The Köshmür Dagh effects a junction with the mountains of the Dersim; and it would almost seem as if that region had refused to submit to the folding pressure, causing the earth waves to work round it and, like the plateau of Azerbaijan, on the east of Armenia, favouring fracture rather than subordination in any complete sense to the general structural laws.[8] Yet I cannot doubt that the Dersim should be included within the limits of the country which forms the subject of the present enquiry. The name appears to be applied more strictly to the mountainous region lying to the east of the upper reaches of the Muzur Su, between that river and the town of Kighi Kasaba. But it may be used to embrace also the country to the south of the Merjan-Muzur Dagh, as far west as the great bend of the Western Euphrates and up to the right bank of the Murad on the south. Separated from the important Turkish military station at Erzinjan by a range of mountains covered with snow during six months in the year, it slopes gradually towards the river on its southern confines, well wooded in many parts, abounding in minerals, but broken and rugged especially in the northern and eastern districts. The original home of an Armenian population, who probably entered their historical seats from the west, it is dotted over with the ruins of Armenian churches, monasteries and villages, and is mainly but sparsely inhabited by Kizilbash Kurds.[9] The natural boundary between Armenia and Asia Minor is the course of the Western Euphrates between the town of Kemakh, the burial-place of the Armenian Arsakid kings, and its passage through Taurus below Keban-Maden. North of the Euphrates the line may be drawn in a more or less arbitrary manner from above Egin to the mountains of the northern peripheral region.
The boundary of Taurus is clearly defined from one end of Armenia to the other, describing a symmetrical curve along the threshold of the Armenian highlands, and affording a number of standpoints whence the contrast may be appreciated between the plateau country and the peripheral mountains. A string of great plains extend on its inner or northern side, but plains quite different in character from the lowlands about Diarbekr, and framed in a landscape never wanting in the long-drawn outlines of the loftier levels. The plain of Kharput, with an altitude of something over 3000 feet, commences the series on the west. It is reached from the west and the south by a number of easy approaches, the Tauric barrier being readily surmountable in this neighbourhood. The town is built upon a hill, not far south of the Murad, on the northern confines of the plain; and the old castle overlooks the expanse at a difference in level of about 1000 feet. Various estimates assign a population of from 13,000 to 25,000 souls to this ancient Armenian borough; and, although the Armenians are in great minority in the city, they have a large preponderance among the inhabitants of the surrounding region. It has been estimated that not less than from 130 to 150 villages are situated in the vicinity. The vine flourishes and is cultivated at this moderate elevation; and the dwellings are for the most part constructed of mud and brick with two storeys, in striking contrast to the unhealthy underground burrows in which the peasantry cheat the rigour of an Armenian winter over the greater portion of the area of the tableland. Pear and plum trees grace the outskirts of the settlements, and the mulberry grows in such profusion that the silk crop is often of considerable value. Kharput has become a centre of American missionary effort—on the whole a salutary and civilising influence in these lands. Their educational activities are represented by a well-equipped institution founded in 1876 and bearing the name of Armenia College. Thither flock the Armenian youth from all parts of the country, to grow up beneath the example of the most progressive of Western peoples. Within recent years the value of that example has somewhat diminished in their eyes, owing to the impunity with which the organisers of Palace policy in Constantinople have applied the torch to the property of American citizens and the ban of the censor to the loftiest creations of Western literature. These are little misunderstandings which will disappear.
A fairly level country extends from the territory of Kharput eastwards to the confines of Palu. The Murad wanders in many channels over the expanse, approached at an interval which is always diminishing by the Tauric barrier. The river is forded to the right bank before the castled rock is reached, past which it flows in a single stream. It washes on three sides the steep declivities of the platform upon which the town is built. Palu is described to me as a thriving borough with about 2000 houses, which gives a population of from 10,000 to 12,000 souls. Six hundred are said to belong to Armenian families and the remainder to Kurdish people. A bridge with eight arches and a length of 190 yards connects the place, just to the east of the loop described by the river, with the opposite or left bank. On the north extends a plain in connection with that of Kharput and productive of abundant crops. Rock chambers and a cuneiform inscription of the Vannic king, Menuas, recording his conquests and emblazoned with the name of Khaldis, his supreme god, remind the traveller that he is already approaching the centres of that old civilisation which existed before the Armenians, and was perhaps the highest that these lands have known.[10]
From Palu a fair track leads through Temran into the Khindris plain, and thence to Erzerum. The passage of the Shaitan Dagh into the plain may be effected at different points, but the pass to Lichig has an elevation of over 8000 feet. The Government are proposing to carry their new carriage-road between Kharput and Erzerum through the gorge of the Kighi Su. Two routes are offered between Palu and the next great plain at the foot of Taurus, comprised within the territory of Chabakchur. The upper route proceeds through Khoshmat to Chevelik in the valley of the Gunek Su, crossing a mountainous region and attaining elevations of 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea.[11] The lower follows the gorge of the Murad and is more in use during winter, but it is described in no very favourable terms. The narrows commence just east of Palu and extend to Chabakchur. A waterfall brings to an end the navigation of the river, which is conducted with no small difficulties by means of rafts. When at length the plain is reached communications become better; and the valley of the Gunek Su affords an easy approach to Erzerum, though one which would not be agreeable during winter. Between Chabakchur and the plain of Mush the Murad is again confined in a gorge, and its course is still requiring to be explored. A mule track is forthcoming, which keeps close to the river, passing through the district of Genj. I am informed that it would be impossible to convert into a good road. The more usual route is by Menaskut, entering the plain below Surb Karapet after traversing a mountainous but well-wooded country.
