LETTER XXXV

TREBIZOND, _Dec. 13, 1890_.

The journey from Erzerum to Trebizond in the winter season occupies from ten to twelve days, and involves a transition from an altitude of 6000 feet to the sea-level, and from treelessness, aridity, and severities of cold to forests and moisture, a temperate climate, and the exquisite greenness of the slopes which descend upon the Black Sea. There is a well-made waggon road, carefully engineered, for the whole distance, with stone bridges in excellent repair; many of the _khans_ are tolerable, supplies can be procured, and the country is passably safe.

I left Erzerum on the 2d of December, escorted by my kindly hosts as far as Elijeh, having an Armenian _katirgi_, who in every respect gave me the greatest satisfaction, and the same servants as before. The mercury fell rapidly the following night, was 2° below zero when I left Elijeh for Ashkala the next morning, and never rose above 15° during the whole day. The road follows the western branch of the Euphrates, the Frat, a reedy and winding stream. The horsemen and foot passengers were mostly muffled up in heavy cloaks with peaked hoods, and the white comforters which wrapped up their faces revealed only one eye, peering curiously out of a cavern of icicles. Icicles hung from the noses and bodies of the horses, it was not possible to ride more than half an hour at a time without being benumbed, and the snow was very deep for walking. After crossing the Euphrates twice by substantial stone bridges, I halted at Ashkala, a village of _khans_, at a clean but unfinished _khan_ on the bank of the river, and in a room with unglazed windows and no possibility of making a fire experienced a temperature of 5° below zero. My dinner froze before I could finish it, the stock of potatoes for the journey, though wrapped in a fur cloak inside my _yekdan_, was totally spoilt, and my ink froze. The following day was cloudy and inclined to snow rather than frost, and the crossing of the much-dreaded Kop Dagh was managed without difficulty in five hours, in snow three feet deep. There is a refuge near the summit, but there are no habitations on the ascent or descent. It is a most dangerous pass, owing to the suddenness and fury of the storms, and only last winter sixty fine camels and ten drivers perished there in a blizzard. My _zaptieh_ was left behind ill at the refuge, and I made the remainder of the journey without an escort. The Kop Dagh, 7500 feet in altitude, forms the watershed between the Euphrates valley and the Black Sea, and on such an afternoon as that on which I crossed it, when wild storms swept over successive mountain ranges, and yet wilder gleams lighted up the sinuous depression which marks the course of the Frat, the view from its lofty summit is a very striking one.

It was dark when I reached the very miserable hamlet on the western side of the Kop, and as earlier caravans had taken up the better accommodation, I had to content myself with a recess opening out of a camel stable. The camels sat in circles of ten, and pleasant family parties they looked, gossiping over their chopped straw, which, with a ball of barley-meal dough in the morning, constitutes their slender but sufficient diet. Nothing gives a grander idea of the magnitude and ramifications of commerce than the traffic on the road from Erzerum to Trebizond. During eleven days there has scarcely been a time when there has not been a caravan in sight, and indeed they succeed each other in a nearly endless procession, the majority being composed of stately mountain camels, gaily caparisoned, carrying large musical bells, their head-stalls of crimson leather being profusely tasselled and elaborately decorated with cowries and blue beads. The leader of each caravan wears a magnificent head-dress covering his head and neck, on which embroidery is lavishly used in combination with tinsel and coloured glass, the whole being surmounted by a crown with a plume set between the ears. There is one driver to every six animals; and these men, fine, robust, sturdy fellows, are all dressed alike, in strong warm clothing, the chief feature of which is a great brown sheepskin cap of mushroom shape, which projects at least nine inches from the head. The road is a highway for British goods. The bales and packing cases are almost invariably marked with British names and trade marks. The exception is Russian kerosene, carried by asses and horses, of which an enormous quantity was on the road.

