdar Khoné; and then a station of Rahdars, or custom-house officers. As we passed it, one of them, a man of a much more respectable appearance than any of the class whom we had seen on other occasions, told us that a driver with seven loaded mules had gone forwards, and refused to pay the duties, alleging that his beasts were carrying part of our baggage; and were therefore in the King’s service, and as such exempt from the impost. In fact, however, my Charwardar (or conductor of the mules or caravan) had added to my charge this number, above those that were necessary for my purposes; and, having already received a part of their hire from me, was now employing them still more to his own profit, by conveying upon them, duty-free, in my name, the goods of some Tabriz merchants. On discovering the fraud, I resigned him into the hands of the officer, with full liberty to exact his dues; a licence, under which he begun immediately to cudgel the shoulders of the defaulter. The duties here are high, being five reals on each load.
Some miles before we reached Tasouj, the lake begins to make an elliptical termination, and the road to turn off on a more Northern angle. We were eight hours in travelling the whole distance from Ali Shah, which we reckoned at thirty-two miles, on a bearing of N. 60 W. Tasouj, from the great extent of the ruined walls about it, appears once to have been a large place, but it is now reduced, by earthquakes, to the denomination of a village. There are remains of domed bazars and mosques, spread in every part of the place.
June 3. The distance from Tasouj to Khoi is called eight fursungs; we were however nine hours on the road, and calculated the journey at thirty-six miles. The general direction was N. 30 W. Our course for the first ten miles, to the foot of the range, (which encloses the plain and lake of Shahee) bore nearly West; when we suddenly turned to the North through the mountains; and, for ten miles more, wound among them through some very narrow defiles, and by some sharp ascents and descents, till we reached on the opposite side the plain of Khoi. Towards the lake the mountains are mostly of an argillaceous soil, but change into fine earth as they approach the plain of Khoi. In this direction they are green to their very summits, and their intervening vallies are covered with the finest pastures.
We had left Tasouj by moonlight: we could not therefore discover with any accuracy the nature of the country, which we traversed in the first part of our route; though we discerned indistinctly groves of trees, and heard the falling cascade in the recesses of the vallies. The first view of the plain of Khoi, from the summit of the pass in the mountains, is sublime. The city and its more immediate territory are seen on the N. but separated from the rest of the plain by a border of green hills, which seem to divide the expanse into two parts. At the distance of two fursungs from Khoi, we passed on the right the village of Disajiz, surrounded by fields of wheat and barley. On the left of the plain are some more villages; and one curious mound of red soil, crowned by a hillock of salt, besides several other white mounds, which are described as entirely of the same substance. We passed the small range of hills, and came all at once upon the more circumscribed plain of Khoi, which is opened by a seven-arched bridge, bordered on each side by rocks, and forming with the fine stream below a complete picture. The river is called the Otour, and flows from W. to E. falling into the Arras or Araxes, about twelve fursungs further to the Eastward.
The plain of Khoi (in breadth from N. to S. five miles, and in length ten) was the richest tract that we had seen. It was covered with corn, broken only here and there by the foliage of enclosed gardens. Of these gardens we ventured to enter one, which was renowned all over the country for its beauty and fruitfulness. It stands on the left of the road about two miles from the walls of Khoi, and was made by Hossein Khan, Governor of the city in the time of Aga Mohamed Khan; but it has now become the property of the government. It consists of a fine alley of chenar trees, which leads up to a pleasure-house, now falling into decay, built on the elevation of six terraces, from each of which falls a beautiful cascade, conducted by kanauts from the neighbouring mountains. On the right and left is a wood of fruit trees of every sort and description, with a fine crop of grass at their roots. From the pleasure-house is seen, through the alleys of chenars, the whole territory of Khoi, one of the most lively landscapes that we found in Persia. The chenar is really a delightful tree; its bole is of a fine white and smooth bark, and its foliage, which grows in a tuft at the summit, is of a bright green. Those in the garden had not attained their full growth. Their trunks are every where carved with the invocation of “Ya Ali;” proceeding probably from the ecstacies of those, who visit this little Persian paradise.
Khoi is surrounded with a wall, and with towers of a different construction to any which we had remarked in other fortified towns of Persia. They are triangular in front, with a species of connecting work behind them. There are four gates, which are of stone, and very superior to most of those that I had noticed elsewhere. Within the walls are twenty mosques and six baths. There are said to be ten thousand houses, and a population of fifty thousand persons, of which the larger proportion are Armenians. The Mussulmans live in a parish or Mahalé of their own. The territory is so extremely fertile, that Khoi, with the surrounding villages, pays annually to the public treasure the sum of one hundred thousand tomauns. Khoi is much warmer, from its local situation, than Tabriz. Roses here were in full flower, whereas a little opening bud was reckoned a rarity at Tabriz; and probably in twenty days from the date of our visit, the plain lost its verdure, and assumed the beautiful gilding of a ripe corn-field.