One may say in general terms of the extensive region we are now leaving that the pleasant plains along its southern margin are by no means the dominant feature. The territory lying between the two great rivers, the Western and the Eastern Euphrates, which is bounded on the north by the Merjan-Muzur Dagh with its continuation eastwards in the Baghir Dagh, Girdim Dagh and Khach Dagh; and on the east by the westerly edge of the Bingöl plateau and the water-parting from Bingöl to Palandöken, the mountain landmark just south of Erzerum—all this area, measuring some 140 miles from west to east and on the average 50 miles from north to south, is intersected by a sea of mountains, threaded, indeed, by considerable streams, but always difficult and in winter almost impossible to cross. The constant acclivity towards the north, the height of the barrier on its northern confines, and the indifference of the approaches from the east combine to shut it off from the stream of human movement, which is diverted into other channels. We can scarcely understand the history of these countries without appreciating this fact. Be the movement from east to west or from north to south, the main current is sure to eddy along the outskirts of this territory, either pursuing the broad avenue of the valley of the Western Euphrates, or turning aside from the plateau region and flooding across the peripheral mountains into the lowlands of Mesopotamia. As might be expected under such conditions, the country is for the most part under little control. Strange people who are classed as Kurds, but speak a dialect called Zaza, and for the most part profess a liberal religion which holds the scales between Christianity and Islam, compose the bulk of the inhabitants in the mountainous parts. The Government works from the upland plains, of which there are many and of ample extent, and from such centres as Kighi Kasaba and Pülümer. If my reader will turn to my sketch from the hill of Gugoghlan ([Fig. 195], p. 373), he may realise at a glance the rugged nature of this region and the contrast which it offers to the normal surface features. It comprises the ridges in the west and south-west of the panorama; and the Merghuk Su, which meanders towards them, is the name of the head waters of the Kighi Su, issuing in the plains about Kharput. Travellers praise the woodlands which clothe great parts of the country, though they were not visible from the standpoint of my drawing.
The next great plain at the foot of Taurus derives its name from the town of Mush, built against the wall of the range. It extends from north-west to south-east for a distance of over 40 miles, crossed at its lower end by the wandering stream of the Murad, to which it sends a dull and almost stagnant tributary. How clean the line of Taurus stands out on the southern margin of this flat and almost limitless expanse! Under happier human conditions the plain would soon become a garden and granary, favouring the vine and the luscious growth of the tobacco plant as well as all kinds of cereals. At the present day marshes extend over a great part of the area, and the Armenian peasantry—one of the brawniest and most sturdy in the world—have been reduced by the excesses of the Kurds to abject indigence. Mush is in communication at all seasons of the year with the great grain-growing districts of Bulanik and Khinis, and with the plains of Pasin and Erzerum. It is little more than a step—indeed a step in the literal sense—up to the fertile territories on the north of Lake Van. Ready access is always forthcoming through the Bitlis passage to the Mesopotamian lowlands. The Mush plain represents a considerable subsidence of the plateau region, the average elevation being only 4200 feet. Thence you pass across the dam formed by lavas from Nimrud to the much higher level of Lake Van (5637 feet). That inland sea, with the gulf-like extension of the even area up the valley of the Khoshab, the district of Hayotz-dzor, forms the appropriate termination of the string of level spaces outspread at the base of the chain which comes from the Mediterranean during its passage along Armenian soil.
