Wood was dear in the market. The inhabitants had to trust to their tezek, the dried excrement of cows, bulls, and oxen. The town is in the form of a pentagon. Its appearance from afar off has been compared by a traveller to a ship of enormous size, raised by the waves and thrown into a neglected bay. The mainmast is an old tower which stands out conspicuously amidst the mud-built houses.
Formerly there used to be a great trade between this town and Persia. All the caravans going from the latter country to Trebizond pass through Erzeroum, and halt a few days to dispose of some merchandise. Of late years, a great deal of the Persian trade has found its way viâ Khoi and Erivan to Tiflis. The caravans between Persia and Erzeroum are not so numerous as they were some eighteen years ago. Two per cent. duty is charged upon all merchandise going from Erzeroum to Persia, and eight per cent. upon imported goods. Any article manufactured in Erzeroum, and sent out of the town without being marked with the Government stamp, as a sign that it has paid the duty, is liable to be confiscated.
The following morning I was awoke by Ismail Pacha's head servant. It was bitterly cold. He proceeded to make a little fire in the stove. From time to time he looked at me in an excited manner, then he would blow the fire. There was evidently something on his mind.
"What is it?" I inquired. "Have the Russians arrived?"
"No, Effendi, but the Pacha has hanged himself! that is all!"
"Not Ismail Pacha?" I exclaimed, at once thinking of my hospitable old host.
"No, Effendi, not Ismail, but a military Pacha—a young man, only forty. Woe is me! He has hanged himself; our Pacha has gone to his house, with all the other Pachas. The body is quite cold; if the Effendi were to go there, perhaps he might bring it to life again."
"I am not a Hakim," I said.
"Yes, Effendi, you are. Mohammed has told me that you have some medicine."
"Nonsense! But what made the Pacha hang himself?"