I was glad to leave Kop Khané at daybreak, for caravan bells jingled, chimed, tolled, and pealed all night, and my neighbours the camels were under weigh at 3 A.M. The road descends gently down the wide valley of the Tchoruk, the ancient Acampsis, and then ascends to Baiburt, a town with a population of about 12,000 souls, 1800 being Christians. It is very picturesquely situated at the junction of two or three valleys, the houses rise irregularly as at Bitlis tier above tier, and the resemblance is heightened by a great reddish-yellow rock which rises in the centre, the long and varied contour of which is followed by the walls of a fortress imposing even in its ruins, round and square towers cresting the remarkable eminence. A handsome military college on a height, wide streets lined by well-built houses with projecting upper stories, and well-supplied and busy markets, in which an enormous quantity of mutton is exposed for sale, are among the chief features of this very striking town. A domiciliary visit from a courteous chief of police, who assured me that an escort was not needed, and re-sealed my passports, was my only contact with Turkish officialism between Erzerum and Trebizond.

After leaving Baiburt I diverged a little, in spite of very deep snow, to visit the ruined Armenian ecclesiastical edifices at Varzahan, a village from which a mountain road to Trebizond passing near the Greek monastery of Sumelas branches from the main road. The most interesting and best-preserved of these buildings is an octagonal chapel of a very elaborate design, with remains of a circle of slender shafts, a very fine west window, round arches, and some curious designs in fresco. In another a pointed arch, and a fragment of a blind arcade with niches on its outer face, remain, along with some very carefully-executed cable and twisted moulding. It was truly refreshing to come upon such very beautiful relics of Christian art in so wild a country. These edifices are attributed to the eleventh or twelfth century. In an ancient and adjacent cemetery there are several monumental stone rams, very much like the stone lions of the Bakhtiari country.

I quite broke down on that march, and was obliged to bribe the Turkish occupants of a most miserable hovel to vacate it for me, and on the following day was only able to ride three hours to Getchid. The sky was grim and threatening, and the snow deep, and when after a long ascent we descended into a really magnificent defile, so narrow that for a long distance the whole roadway is blasted out of the rock, a violent snowstorm came on, with heavy gusts of wind. There were high mountains with a few trees upon them dimly seen, walling in the wildest and most rugged part of the defile, where some stables offered a shelter, and I was glad to be allowed to occupy the wood house, a damp excavation in the mountain side! No words can convey an impression of the roughness of Asia Minor travelling in winter!

It was lonely, for the stable where the servants were was a short distance off, and the _khanji_ came several times to adjure me to keep the bolt of the door fastened, for his barley was in my keeping, and there was a gang of robbers on the road! I fell asleep, however, but was awakened at midnight by yells, shouts, tramplings, and a most violent shaking of my very insecure door. It was the Turkish post, who, being unable to get into the stable, was trying to bring his tired horses into my den for a little rest! Fine fellows these Turkish mail riders are, who carry the weekly mail from Trebizond into the interior. The post drives two horses loaded with the mail bags in front of him at a gallop, urging them with yells and his heavy whip, the _zaptieh_ escort galloping behind, and at this pace they dash up and down mountains and over plains by day and night, changing at short intervals, and are only behind time in the very worst of weather.

Snow fell heavily all night, and until late in the afternoon of the following day, but we started soon after seven, and plodded steadily along in an atmosphere of mystery, through intricate defiles, among lofty mountains half-seen, strange sounds half-heard, vanishing ravines and momentary glimpses of villages on heights, fortress-crowned precipices, suggestive of the days of Genoese supremacy, as in the magnificent gorge of Kala, and long strings of camels magnified in the snow-mist, to the Kala village, with its dashing torrent, its fine walnut trees, and its immense camel stables, in and outside of which 700 camels were taking shelter from the storm. We pushed on, however, during that day and the next, through the beautiful and populous Gumushkhané valley to Kupru Bridge, having descended almost steadily for five days.