In the companion chapter of the first volume I have endeavoured to suggest the characteristics of the mountains of the northern peripheral region. The corresponding zone upon the south which is occupied by Taurus is distinguished by many similar features. There are the same sharp peaks, precipitous slopes, narrow valleys and swift streams and rivers, composing a landscape which, except for the greater scale of the phenomena, is essentially and constantly alpine in character. Unlike our Alps but like the barrier on the side of the Black Sea, one valley is ever higher than the trough which lies behind it, each crest more lofty than the last, as you journey towards the edge of the tableland whether from the coast of the northern waters or from the alluvial flats which extend to the Persian Gulf. Of moisture there is less among these southern mountains, and we miss the exuberance of the Pontic vegetation. But forests of dwarf oak relieve the sternness of the scenery, and the knots or whorls on the trunks of the numerous walnut trees sustain an industry which attracts the most adventurous of native traders, causes them to sojourn in these wild districts, and enables them to supply the markets of Europe with excellent material for veneering purposes. The summits attain their greatest elevation in the Jelu Dagh, a group of peaks just east of the valley of the Great Zab which are at least as high as 13,000 feet. But by the time the summer is well advanced the landscape is almost free from snow. West of the Zab a labyrinth of valleys feed the long course of the Bohtan Su across the mountainous belt. The barrier has more than trebled in lateral extension since confining the territories of Kharput and Palu. Even the Tigris, which has been idly spreading over the vast alluvial flats about Diarbekr, is compelled to become a mountain stream. Above the primeval village of Hasan Keif it enters the narrow gorge which pierces the foot of Taurus as he reaches out into the plains in the hill range of Midyat. It is in that gorge that the Bohtan effects the confluence; and well I remember the roar of the tributary and the genuflexions of my companions as the swirling water eddied around our raft. The Tigris is henceforward a noble river at all seasons, and when Jezireh is soon passed its brief activity is over and it luxuriates in open spaces till reaching the Gulf.
All this alpine country between the edge of the tableland and the plains of Mesopotamia, which is watered by the numerous constituents of the Tigris, is the original and natural home of the Kurdish people, the true Kurdistan or Kurd-land. These shepherds love the mountains as the Arabs affect the plains; but they need the warm plains during the winter season when their fastnesses are covered with snow. They descend to the foot of the chain with their numerous flocks and herds, and camp on the lower course of some southward-flowing tributary or even upon the banks of the great river. The winter climate of the lowlands is temperate and delicious; the long Kurd with his loose limbs, hollow cheeks and beak nose meets the neat and nimble Arab. The coarse but perky little highland horse is watered from the same flood to which the Arab leads the graceful creature prized beyond all other possessions, of skin like satin, limbs like ivory, and head which is the supreme embodiment of high courage, docility and intelligence. The noiseless raft surprises a group of Kurdish women bathing quite nude upon the margin of the sandy bed. A man is watching over them, and they seem without concern. Two specks are descried upon the bosom of the waters; the current brings them nearer; they are swimmers from the opposite bank with the chest supported on an inflated skin. Within a few yards of your calek they emerge upon the bank, Arab maidens who would delight a sculptor with their slim forms resembling deer, and who have never learnt the sin of human nakedness. Slowly they free the air from the buoyant skins, unbind the bundle on their heads containing their loose cotton garment, and make their way to an invisible village or encampment.
When summer comes the annual migration to the recesses of the mountains has taken place, and whatever Kurds are not detained in the lowland villages, which are fairly numerous in spite of the aversion of the tribal Kurd to a life within walls, have already ended their brief sojourn in the country of the Arabs and are stretching their goat-hair tents upon the upland pastures. Streams of cattle, sheep, horses and goats obstruct the passes; the shepherds have doffed their felt cloaks and clamber over the boulders, their women beside them, mounted or on foot. The glades and gorges become bright with red and blue cottons, and Kurdish girls with comely faces and white ankles are seen on the mountain paths. Long-drawn shouts are carried far across the hiss of the torrents, and wurra, wurra! or ho, ho! announce the locality of the speaker or awake the attention of callous ears. The Kurd is a picturesque and welcome presence among these solitudes, and it is only when he has been severed from his natural surroundings that he becomes odious and an enemy of the human race.
Of the principal communications across Taurus with the tableland of Armenia I have already glanced at those connecting Diarbekr with Kharput and Erzerum through Arghana, and with Erzerum through Haini. The latter is a direct and, in spite of the great elevation of the country which it traverses between the plain of Altun and the northern capital, nevertheless a promising route. Mush plain may be reached from Diarbekr by way of Kulp and the Gozme Gedik Pass (6645 feet). But between this approach and the Bitlis passage the country is ill-controlled, nor am I aware of any favourable and beaten tracks. The Bitlis passage represents the main avenue between the lowlands and the country about Lake Van (Ch. VI. p. 148); from Diarbekr it is entered by way of Zokh and from Mosul through Sert. I shall not stay to discuss the various more or less direct routes across the mountains between Sert and the city of Van; nor can I speak from personal knowledge or even conjecture of those which conduct to Van from Jezireh-ibn-Omar, or from Mosul by the valley of the Great Zab.[12] The entire region to the south and south-east of the great lake—Khizan, Mukus, Shatakh, Nurduz—has been scoured in recent years by various travellers whose experiences have not to my knowledge as yet appeared in print.[13] I should now propose to dismiss this part of my subject, dealing with the zones of peripheral mountains and the intermediate lines of elevation upon the surface of the tableland which they enclose; and to bring under review some of the remaining features characteristic of the Armenian highlands in their westerly extension from the spine of the Ararat system to the confines of Asia Minor.