We passed the village of Ger, and on the Eastward of the plain we saw the village of Kizziljay. The whole country around was enlivened by people employed in the works of agriculture. On entering the hills we found their declivities on all sides beautifully wooded with firs, pine, oak bushes, and a variety of thorns, with every shrub common to a Northern climate. All the mountains which we had passed were of easy access, and of no difficult ascent or descent. About twelve miles from Chiflik there is in ruins, a small circular building of stone, which is probably a Turkish tomb.
We rested for the night at Caraja, though the proper Menzil Khonéh is three hours distance, at a place called Sheyran, which gives name to a district, or Mahalé, containing this and between thirty and forty other villages. Our horses were collected from the individual villagers; for the regular establishments were broken up about a month before our arrival, by the disturbances in the country. From Caraja to Gumuck Khonéh (a large town) is twelve hours, and thence to Trebisond ten hours, on a general bearing throughout the whole distance of N. Arsinghan is a considerable town, twenty-four hours S. from Caraja. The corn fields in all this region are fenced off with rails, made of the trunks of pine trees; and here and there the boundaries of each man’s territory are marked by large stones; a greater evidence of property, and consequently of prosperity, than we had seen any where. On our road to-day we saw a great number of juniper bushes with very fine berries upon them.
In our passage through the woods we met three Tatars going in great haste to Arz-roum, bearing to Emin Aga the news of his having been created a Pacha. They told us that they had then been seven days from Constantinople. Their errand is called carrying the Mudjdéh, which is merely a verbal notification of the appointment, and which very frequently proves false; for the Tatar who is the bearer of it generally gets it from the Capi Kiayah or Hommes d’Affaires of the great man in the province, and then takes the chance of the news proving false afterwards. As soon as the Tatar arrives, he is carried immediately into the presence of the person whose new dignity he announces, and simply informs him of his promotion. If the news which he brings prove correct, he receives perhaps one thousand piastres, and the succeeding Tatars (for there are frequently twenty who set off on similar expeditions) get sums in proportion to their early or tardy arrival. The person indeed who on these occasions secures the highest prize, is generally he who brings the pelisse of office, which is the common mode of investiture in Turkey. On the present occasion we were told by the Tatars that the pelisse was actually on the road.
The Aga or Governor of Caraja was a Turk of a very fierce appearance, but of a behaviour more agreeable than his looks. He accommodated us with the upper part of his own house, an open room looking over a beautiful plain, and in the evening treated us with a dinner. The greatest and best ingredient of the entertainment was a large lamb roasted whole; round this were seated twelve persons, mostly the farmers of the place, among whom however I could distinguish the Imaum, or parish priest, and the Hodja or schoolmaster. All these gentlemen arrived with very good appetites to the feast; for no sooner were they seated and the lamb placed before them, than every one had his right hand in the dish at once, tearing off as large pieces from the animal, as his strength and dexterity would admit. This species of attack did not finish, until there remained nothing but the bare bones of the lamb; when every man very deliberately retired to smoke his pipe in a corner of the sofa, and to drink a cup of coffee, that was then handed round to each of the guests. Although such a meal may be repugnant to the delicacy of those, who have been accustomed to a civilized mode of eating, yet there was a species of wild and generous hospitality in the manners of these people, that I could not help admiring; and a few ingredients of which would add extremely to the delights of a modern table.
27th. We proceeded from Caraja, and halted at the distance of twenty miles, on a bearing of N. 60 W. Our station was on the banks of a stream in a beautiful valley, and we reached it through a country, which (almost above that of the preceding march) was finely wooded, and in the intervals among the mountains richly cultivated. Among the forests the pines were of an uncommon size. Whilst we were eating our dinner under a tree, a heavy storm of thunder and lightning and rain, from the Westward, came over us. In this situation we were joined by a Persian who was coming post from Constantinople. He was of the suite of Asker Khan, the Persian Embassador at Paris, and unburthened himself of a volume of news to us. He soon convinced me that he had gained some knowledge in France by saying, “Les dames de Paris sont bien jolies.” The storm continued with little intermission till near midnight. Some sought shelter among the rocks; others covered themselves with carpets, horse cloths, or any thing which they could seize for the purpose, whilst others, and I among the rest, sought refuge in a neighbouring water-mill, half in ruins, where we made a large fire and defended ourselves as well as we could from the pelting of the storm. I passed the night in the trough of the mill.