Six fursungs South from Khoi is an equally large and populous town called Salmas; where, as I afterwards learnt at Arz-roum, are “sculptured rocks and many ruins.” My informer added, that one of the subjects represented two men, of whom one, looking over his left shoulder, pointed with his hand to a spot which the people of the neighbourhood affirm to contain a hidden treasure, though they admit that the deposit has escaped all research.
4th of June, 1809. The Prince had ordered four men to attend us into the Turkish territories; and as they did not reach us at Khoi, we should probably have awaited their arrival there, if I had not resisted such an arrangement, declaring that it would be better to advance one mile, than in our circumstances to remain idle for one single day. Accordingly, notwithstanding the pressing invitation of Nejef Kooli Khan, the Governor, to stay the day with him, we departed for Péréh, a village two fursungs from Khoi, which I call six miles, and in a bearing of N. 60 W. The morning was one of the loveliest in Spring, lightly covered with clouds, with a softness in the air which seemed to soothe every varied work of nature into tacit enjoyment of the bounty and munificence of their Almighty Creator. I shall ever recollect with thankfulness the delightful sensations which I experienced in passing the beautiful plain of Khoi; where every innocent sense received its gratification, and ripened into thoughts teeming with love and gratitude to their divine Maker.
Every thing was rich and beautiful: the mountains were green to their very summits; and their inequalites were here and there enriched by beds of wild flowers of the most lively and luxuriant hues. Scarcely two miles from Khoi is a very large collection of houses and gardens, which is a Mahalé or parish of the town, and is well inhabited. A stream from the mountains runs through it; and on the skirts to the N. are two pillars of brick, which are described either as the tomb or the cenotaph of a famous poet and learned Mollah of Tabriz, called Shemsé. Péréh is a pretty village, situated on the declivity of the hills, which gradually form the bases of the adjoining mountains; on the summit of one of these hills is an old square fort, now in ruins: and in its neighbourhood are two other villages called Pesé and Zaidé. There are walnut-trees, willows, poplars, elms, and fruit-trees of every description in the highest perfection, with a great profusion of grass.
On this as well as on the other side of Tabriz, the peasants convey their loads on the backs of oxen, on which indeed they frequently ride themselves. At Péréh I saw the first wheeled-carriage (excepting gun-carriages) that I had noticed in Persia. It was exactly similar to the Turkish Araba. Besides their plough, which I have already described, the Persians have the large rake, which serves as a harrow, and is fastened to a pole and drawn like a plough by yoked oxen: they have another implement of agriculture, which is certainly capable of much improvement. It is a pole fixt transversely on another to which the oxen are yoked; on each of these is a small wooden cylinder about half a foot long: and these insignificant things are dragged as a roller over the ground.
June the 5th. We went from Péréh to Zauviéh in six hours and a half, on a bearing of N. 50 W. which may be twenty-four miles. During the whole of the preceding evening it had rained, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Our ride, therefore, was rendered muddy. From Péréh we entered some mountains of easy access; which, about ten miles before we reached Zauviéh, opened into a plain surrounded like a basin by mountains, on all sides gradually inclining to the centre. On entering the plain, high on the right on the declivity of the mountain, is the village of Selawan; and on the left a small village called Khoré; and on the turn of the road towards it, are two stone lions among some rude and ancient tomb-stones. The greater part of the population of the plain is composed of Armenians. To the West are very high mountains, the tops of which were covered with snow, and their roots, when we passed by, were nearly concealed by the heavy clouds that rested upon them.
The snow was melting, and frequently streams were pouring from the mountains. Yet the difference of the temperature of the air here, and that which we had experienced within a few days, was very sensible; and before sun-rise it was piercingly cold. The plain was cultivated in all parts. The whole of the soil, over which we passed, was of the finest brown mould; so that, excepting some summits of the mountains, the country was one universal carpet of verdure.
We met a large party of the Elauts or wandering tribes, composed mostly of women and children, who were travelling to a fresh encampment. One of the women, who had the care of two children, had dismounted; and the extreme agility with which she got on her horse again, without any other aid than her own hands and feet, shewed how much she was accustomed to this sort of life.
We sent forwards our Mehmandar to desire that tents might be pitched for us, because we had been advised to avoid the village on account of the plague, which sometimes visits these parts. Accordingly we found four tents pitched for us, two of horse-hair, (the real Kara Khader of the Eels), and two white tents, rude enough indeed, but so delightfully situated in the plain, surrounded by corn fields, that we quite revelled in the exchange.
