On the 17th we visited the Governor. He treated us with the usual civilities of the occasion in Turkey, pipes, coffees, sweetmeats and sherbet, for which we paid dearly by the numerous backshishes or vails that are given in such circumstances. Emin Aga, who then filled the station and was Musselim of the town, was also Gumruckchee or Collector of the Customs, an office which in Persia is confined to very inferior persons, and which therefore drew upon the Commandant of Arz-roum, who unluckily bore it, the laughter and contempt of the Persians. Yet when he invited us all to dinner, they were not the less anxious to make their best appearance before him. Throughout the day, the Persian Envoy was occupied with the arrangement of his clothes; he consulted every one of his servants on the suit which might become him best, and at length fixed on a fine gold-brocade coat.
On the 20th we went accordingly to the entertainment. After smoking and drinking coffee, the Aga called for dinner. Water for the preliminary ablution was first brought, when I observed that the Turks washed both their hands, and the Persians the right only. The servants who brought the basin and ewer were attended by two others: one who spread a towel on the knees, and another who was ready to take it away, and replace it by a second for the hands. After this an octagonal stool two feet and a half high was placed in a corner of the sopha, on which was put a large round pewter tray carved all over in various fashions. On this were placed piles of bread all around, onions, endive, and basins of yaourt, milk, and plates of cheese, with two wooden spoons at intervals for the guests. When all was ready our host said, “booyouroun,” or “you are served,” and we approached the table. When seated each guest was attended by a page, who threw a large napkin with gold-embroidered borders over each shoulder, and arranged another on our knees; an apparatus not unlike that of the preliminary service of shaving. A small cloth was placed in the centre of the tray, on which stood the dish. First, in a glass vase, came a species of sweet soup which was not unpalatable; then a lamb roasted, stuffed with rice and almonds; then stewed pears, then a stew of mutton, then sweet jelly; in short, there was a succession of at least one hundred dishes, consisting generally of an intermediate sweet article between the meats, besides pastry to each. The master of the entertainment said, “Booyouroun,” when it was brought in, and “Calder,” or “take away,” when we had eat two or three mouthfuls, and scarce any other words but these two were heard during the whole feast. Servants attended behind each guest, with a vase of lemonade or sherbet. The dishes were not, in general, badly cooked, although much coarser than those of Persia. The whole was closed by an immense pillau. The principal dishes were the yakné, which resembles our Irish stew; the dolmah, meat balls enclosed in vine leaves; the kabob, which is roast meat; the chorbah, or soup; the baklavah, a cake of honey, paste, and other sweet ingredients; the lokmah, a light paste puff; and the pillau, which is nothing but rice intermixed now and then with plums, almonds, and always well peppered and spiced. When all was over we washed our hands with soap and hot water, smoked, drank coffee, and went away, and were dunned as usual for backshishes on departing.
A strange character joined us at Arz-roum; he was a native of Bosnia, and took the opportunity of our escort to reach Constantinople. He seemed to fear the wild inhabitants of the country through which we had to pass, and wore accordingly a coat of mail under his clothes, and a burnished helmet on his head, and was armed with two heavy rifle guns, a pair of pistols, a long kunjur, and a sword, besides a variety of powder flasks, &c. which, altogether, made him weigh thirty stone.
On the 21st we left Arz-roum, and proceeded across the plain to Ilija, a distance of five miles only, on a bearing of N. 80 West. The plain is covered with villages: I counted thirty on one part, and the cultivation is proportioned to the population. The season was advancing: in some places the corn was a foot from the ground, and there was besides much fine pasture.
Close to the village we crossed a bridge over a nice stream, there called the Kara Sou, which flows in this quarter from E. to W. and according to the information which I procured on this spot, finally flows into the Euphrates. On comparing, however, my authorities and my observations, I suspect that it is itself larger than its confluent stream, and deserves therefore to be considered as the primary river. Its sources are in the mountains at Suzdan, about nine miles from Arz-roum; and it meets another river at Serchembéh. The sources of the Tigris are said to be at a village called Nehel, near Gever, a place ten fursungs from Oroumi.
At Ilija are warm springs, two of which are enclosed within walls, for the separate use of men and women. Large parties had collected from Arz-roum to bathe here, and had pitched their tents among the rocks to pass the night. During the night an alarm was given in the village, that a number of Delhis (who have been called the “Enfans perdus” of the Turkish army,) had taken up their quarters among us, and that every one must in consequence look to his own property. Perhaps there were not two hundred of these desperadoes, yet they had given more trouble to the Government of Arz-roum than an army of ten thousand men could excite in any European country. They commit with impunity every act of cruelty and extortion; no one dares to reprimand or to punish them; and a few days before our rencounter with them, they chose to be dissatisfied with the conduct of the Governor of Arz-roum, and informed him that they intended to desert. To pacify them, therefore, he was obliged to send them loads of victuals. We passed the night, however, without disturbance, and fared well indeed, by the kindness of the Armenians of the village. From this place Southward to Bin Gieul,[42] the sources of the Araxes is five sahat (hours) Turkish. The villages nearest our road were Gez, Belour, Arouni.
