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.
Mount Ararat.
Drawn by James Morier Esqr.
Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row, May 1, 1811.
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.