The narrow valley of the Kharshut is magnificent, and on the second day the snow was only lying on the heights. The traveller is seldom out of sight of houses, which are built on every possible projection above the river, and on narrow spurs in wild lateral ravines, and wherever there are houses there are walnut, pear, apple and apricot trees, with smooth green sward below, and the walnut branches often meet over the road. The houses are mostly large, often whitewashed, always brown-roofed, and much like Swiss _châlets_, but without the long slopes of verdure which make Switzerland so fair. Instead of verdure there is the wildest rock and mountain scenery, a congeries of rock-walls, precipices, and pinnacles, and the semblance of minarets and fortresses, flaming red, or burnt sienna, or yellow ochre, intermingled with bold fronts of crimson and pale blue rock, the crimson cliffs looking in the rain as if torrents of blood were pouring over them. The roadway has been both blasted out of the rock and built up from the river. Far up picturesque ravines oxen were ploughing the red friable soil on heights which looked inaccessible; there was the velvety greenness of winter wheat; scrub oak and barberry find root-hold in rocky rifts, and among crags high up among the glittering snows contorted junipers struggle for a precarious existence.

The road was enlivened by local as well as through traffic, and brightened by the varied costumes of Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Lazes. The latter do not resemble the Turks in physiognomy or costume. All of them carry rifles and sabres, and two daggers in their girdles, one of which always has a cloven hilt. They are on their way to their native province of Lazistan with droves of horses, and are much dreaded by both the _katirgis_ and _khanjis_ on the road for their marauding habits. The Turkish Government has a very difficult task in ruling and pacifying the number of races which it has subjugated even in Asiatic Turkey. Between the Arabs of the Chaldæan Plains and the Lazes of the shores of the Black Sea I have met even in my limited travels with Sabeans, Jews, Armenians, Syrians, Yezidis, Kurds, Osmanlis, Circassians, and Greeks, alien and antagonistic in creed and race, but somehow held together and to some extent governed by a power which is, I think, by no means so feeble as she is sometimes supposed to be.

The Kharshut is crossed at Kupru Bridge by a very fine stone arch. This village, at the foot of the Zigana Mountain, is entirely composed of inferior _khans_, food shops, and smiths' shops. The clang of hammers lasted late into the night, for the road was reported as "icy," and more than 400 horses and mules were having their shoes roughed for the passage of the Zigana Mountain. I arrived late in the evening, when all the _khans_ were full, and had to put up in a hovel, the door of which was twice attempted during the night by a band of Lazes, about whose proceedings Stephan, my _katirgi_, had been very suspicious. After the servants and _katirgis_, roused by my whistle, had rushed out of an opposite stable upon the marauders, I lay awake for some time trying to realise that my ride of 2500 miles was nearly at an end, and that European civilisation was only five days off; but it was in vain. I felt as if I should _always_ be sleeping in stables or dark dens, _always_ uttering the call to "boot and saddle" two hours before daylight, _always_ crawling along mountain roads on a woolly horse, _always_ planning marches, _always_ studying Asiatic character, and _always_ sinking deeper into barbarism!

From the summit of the Zigana Mountain to Trebizond is a steady descent of twelve hours. The ascent from Kupru Bridge occupied five hours and a half. It was a much more serious affair than crossing the Kop Dagh, for the snowstorm had lasted for three days, the snow was from four to nine feet deep on the summit, and the thawing of its surface at the lower altitudes, succeeded by keen frost, had resulted in the production of slopes of ice, over which I had to walk for two hours, as _Boy_ could scarcely keep on his feet.