We had not long taken possession of our humble encampment, when a storm of thunder, lightning and hail overwhelmed us, in a manner which completely destroyed all the comfort of our interior arrangements. Hail-stones fell in numbers which entirely filled every corner of our tent, and so large, that measuring one I found it to be an inch in diameter, and so strongly congealed that they lay on the ground undiminished in size, until the sun once more broke out and dissolved them. The hills near us received a new covering of snow, shewing their summits as the storm rolled away, in sublime grandeur. The peasants told us, that this weather was very common to them. Although this was but an ungracious beginning to a pastoral life, yet I must own that to me it still had so many delights compared with the confinement of houses, that with all the present disadvantages I would willingly prefer it to a residence in the towns of Persia. Among its enjoyments is that of its freedom from vermin, from which (particularly fleas) we had hitherto suffered so much; not that the people are singularly dirty, but the creatures are the usual productions of the place and season. A Persian who was conversing with us in our tent, on seeing my servant beating a coat with a cane to clean it of the vermin which it had collected at the former stage, very gravely asked, “Pray what crime has that coat committed, that makes the Frangee beat it so?”
June the 6th. The quantity of rain that had fallen during the course of the day had completely saturated the greatest part of our clothes and baggage, and materially increased the weight of the lading of our mules. Thanks to God, it did not rain in the night; and we slept soundly till about an hour before the break of day, when we quitted our black tents for the village of Cara-ainéh. The distance, on a bearing of N. 20 W. is called five fursungs; but though we were nearly six hours on the road, I shall not reckon it at more than eighteen miles, because we were delayed in our progress by the mud, which the rain and hail had created. We took a turn to the Eastward from our encampment, and came to a village called Iekaftee, on the borders of a mountain torrent swoln and rendered so rapid by the late storms, that two or three of our mules had nearly been carried away by its violence. On the right of the road (at the distance of five miles from our last station) is a spring dammed up, except at an aperture in one of its corners, through which a small quantity of water is permitted to ooze out, called in Turkish, Ak-bolagh, or “white spring:” and three miles further, and distant from the road two miles, on the left, is a collection of a few wretched hovels called Kurkendéh, surrounded by cultivated fields. About this spot the road was formerly so infested with the Curdistan robbers, that it was never passed without danger: but since Prince Abbas Mirza has had the government of Aderbigian in his hands, he has so completely expelled the freebooters from their haunts, that no district is now so safe. We traversed a pass formed by the gradual meeting of the roots of the mountains, and then entered an oval plain, extending, on a rough calculation, in length eight miles from N. to S, and three in breadth. The village of Cara-ainéh, our Menzil, is here immediately seen, and is easily marked by a square fort, which, rising from the midst of its miserable huts, appears a palace in comparison. This village is the chief of a Mahalé of the same name, composed of about twenty-one villages, the principal of which are Hiderlou, Nabekandi, Gelish Acha, Sedel, Zaiveh, and Ak-dezeh. From Cara-ainéh there is a road to Van, a distance of fifty miles, on a bearing of S. W.
We had now reached the dregs of Persia. Beyond Khoi and Péréh both the habitations and the people bore an appearance of misery, indicative of a neglected country. This deterioration is probably inseparable from the borders of two states, which are ill-defined as to territory and actual property. None but the Ket Khoda had a decent coat, and all the rest were in tatters and beggary.
The Thaubet of Cara-ainéh had been appointed to his government only the day before our arrival, an excuse which he alleged for his inability to satisfy us in several of our inquiries. His appearance, indeed, bespoke the truth of his apology; for he was dressed from head to foot in new clothes, new cap, new coat, new slippers; doubtless to impress his peasantry with a sense of his superiority. We had rain all the day, and almost incessant thunder and lightning. The tract over which we passed, though generally of admirable soil, was for the greater part waste. We saw, however, immense flocks, some perhaps of one thousand sheep, grazing in the fat pastures on the declivities and in the recesses of the mountains; and large herds also of mares with their foals. These were the property of the Elauts: the mares belonging to the King are kept in Mazanderan, which is said to afford the finest pasture of his dominions. Their foals are thence distributed to the troops as they may be wanted. The Guardian or Controller of these Royal herds is an officer of considerable consequence, and is selected always from men of rank and importance in the state. He is called Elkhee-chee or Master of the Mares, and resides at Asterabad, where he holds his office, registering every foal as it falls. He has subordinate agents, entrusted severally with the charge of twenty mares, and with the choice of their pastures, besides the inferior grooms who tend the animals daily. The foals are not backed until they have completed their third year.
