[85] Sayce, No. V. It is an inscription of Ispuinis and Menuas, and is known locally as Meher Kapusi (the gate of Meher, derivation unknown) or Choban Kapusi (the shepherd’s gate; so called from a shepherd to whom the “Open Sesame” of the treasure-house, which the slab is supposed to seal, is said to have been revealed in sleep. He entered; but forgot the talisman, and never returned). [↑]
[86] Since I have mentioned the name of Daniel Vardapet it is only just that I should add that he stated to me that the press had been hired. [↑]
[87] The inside dimensions of this chapel are: extreme length from recess to recess, 38 feel 7 inches, and extreme breadth, 30 feet. [↑]
[88] See Vol. I. Ch. XVI. p. 237. [↑]
[89] The statement of Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 409) that the church is a modern edifice is scarcely correct, and is quite erroneous if it be taken to include the inner sanctuary or chapel. [↑]
CHAPTER V
FROM VAN TO BITLIS
The journey from Van to Bitlis may be performed in four days; it is a ride of about a hundred miles. But no traveller will desire to omit a visit to the isle of Akhtamar, which will occupy another day. Nor is it well to press in haste through a country of such manifold interest, and along a coast which for beauty of feature and grandeur of surroundings can scarcely have an equal in the world. It was at Van that, for the first time since setting foot upon Armenian soil, we had been introduced to a civilisation in any sense comparable to the scale and dignity of the landscapes through which we passed; and, although the monuments of that vanished culture belong to a remote antiquity, they are well calculated to divert our minds from the contemplation of the works of Nature, or at least to recall us to a sense of the power of man. The spirit of that race of iron which held in check the Assyrians still lingers over the scene of their exploits. You leave the ancient city with an added element of interest in a country which was the home of so great a people, and which still retains the memorial of their sway. But that country was also the centre of a mediæval kingdom, the contemporary and sometimes the rival of the dynasty which has left us Ani as an example of their craft and taste; and, such is the concern of the modern Armenian in the history of his nation, that long before you will reach Van you will be familiar with the name and arms of the kingdom of Vaspurakan.[1] It was therefore with curiosity that we set out upon our journey, and with regret that we were obliged by the season to narrow the sphere of our wanderings to the regular stages of our prescribed route to Erzerum.[2]
At a little before noon on the 16th of November we mounted our horses in the court of the American Mission, whither we had proceeded to take leave of our friends. We passed by the church of Arakh, and emerged from the zone of gardens upon the surface of the bare plain. The usual stoppages in connection with the baggage, which seldom fails to begin by slipping from the horse’s back to beneath his girth, enabled us to fill our eyes with the vision of the bay and beauteous city which we might never contemplate again ([Fig. 138]). We had purchased two new horses, one for the dragoman and the other to carry our effects. You require a good animal for the last of these purposes, who will trot along by himself. But throughout our journey we experienced the greatest difficulty in obtaining serviceable beasts at any price. Even at Van my choice was narrowed by the various ailments of the other candidates to a sturdy four-year-old who had not known work. This youngster, an iron grey, was no sooner set at large than he set off at full gallop across the plain. His career was cut short by the rapid overthrow of his load, which dragged him panting to the ground. But we trained him to perfection before reaching the northern capital, and I sold him at a profit in Trebizond. Worse fortune attended our second purchase, that of a seasoned horse of milk-white hue. I noticed that he was limping about an hour out of Van; and, to my surprise, when I came to examine him closer, he proved to be an ingenious substitute for the one I had bought. The colour was the same, and also the appearance; but not the points which had influenced my selection, although they would not appeal to the dragoman’s eye. The knave of an Armenian who had concluded the sale with me had abstracted his former property from my stable, and had put in his place this unsound hack. I sent him back in charge of the zaptieh with a letter to Mr. Devey; but I do not know whether our Consul ever recovered my stolen steed. He most kindly sent me on a fine horse of his own, which reached us safely at Vostan. Such are the tricks of these subtle Armenians, whom long centuries of oppression have ingrained with every kind of turpitude. As we rode along this shore, one regretted God’s covenant, that He would be patient with the hopeless race of man. To overwhelm them in these waters and people afresh the scene of their crimes, would, it seemed to us, be the kindest and wisest plan.