22d. Our route to Purtun bore W. on a distance of twenty miles. From Ilija to the right and left, the country was still as on the preceding day, studded with villages, and still richly cultivated. But it is almost destitute of timber; a few bushes and small trees only are sprinkled here and there over the hills; and the great number of Arabahs which we met loaded with wood had been all brought from a distance. About six miles on the right is the village of Alaga, and on the left Arranli. Having proceeded five miles from our last stage we stopped at Jennis, a very pretty spot, where the Armenians brought us a breakfast of eggs, fritters, yaourt (curdled milk), and kymack (clouted cream). On leaving Jennis, the village Nardiran lies at the declivity of the hill. We quitted here the road to the right, which would have carried us to Ak Caléh, the regular Menzil Khonéh, and took a bye-path, because a pass in the mountains along the direct line was possessed by a party of Courdistan freebooters. We reached Purtun about four miles S. from Ak Caléh, and sent thither for the horses (fifteen in number,) which were necessary to convey us forwards. Our resting place was a small village in the bosom of the mountains, near a pretty stream which fell in a cascade (almost under the roots of three picturesque trees in the middle of the water), and turned a mill below. At about twelve o’clock the clouds arose from the S. E. and brought thunder, hail, and rain; a circumstance which I had remarked almost every day at the same hour since our arrival at Arz-roum. The weather then cleared up towards the close of the evening, and a fine morning with an almost cloudless sky opened the following day.
On the 23d, we left Purtun; and retraced the route of the preceding day for two miles and a half, when we took a general Westerly direction for twenty-four miles. Our road was carried through a long chain of mountains, in a line of easy access, though the surface was rendered difficult by the mud which the rains had made. The whole soil was an admirably rich earth, producing the greatest luxuriance of grass, wild herbs, and flowers. Here and there the country begun to be wooded; and to be intersected by a great profusion of streams; and in one particular view (about two miles from our stage) displayed the most romantic scenery with fine wild precipices washed by the waters below, and shaded by shrubs and pine trees. The neighbouring district however, in consequence of the depredations of the Delhis, and the recent incursions of the Courds, was entirely unpeopled; and we learnt that the village of Mama Khatoun, at which we intended to take up our quarters for the night, was in the same manner deserted.
From the eminence above we enjoyed a beautiful prospect; a river, swoln by the rains and melted snows, poured from the mountains on the S. E. and meandered at the foot of two stupendous rocks; and the large buildings from which the place derived its name, were below us. They are close to the village, and consist of a caravanserai, a mosque, a bath, and a tomb, all constructed with a fine white free stone, and finished in a manner worthy of the best ages. The caravanserai, in the usual shape of such buildings, is a hollow square, with a gate to the East. Round the court are built small rooms, all arched in the most solid and magnificent style. There are also two vaulted chambers, each fifty yards long by forty broad, for the accommodation of the cattle of travellers. In the middle of the square is an arched chamber, erected probably as a cool retreat in summer. Though many parts of the building are falling into ruin, the caravanserai may be considered generally in very good preservation. The mosque is situated to the right. It is entered by a small court yard, from which a vaulted Peristyle leads under the dome, into the principal chamber, where is a stone pulpit. Though the dome is covered with weeds, and though of the single minaret the upper part has fallen, the main structure is still entire; and its fine materials, and its admirable masonry, are very strikingly and advantageously opposed to the more modern works of the country. Close to the caravanserai is the bath, and on the other side the remains of a building; the use of which I could not ascertain. Nearly facing the caravanserai, is a kind of small round temple, probably a tomb, enclosed by a circular wall, which is entered by a gate way of Saracenic architecture. On the exterior of the arch is an inscription in Cufic. The small building inside is covered by a shelving roof, of the same construction as many of the buildings at Arz-roum. The interior is arched, and carved in a variety of ornaments, and under it is a subterraneous chamber. The court is full of fragments, which may perhaps suggest the supposition, that the whole was originally covered. Around are many tomb-stones, inscribed with Cufic characters.
The popular story of the erection of those different buildings is as follows: a wealthy Turk fell in love with an Armenian woman of this village, but as she doubted the extent of his affections, she required as a proof before she yielded her consent to marry him, that he should build a caravanserai, mosque, &c. at the place of her birth. The Turk immediately accepted the conditions; and, proving that his love was equal to his wealth, raised these structures, and called them by her name, Mama Khatoun. The people add, that a treasure is concealed in a part of the caravanserai; which, according to an inscription, is destined for the reconstruction of the whole, after the decay of the present buildings. In one of the corners of the caravanserai we luckily found a stray calf, of which we took possession, and of which the Persians, in disregard of their scruples and distaste of ox-flesh, eat with great appetite.