7th. The morning was darkened by clouds which covered the whole sky; the thickest resting on the tops of the mountains, and extending themselves in some parts nearly to the bases. We quitted our wretched habitation at Cara-ainéh, to pace a miserable road; the bottom of which, always wet and deep, was rendered still more impracticable by a shower of rain that overtook us, soon after we had quitted the village. Almost at the extremity of the plain is a swamp; on the surface of the waters of which were innumerable flocks of ducks and other wild-fowl. We noticed two cranes stepping away before us at a great pace, and hiding their legs from us by letting fall their tails. The soil was rich almost beyond calculation, and afforded the finest pastures. We crossed the village of Ak-dezeh, and then leaving the plain, wound through the vallies which were formed by the Western mountains. The whole country was watered by numerous torrents; on the borders of one we spread as our breakfast, the scanty remains of our yesterday’s meal; which, in such a spot however, would have been a real treat to the lovers of romance. The scene indeed, alone, consoled us for our bad fare at Cara-ainéh. A stupendous mass of rock rose perpendicularly over our heads; and at our feet foamed and roared the torrent, while the whole view was enriched by the verdure of the distant landscape, and enlivened by the chirping of innumerable birds. About twelve miles from Cara-ainéh are several hills; the declivities of which are strewed with large masses of black rock, evidently from their weight and their calcined appearance, full of metal. The whole seems to be volcanic matter.
After quitting these hills we came into the plain, at the extremity of which is situated Agajik, a miserable Armenian village, about the same size as our former stage. We were six hours and a half in travelling the distance, twenty-two miles, on a bearing of N. 20 W. In the centre of the plain a caravan, from Oroumi, was grazing its mules: the driver of it told us, that he had been eight days on the journey, at the rate of four agatch a day, making a total of about one hundred miles. Here the distances are measured by the agatch, which corresponds exactly to the sahat or hour. The village consisted of huts, surrounding an old square fort on a hill. Our lodging was a covered building, in the roof of which were two small holes to admit light; and in the interior of which a square of twenty feet was parted off by a wall three feet high, for the residence of the master, while the remainder was reserved for his cattle. The costume of the people was changing fast; and the black sheep-skin cap of Persia was scarcely seen.
The day was overspread with clouds till near sun-set, when it cleared away a little to the Northward, and shewed us the sublime and venerable mountain of Ararat. It bore N. 10 E. of our station, and presented a stupendous mass to our view. The Persians told me that it was eight hours distance from us; and added many a story of its wonders. Such as—that no one, who attempted to ascend it, ever returned; and that one hundred men who had been sent from Arz-roum by the Pacha, to effect the undertaking, all died. The Armenian priest assured me, with a very grave face, that the ark was still there. There is a smaller mountain on the same range, bearing N. 30 E. which is called by the Turks, Cochuk Agri-dagh, as the larger Ararat is called Agri-dagh. Ararat is the Macis of the Armenians. The sources of the Euphrates are twelve hours from Agajik, in a direction of N. 50 W. by the peasant’s pointing. The Armenians told me that they had a Zeeauret, or place of devotion, at the sources called Wes Kionk.
8th. We left Agajik with five men, who, according to the custom, accompanied us out of their frontier into the Turkish territory. At about two miles and a half from Agajik is another Armenian village, called Kilsé, from the ruins of a church (Ecclesia), which forms a conspicuous object among its mean huts, being well-built with a fine white stone, with arched doors and windows. Even in its ruins, however, the present poor inhabitants still contrive to keep up a place of worship within the interior.
About three miles and a half N. 30 W. from Agajik, are the boundaries of the Persian and Turkish territories marked by a ruined tower, situated in the centre of a valley.
As we were feeding our horses, the person whom we had sent to Bayazid (to intimate our approach to the locum-tenens of Ibrahim Pacha, who was himself on an excursion against the Courds) returned, and told us that the Acting-governor would not receive us into the city, nor give us a passage near it; alleging as a reason, that his master the Pacha had left strict orders, that during his absence no strangers, and particularly no Persians, should be admitted. This unexpected news staggered us at first, but at length we determined to send one of the Mirza’s own men to exert the influence of his master’s station in our favour. We proceeded, following our messenger: the road took a turn to N. 30 E. and shewed us once again in a much larger exposure than before the stupendous Ararat. It is indeed a sublime and almost terrific object. It rises from an immense variety of lands; and is covered with snow, and almost always surrounded with clouds.
We stopt at a small Armenian village called Kerdek, (on the left of the road, one fursung from Bayazid,) to await the return of our second messenger. We did not tarry long, when he appeared, though only to confirm the report of his predecessor. The Turks would not suffer him even alone to enter the city; for as soon as he approached, they fired a musket or two, to convince him that their resistance would not be confined to threats; and when he endeavoured to come to a parley, they answered him only with ill language and abuse. We determined therefore immediately upon taking a circuit to avoid Bayazid, and seeking Ibrahim Pacha himself, from whom we expected a handsome reception; as the Persians represented him to me as a vassal of their Prince Abbas Mirza, fearing Him rather than his own sovereign. Our road to day averaged N. 10 W. a distance of ten miles; the same bearing indeed may be extended to Bayazid, on a further distance of four miles. Bayazid, as I learned in its neighbourhood, is situated close at the foot of Mount Ararat: it is peopled principally by Armenians. On a hill about it, is a castle, which by its defenders is said to be strong; they are very jealous however of the curiosity of a Persian.