The early snow has a witchery of its own, and it may be that the Zigana Mountain and the views from it are not so beautiful as I think them, but under the circumstances in which I saw them, I was astonished with the magnificence of the scenery, and with the vast pine forests which clothe the mountain sides. Villages of _châlets_, with irregular balconies, and steep roofs projecting from two to six feet, are perched on rocky heights, or nestle among walnuts with a blue background of pines, above which tower spires and peaks of unsullied snow; ridges rise into fantastic forms and mimicries of minarets and castles; pines, filling gigantic ravines with their blue gloom, stand sentinels over torrents silenced for the winter; and colossal heights and colossal depths, an uplifted snow world of ceaseless surprises under a blue sky full of light, make one fancy oneself in Switzerland, till a long train of decorated camels or a turbaned party of armed travellers dissipates the dream.

The last hour of the ascent was very severe. The wind was strong and keen, and the drifting snow buffeted us unmercifully. The mercury fell to 3° below zero, and the cold was intense. Murphy complained of "trembles" in his knees and severe pain in his legs, and when we reached the summit was really ill. The drift was not only blinding and stinging but suffocating. I was quite breathless, and felt a chill round my heart. I could not even see _Boy's_ neck, and he cowered from the blast; but just as all things were obliterated I found myself being helped to dismount in the shelter of a camel stable full of Lazes, but was so benumbed that I could not stand. Some _zaptiehs_ had the humanity to offer me the shelter of a hovel nearly buried in the snow, and made a fire and some coffee, and I waited there till the wind moderated. It came in such fierce gusts as actually to blow two of the baggage horses over on their sides. Murphy was really ill of fever for two days from the cold and exposure. The altitude of the pass is about 6627 feet.

The first part of the descent was made on foot, for the snow had drifted on the road to a height of fully twenty feet, leaving only a path of shelving ice on the brink of a precipitous slope. Earlier in the day twenty laden camels had gone over, and were heaped in the ravine below, not all dead. The road dips with some suddenness into a deep glen, dark with pine and beech forests; large rhododendrons and the _Azalea pontica_ forming a dense undergrowth. Long gray lichen hung from the branches, Christmas roses and premature primroses bloomed in sheltered places, the familiar polypody and the _Asplenium adiantum nigrum_ filled every crevice, soft green moss draped the rocks, there was a delicious smell of damp autumn leaves, and when we reached the Greek village of Hamzikeuy clouds were rolling heavily up the valley from the not far distant ocean.

The two days which followed were easy and pleasant, through a prosperous and peopled valley brightened by the rushing waters of the Surmel, the ancient Pyxites. Orchards and tillage beautify the lower slopes of the mountains, the road is excellent, the homesteads are in good repair, the people are bright and cheery-looking, and Greek villages with prominent churches on elevated spurs add an element of Christian civilisation to the landscape. The exceeding beauty of natural forests, of soft green sward starred with the straw-coloured blossoms of the greater hellebore, of abounding ferns and trailers, of "the earth bringing forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the tree yielding fruit after his kind," of prosperous villages with cheerful many-windowed houses and red-tiled deep-eaved roofs, can only be fully appreciated by the traveller who has toiled over the burning wastes of Persia with their mud villages and mud ruins, and across the bleak mountains and monotonous plateaux of the Armenian highlands, with their ant-hill dwellings, and their poverty-stricken population for ever ravaged by the Kurd.

"Tilled with a pencil," carefully weeded, and abundantly manured, the country looks like a garden. The industrious Greek population thrives under the rule of the Osmanlis. Travellers on foot and on horseback abound, and _khans_ and _cafés_ succeed each other rapidly. When the long descent alongside of the Surmel was accomplished, the scenery gradually became tamer, and the look of civilisation more emphasised. The grass was if possible greener, the blossoming hellebore more abundant, detached balconied houses with their barns and outhouses evidenced the security of the country, the heat-loving fig began to find a place in the orchards, the funereal cypress appeared in its fitting position among graves, and there was a briny odour in the air, but, unfortunately for the traveller, the admirable engineering of the modern waggon road deprives him of that magnificent view of the ocean from a height which has wrung from many a wanderer since the days of the Ten Thousand the joyful exclamation, "_Thalatta! Thalatta!_"

The valley opened, there was a low grassy hill, beyond it, broad yellow sands on which the "stormy Euxine" thundered in long creamy surges, and creeping up the sides of a wooded headland, among luxuriant vegetation, the well-built, brightly-coloured, red-roofed houses of the eastern suburb of Trebizond, the ancient Trapezus.[62] It was the journey's end, yet such is the magic charm of Asia that I would willingly have turned back at that moment to the snowy plateaux of Armenia and the savage mountains of Kurdistan.