28th. We again continued our route on a general bearing of W. to Carahissar, a distance called eight hours, but which we performed even in ten hours with difficulty, from the extreme debility of our cattle. The road measurement may be thirty miles. The whole country, through which we passed, presented the luxuries of a garden, with the grandeur of a forest. Flowers of all hues embellished the slopes of the rich pasturage, and embalmed the air with their aromatic odours. I never saw spring so luxuriant, so exuberant, as it was in these regions. At the bottom of every valley invariably runs a stream, the progress of which is marked by the trees and by the fertility which borders it, and which accompanies it in all its windings. The soil is of a fine red earth; and when occasionally turned up by the plough, breaks the monotony of the universal verdure that now covers the country, and contrasts admirably with the splendid brilliancy of its tints. The corn on the summit of the mountain was about a foot high, but in the valley was much more advanced. The great cultivation consists in barley, besides many fields of rye, the latter indeed in many places grows wild, and indiscriminately with other plants. Wheat does not appear to be one of the necessaries of the inhabitants, for almost all the bread which we ate was made of barley. Great numbers of pear-trees border the road, with pines of a form most picturesque, and presented often in the most striking views. The pencils of an hundred artists would not accomplish in as many years the task of delineating all the landscapes which this country affords. The inhabitants are as well adapted for the painter as their country, and would add a new interest to the charms of the picture.
On reaching the eminence of Carahissar a splendid panorama opens. The various masses that erect themselves in an infinity of curious forms suggest forcibly the wild convulsion of nature which had thrown them in their present disorder. To the North is a large mass of mountain of a rude outline, and a tint which indicates the mineral below: this joins a stupendous chain of rock which, taking a turn to the Westward, is terminated by the great isolated height of Carahissar. On the extreme summit of this is the castle, a small fort rendered tenable by its position. There are houses also on the top to which a ziz-zag road leads. The remainder of the surface is also inlaid with walls, which, as seen from below, appear more ancient than the main building. The town of Carahissar is spread about on the declivity. At the distance of about two miles from the place, and at the bottom of the valley, formed by the steeps of the great mountains, flows a torrent from the N. E.: the waters of which foam through a bed of rocks and loose stones, and spread through the cultivation around Carahissar. We passed on a bridge of one arch: the bases of the arch are of stone built on two projecting rocks, and the superstructure is of wood. Immediately after passing the bridge is a fountain, and near it a garden, from which we got some of the finest cherries that I ever eat. From this spot the rock of Carahissar was singularly striking.
Proceeding further, we entered the great tract of cultivation and gardens, more immediately surrounding the town, and certainly constituting one of the finest spots which I can recollect in Turkey, or indeed in any other country. Plane trees, poplars, fruit trees of every denomination in the thickest profusion, intermixed with corn fields, and enlivened by the murmuring of a thousand streams, formed the fore-ground of the view. We came to a second torrent which flows through the gardens with great precipitation and noise, and adds its waters to the first. The heat was that of summer; the corn had lost its green tints, and was ripening into yellow. Such was the difference of our elevation since the preceding day: our descent to Carahissar indeed had been gradual for nearly four hours.
The houses are terraced, and are built of all materials, mud, bricks, stone, and wood. There is a custom-house: the town is administered by a Musselim under the jurisdiction of Arz-roum. The place has two mosques, and two baths: one of the former is a good structure with a dome covered with lead. In the vicinity are many villages: among others to the South, are Gezliché, Yaiché, Sayit and Soucher.
Scarcely a fortnight before our arrival the town and the adjacent country had been in a state of great disturbance; a party of Janizaries inimical to Jussuf Pacha (now (1809) the Grand Vizir, who had lately governed the district) set fire to a large house which he had built at Carahissar, and the whole, with an immense property which it contained, was totally consumed.