9th. Three men, whom we anxiously expected from Prince Abbas Mirza to accompany us to Constantinople, joined us on the evening of the 8th; and so far therefore our delay at this miserable village was convenient. We gave them just time to feed their horses; and then, about an hour before sun-set, resumed our march to take up our quarters for the night on the bank of a little running stream; the rich pastures, through which the waters flowed, refreshed our cattle, but we ourselves were obliged to pass the night in the open field with a heavy dew falling, yet, thank God, with a fine clear sky. During the course of the night a Turk arrived from Bayazid to say, that he was sent by the Kiayah to be our Mehmandar to the presence of his master; adding, indeed, that the Vice-Governor regretted the misunderstanding on which he had acted, for he had been told that we were followed by a large body of horsemen. On further questioning the Turk we found, that the wife of Ibrahim Pacha (hearing that there was an Elchee, an Embassador, without the town, and that admittance had been refused to him) made loud remonstrances to the Kiayah on the impropriety of his conduct, and interceded so far in our behalf that he sent us these excuses. Though we were ill satisfied with the conduct of this person, we thought it better not to reject the attendance of the officer whom he had deputed to escort us, as we were among a wild and unmanageable people.
We travelled an hour and a half, in one of the clearest and most beautiful mornings that the heavens ever produced; and passing on our left the two villages of Dizzéh and Kizzil Dizzéh, we came to an opening of a small plain covered with the black tents and cattle of the Elauts. Here also we had a view of Mount Ararat; the clouds no longer rested on its summit, but circled round it below. We went to the largest tent in the plain, and there enjoyed an opportunity of learning that the hospitality of these people is not exaggerated. As soon as it was announced at the tent that strangers were coming, every thing was in motion: some carried our horses to the best pastures, others spread carpets for us, one was dispatched to the flock to bring a fat lamb, the women immediately made preparation for cooking, and we had not sat long before two large dishes of stewed lamb, with several basins of yaourt, were placed before us. The senior of the tribe, an old man (by his own account indeed more than eighty-five years of age) dressed in his best clothes, came out to us, and welcomed us to his tent with such kindness, yet with such respect, that his sincerity could not be mistaken. He was still full of activity and fire, although he had lost all his teeth, and his beard was as white as the snow on the venerable mountain near his tent. The simplicity of his manners and the interesting scenery around reminded me, in the strongest colours of the life of the patriarchs: and more immediately of Him whose history is inseparable from the mountains of Ararat. Nothing indeed could accord better with the spot than the figure of our ancient host. His people were a part of the tribe of Jelalee, and their principal seat was Erivan; but they ranged through the country:
We quitted our hospitable friends, (who appeared to be almost more grateful for our visit than we for their kindness), and passed along the plain. Mount Ararat bore N. 40 E. and extended itself completely to our view. Its N. W. ascent is not so rapid as its S. E. and I should conceive that in this quarter it might be possible to ascend it. In six hours and a half, after leaving our last encampment, we reached Diadin. It is a large village with a fort and towers; under which, in a deep channel of perpendicular rock, runs the eastern Euphrates, there a shallow stream about twenty feet in breadth. It rises about four agatch or twelve miles from Diadin, on a bearing of S. 50 W. by the direction of a man’s hand; and in the country is called the Frat; the name assumed at Arz-roum, by the Western stream.
At Diadin we were not permitted to go near their miserable castle. The houses of the place are built of mud and stones, and the rooms are calculated to lodge the animals as well as the family. A small compartment only is reserved for the master; and in general the rest of the space is left for his cattle. We did not, indeed, enter their habitations, for every door was shut against us; and when, by great management, we had secured shelter for ourselves, our people, and our cattle, we found equal difficulty in procuring food. Abdulla Pacha, a rebel Courd, with whom Ibrahim Pacha was at open war, had in fact carried away all the flocks, and destroyed all the crops of this village. We could not therefore expect an easy supply of corn for our horses; but after much intreaty a little was produced, for which indeed we paid an amazing price. A piece of barley bread was delivered to each man; and the masters, by a very marked favour, were supplied with a mess of eggs and a basin of yaourt.
The houses for the Conaks or reception of strangers, here as in all other places in Turkey were regularly defined; but when the Mirza and I were entering that appropriated to ourselves, we were received at the door by a woman, who, with her face totally uncovered, boldly bad defiance to the Conak-chee, and (with the most threatening looks, and with all the volubility of her sex,) swore that nobody should enter her dwelling. However, by a little negociation we pacified our hostess, and were at length admitted into her stable, where we spread our carpets and composed ourselves to sleep. The women here barely cover their faces; and, as we afterwards learnt, are notorious for depravity: they appear very healthy. The men are as wild as savages, and seem to be under no law. Independently of their own immediate distresses, one of the reasons for their inhospitality to Persians is very natural; several Embassadors had been sent to Constantinople, and since that time every traveller, who had two or three attendants, assumed the same dignity. The discovery of the fraud has necessarily roused the caution of the Turks.