I. L. B.

FOOTNOTE:

[62] The itineraries will be found in Appendix B.

APPENDIX A

Among the prayers recited by the Hadjis are those with which the pilgrims circle the Kaaba at Mecca, a translation of which was given by Canon Tristram in a delightful paper on Mecca contributed to the _Sunday at Home_ volume for 1883. The following is a specimen:--

"O God, I extend my hands to Thee: great is my longing towards Thee. Accept Thou my supplication, remove my hindrances, pity my humiliation, and mercifully grant me Thy pardon.

"O God, I beg of Thee that faith which shall not fall away, and that certainty which shall not perish, and the good aid of Thy prophet Mohammed--may God bless and preserve him! O God, shade me with Thy shadow in that day when there is no shade but Thy shadow, and cause me to drink from the cup of Thy prophet Mohammed--may God bless him and preserve him!--that pleasant draught after which is no thirst to all eternity."

APPENDIX B

ITINERARIES WITH APPROXIMATE DISTANCES

1 From BAGHDAD to KIRMANSHAH.

Miles Orta Khan 16 Yakobieh 14 Wiyjahea 16 Sheraban 11 Kizil Robat 18 Khanikin 17 Kasr-i-Shirin 16 Sir-i-pul-Zohab 18 Myan Tak 15 Kirrind 14 Harunabad 20 Mahidasht 22 Kirmanshah 14 --- 211

2 From KIRMANSHAH to TIHRAN.[63]

Besitun 22 Sannah 16 Kangawar 21 Phaizalpah 24 Hamilabad 12 Nanej 18 Dizabad 24 Saruk 22 Ahang Garang 12 Siashan 20 Jairud 18 Taj Khatan 14 Kûm 25 Shashgird. 16 Aliabad 24 Husseinabad 28 Tihran 28 --- 344

3 From TIHRAN to ISFAHAN.

Miles Husseinabad 28 Aliabad 28 Shashgird 24 Kûm 16 Passangham 16 Sinsin 24 Kashan 24 Kuhr[=u]d 28 Soh 24 Murchehkhurt 28 Gez 24 Isfahan 16 --- 280

4 From ISFAHAN to BURUJIRD. The actual distance travelled, about 700 miles.

5 From BURUJIRD to HAMADAN.

Deswali 16 Sahmine 13 Daulatabad 12 Jamilabad 22 Mongawi 6 Yalpand 9 Hamadan 8 -- 86

6 From HAMADAN to URMI.

Miles Bahar 8 Kooltapa 24 Gaukhaud 20 Babarashan 20 Bijar 20 Karabulak 16 Jafirabad 16 Takautapa 15½ Geokahaz 16 Sanjud 14 Sain Kala 14½ Kashawar 15 Miandab 21 Amirabad 12 Sujbul[=a]k 16 Mehemetabad 14 Dissa 25 Turkman 12 Urmi 10 --- 309

7 From URMI to VAN.

Hours Anhar 2 Merwana 3½ Marbishu 9 Pirzala 10 Gahgoran 2 Shawutha 8 Kochanes 6 Kotranis 7 Merwanen 10 Khanjarak 9 Van 9 188 Miles.

8 From VAN to BITLIS.

Hours Angugh 4.45 Undzak 8.30 Ghazit 7 Bitlis 8 90 Miles.