10th. We were nine hours on the road to Youngali, called nine agatch, and which I calculated at thirty-two miles on a bearing of N. 65 W. The Euphrates accompanied us all the way through a country of grass, but of little cultivation. Four miles after leaving Diadin we passed the village of Jugan, about a mile and a half on our left: then four miles further, still on the left and on the other bank of the Euphrates, Utch Klissé. Here a high and snow-covered mountain called Kussé Dagh appears in view; and (extending to the S. and W.) the range of Ala-Dagh. In the village is an Armenian Church, a very respectable looking building, much resembling an European structure. It has two wings with a shelving roof, and is covered by a small dome built of stone, apparently not in much decay.
At the termination of that branch of the mountain near which Utch Klissé stands, there is a stone bridge thrown over the Euphrates. We continued by the bank of the river, which winds from E. to W. creating verdure on each side as it flows. We passed through a village now in ruins called Alakou; and on the slope of the hill (three miles on the left of the road) that of Comoulja; another called Belasou, is close on the banks of the river; and, about eight miles further, having passed the miserable huts at Cadi Kieu, we reached after a very sultry ride, our Conak at Youngali. All these villages are in the Mahalé of Alashgerd.
When we had been about an hour on our road, I missed a small carpet from my baggage, and sent back therefore my servant to reclaim it from our host at Diadin. From the looks which he cast at our goods, I had frequently suspected his honesty, but I might have spared my suspicions and my trouble; for I received nothing but oaths. Near to Utch Klissé, we met the battering train of Ibrahim Pacha, which consisted of two field pieces, returning from the siege of Turpa Caléh, the castle of Timur Beg, who had revolted from his authority. We learned that after a siege of five months, in which the Pacha had fired his guns one hundred and fifty times at the town and castle, he had succeeded in killing one fowl and one dog.
Ibrahim Pacha, who was at another village three miles from Youngali, sent his Haznadar or treasurer to escort us to our lodging. The misery here was even greater than that of the preceding day. No corn for our horses, nor even grass without hard blows. The whole of the country was in a state of absolute devastation from the incursions of the Courds; and our course presented nothing but difficulties, for Ibrahim Pacha was at war with all the country round. He professed indeed to respect the firman of Abbas Mirza, and when we sent him that with which we had been furnished, he immediately carried it to his head, saying that he was the Princes servant in all things; and that there was nothing which he would not willingly do to serve him. We never fared worse, however, than at this village. The people that surrounded us bore the looks of savages, and their general behaviour corresponded with their appearance.
To the South of Youngali, as I was told at the place, lies Van; and to the S. W. the large Mahalé of Kensus.
11th. We left Youngali, dissatisfied with our host: the Persians indeed were miserable with the scanty hospitality which they received at his village. When we were left by the two officers, who escorted us to their master’s frontier, we were advised not to go near Turpa Caléh, as we should undoubtedly be molested. Yet the situation, in which this war of the rival chiefs had placed us, was so difficult, that we incurred equal hazard either in passing the castle of Timur Beg, without offering our respects, or in venturing near it after coming from the domains of his enemy. We determined therefore to state our story simply, and throw ourselves on his hospitality. We crossed a most beautiful plain covered with villages, and watered by numerous streams. We forded three considerable torrents, which poured from the N. mountains, and, swoln by the melting snows, threw themselves into the Euphrates, which was flowing at the Southern extremity of the plain from E. to W. Three miles from Youngali we came to Cara-Klissé, a large village peopled by Courds and Armenians; and then made a circuit to the N. to avoid a swampy road in the centre of the plain. We passed through several villages, the inhabitants of which seeing the numbers of our company mistook us for one of the fighting parties, and crowded on the tops of their houses at our approach. Of these places, the principal were named Datté Tapé, Kesick, and Arnat.
Turpa Caléh is situated N. 60 W. from Youngali, on a distance of about fifteen miles or four hours. It is a larger place than any that we had seen since Khoi. The town is scattered on the slope of a conical hill, on the top of which is a castle. This the Turks deem impregnable, and with justice, if the failure of the late siege be a criterion, though the fort seems in every part accessible to cannon. The high mountain of Kussé Dagh overlooks the town and attracts continual clouds over it. We proceeded warily; and, about a mile before we reached the place, halted and sent forwards a man to reconnoitre the appearance and dispositions of the people, and to report on the expediency of our advance. He returned with the intelligence that we had nothing to fear; and we directed our course therefore to the Conac or dwelling of the Kiayah, the chief officer of Timur Beg. Here we dismounted, and were introduced immediately into a dark room, where twenty torpid Turks were indulging themselves in the quiet delights of smoking. The Kiayah sat in the corner, but rose when the Mirza entered; and, having said the usual “Khosh gueldin” (you are welcome,) closed his lips and left his guest to display the compliments and insinuative flattery so natural to his nation. The loquaciousness and vivacity of the Persian formed an inimitable contrast with the dull and heavy laconism of the Turk.
When we had smoked and drunk coffee, a man came to inform us that Timur Beg was ready to receive us. The Mirza and I immediately proceeded, leaving the rest of our party with the Kiayah. We ascended to the castle by a steep and difficult path, and entered it by a large iron door. We were introduced into a spacious room at the summit. The Chief (attended by all his principal warriors gravely seated around) occupied a window commanding an extensive view of the country over which we had travelled, and more particularly the district of his rival, the Pacha. When we also were seated, and the usual compliments had passed, the Mirza begun a prepared speech unfolding our condition, announcing that we threw ourselves at his mercy, asking the rights of hospitality from him, and intermixing throughout some very severe invective against his enemy the Pacha. The mode succeeded: and Timur Beg instantly replied, that we had nothing to fear; that under his protection we were safe; that our necessities should be supplied, and that his officers should receive orders to treat us with distinction and kindness at a neighbouring village; for he hoped, as the only favour that he required of us, that we would not sojourn in his castle for that night.
When these preliminaries were settled, I had time to observe that there was much to admire in our host. He was about forty years of age, with a singularly open and manly countenance, and with manners the most graceful and dignified. He related his own history and his differences with Ibrahim Pacha in language so simple, yet so expressive, that we acquired a deep interest in his fate; particularly, when he expatiated on the Pacha’s tyranny and inordinate rapaciousness, and on the misery in which his exactions had involved all the peasantry of the district. During the course however of his conversation with the Mirza, I remarked one of his observations which was very characteristic of a semi-barbarous society. He inquired who I was? and being informed that I was of the Sect of Isau (Jesus), or, in other words, a Christian, he continued (with a look of pity, having observed that I had refused a pipe), “These fellows, I hear, have neither pipes nor tobacco in their country: haivan dar, they are beasts:” as if to say, assuming that we did not possess the knowledge or the means of their favourite enjoyment, “how far inferior to us must those be who cannot smoke.”
Our host kept strictly to his word: we were sent forwards four miles further to the promised village of Molah Suleiman, escorted by two of his officers; and supplied with all that the place could afford, a sheep, fowls, and rice for ourselves, and corn for our horses.
12th. We passed over a mountainous tract of country from Molah Suleiman to Deli-baba, a distance which we travelled in ten hours, and which I reckoned at thirty-five miles, on a bearing of N. 30 W. as well as the intricacies of the turns would permit me to observe. Before we entered the mountains, (when we had travelled about three miles, and just above the little village of Zadiéh,) I had the parting view of Mount Ararat, which bore from us N. 80 E. We were told that the road was much infested by the Courds, particularly at a pass in the mountains called Gerdina, and we placed ourselves therefore in a posture of defence. But we traversed the whole extent without seeing a human being, till we reached Dahar, a village of Courds in the mountains twenty miles from Molah Suleiman. We then proceeded winding in a variety of directions, with a scorching sun over our heads, to the entrance of a pass which, through two stupendous rocks, leads into the plain of Deli-baba. This pass might be made an admirable military position, and in its present state is a most picturesque object. A stream from the mountains runs through it: on the left is a rock three hundred feet perpendicular, and on the other side is another of less height, but pierced with three holes, as if it were by the hand of man.
On entering the plain we saw numbers of peasants with their arabahs or carts. They told us they had fled from their village in the fear of Abdulla Aga, who, from his station near Erivan, makes predatory excursions all over the country. They added that Deli-baba was totally depopulated; however we did not believe them, and proceeded. We found indeed a very bad reception, for the inhabitants mistook us for enemies, collected together at our approach, refused us admittance, and fired several muskets at us. At length the chief of the village came out to meet us, and we agreed to establish ourselves at a distance, feed our cattle, and depart. The fear of Abdulla Aga created such a distrust, that we were avoided by every one whom we met; and even when any permitted us to approach, all our assurances were insufficient to inspire them with confidence. Although we offered great prices for the necessaries of our supply, the people would hardly sell a single article; and the few pieces of bread and eggs which formed our meal at Deli-baba were not procured without the greatest difficulty.
Although the country is in a terrible state of disturbance, caravans travel freely on the road. We met a large one which had been eight days from Arz-roum. Our mule-driver happened to kill a serpent; he cut it immediately in two pieces, and threw the parts on different sides, saying, “It is a lucky sign, our enemies will not overcome us.”
The soil over which we passed was admirably rich, and the most delightful spring reigned on the tops of the mountains, where we culled nosegays of a thousand hues; yet the snow lay in several places, and covered the fetlocks of our horses, while close to it rose every flower.
13th. We quitted the village of Deli-baba early in the morning, having passed a night full of anxiety and watchfulness in the open fields; as we were told that we were not safe, and might probably be attacked, though nothing, thank God, disturbed us. We proceeded on a bearing of West to Amra Kieu, a village prettily situated at the utmost extremity of a plain, and surrounded by some trees, (in our later course a very scarce object) the willow and the plane. We crossed a beautiful country cultivated in most parts, and considering the extreme misery of the inhabitants themselves, looking very prosperous. The spring was here in its first burst, and the corn was scarcely a span high: the fields were no longer watered by dikes as in Persia, for the nature of the seasons and of the country render unnecessary any artificial means of irrigation. The hills to the Northward of the plain, through which we passed, rise in a gentle acclivity, and to our view displayed habitations and culture; but as we met no person on the road, I could not learn the names of the villages in various parts. At two hours, (seven miles,) from Deli-baba, and about a mile from the road, is Batman Kieu, situated in the bosom of a valley delightfully watered and cultivated. The houses of Amra Kieu, our resting place, are built with the fir tree, and their roofs are formed by rafters of wood, geometrically placed, which are afterwards covered with earth, and constitute a strong dome. This is a better construction than any that we had lately observed. Small two-wheeled carts, to which oxen are yoked, are used here by the peasantry. The sheep are very fine, with large tails and good wool.
14th. We went from Amra Kieu, due West towards Alwar, ten miles. Three miles after quitting Amra Kieu, we came to the banks of the Araxes; which enters the plain from the mountains near Yaghan, a large village situated about three miles from the road. The stream flows here from N. 65 E. to S. 30 W. It takes its rise in the Mahalé of Khunus; and where it issues from the ground is called Bin Gieul, or a thousand springs. In its course it closely follows the mountains which we had left at the extremity of the plain. Little irrigation is drawn from it through the neighbouring territory. We crossed it over a very well-built stone bridge of seven arches; by the measurement of which the river was about one hundred and sixty paces in breadth. Just at this point a stream flows into it from the Westward, taking its course close to Hassan Caléh. Immediately on passing the bridge we came to a village called Kupré Kieu, and then continued on a fine road, and through a delightful plain strewed with villages, distant in general two or three miles from each other. The principal of these are Arsunjéh, on the left, and Gumec and Miagen, on the right of the road. All the plain was well cultivated; and the peasants were here sowing their corn. We passed by Hassan Caléh, a large town situated around a hill; on the summit is an old fortification, the curious walls of which are chequered with the embrasures of former times. We crossed the stream by the town, over a bridge of two arches. Close to the bridge is a bath built over a spring, the heat of which is almost that of scalding water: yet when we looked in, several men were up to their chins in it. The basin is about thirty feet in diameter, and is enclosed by an old structure. Several other springs of the same temperature adjoin it.
We had procured a man from the Governor (Cazi) of Hassan Caléh, to conduct us to Alwar, but the Aga of that place positively refused to admit us or to lodge us, and added in direct terms that he did not care for Cazi, Pacha, or any one else, and that we might go any where we chose; if at least we did not disturb Him. After vollies of abuse on both sides, we were content as before to take up our quarters in the open fields, under the shade of a tree, that luckily was situated near the village, and saved us from an ardent sun. Here we saw geese for the first time.
Whilst seated under the tree, vowing vengeance on the Aga of Alwar, (having dispatched a man to the Governor of Arz-roum to state our case), we were visited by a respectable, yet sly-looking Turk, who came quietly and settled himself on our carpet. He begun by telling us that he was a yoljee (a traveller) like ourselves; and inquired what made us so angry. We broke out into every species of invective against the Aga of the village, who had obliged us to remain like our horses and mules, under a tree, refusing us the most common offices of hospitality; and added, that we had in consequence sent a messenger to the Governor of Arz-roum to complain of the affront, hoping at the same time that the inhospitable Aga would either lose his head, or at least get a severe bastinado. We had some suspicion that the personage to whom we were talking was the very Aga himself, and were therefore less scrupulous in our abuse. This suspicion proved true: our visitor begun by taking the Aga’s part, saying that the country was in a great state of alarm, and that the people feared to receive into their towns so many strangers, and particularly Persians, and finished in his own person by intreating us not to write to the Governor of Arz-roum. He went away accordingly in some fright, and allowed us to get provisions from his village, a permission which he had not granted before.
We spent the night, however, in the open air, and in the fear of rain: much, indeed, was falling on all sides of us with thunder and lightning.