9 From BITLIS to ERZERUM.

Gudzag 8 Pikhruz 8 Yangaloo 9 Ghazloo 10 Ama 6.30 Matchetloo 6 Herta 7 Erzerum 5 177 Miles (?)

10 From ERZERUM to TREBIZOND.

Elijeh 3½ Ashkala 7½ Kop Khané 8½ Baiburt 7 ---- Bridge 6½ Getchid 4 Gumush Khané 8 Kupru Bridge 7 Hemizkeuy 8¾ Atli Killessi 8 Trebizond 6

199 Miles by Measurement.

FOOTNOTE:

[63] Probably the distance by this route is over-estimated, as it is the computation of the _charvadars_.

INDEX

A

Ab-i-Arjanak, ii. 77

Ab-i-Baznoi, ii. 59, 70

Ab-i-Bazuft, ii. 15

Ab-i-Burujird, ii. 71, 114

Ab-i-Diz, ii. 71, 113

Ab-i-Khonsar or Abi Kûm, i. 161, 168, 170

Ab-i-Kirrind, i. 93

Ab-i-Mowaz, ii. 18

Ab-i-Nozi, ii. 18

Ab-i-Sefid, ii. 66

Ab-i-Zaz, ii. 94

_Abba_, Arab dress, i. 33

Abdul Azim, i. 178, 189

---- Rahim, i. 99; hospitality, 99; family history, 99; _ménage_, 101, 115; courtesy, 114

Abraham, Deacon, ii. 243

Agha Hassan, i. 99

Ahang Garang, i. 152

Ahwaz, i. 9, 10

Aimarah, i. 16; prison, 17

Akabah-i-Holwan, i. 88

Akhlat, ii. 360; rock chambers, 361; castle, 362; monoliths, 362; _turbehs_ or mausoleums, 362

Akhtamar, Island rock of, ii. 343; Church, 343

Alexander, Dr., ii. 162

Ali-Ilahis, i. 85, 86

Ali-Kuh, ii. 1, 4; wild-flowers, 5; Pass, 5

Aliabad, caravanserai of, i. 172, 226

Amin-es-Sultan, or Prime Minister, i. 176, 203

Amin-i-lewa, ii. 5

Amir-i-Panj, i. 261-266; character, 262; _andarun_, 263; on the education and position of English women, 264

Amirabad, ii. 205

Angugh, ii. 341

Anhar, ii. 261

Arabs, improvement of, i. 11; condition, 20; costume, 33; tattooing, 34

_Arak_, i. 272

Ardal, i. 311, 317, 336; ii. 2; valley, i. 316; castle, 318; _andarun_, 318-322

Ardost, peaks of, ii. 338

Arjanak, ii. 78

Arjul, alpine meadow, i. 349

Armenian houses, i. 37, 270; women, 272; churches, 273-276; pictures, 274; long fasts, 276; superstitions, 277; costume, 278, 364; needle-work, 366; banquet, 367; church, 368; characteristics of, ii. 336; condition, 340; brides, 368; in Kurdistan, 373-377; ruins, 389

Artemid, ii. 341

Ashirets, the, ii. 314

Ashkala, ii. 387

Aslam Khan, ii. 63

Aurugun, i. 370

B

Baba Ali Mountain, ii. 197

B[=a]b[=a] Yadg[=a]r, tomb of, i. 86

Babarashan, ii. 177

B[=a]bis, sect of the, i. 273

Badush, ii. 83

Bagh-i-Washi, i. 301

Baghdad, i. 21; Church Mission at, 24; impressions of, 26; population, 28; bazars, 29; cafés, 30; trade, 30, 43; "Fish of Tobias," 31; bricks, 35; schools at, 36, 37; dispensary, 38; boils, 39

Bahar, ii. 169

Baiburt, ii. 388

Bakhtiari Country, the general description of, i. 286-293; women, 319; hair-dyes, 319; costume, 320; dying man, 322-325; politics, 327; punishments, 329; entertainment, 331; _haram_, 353; marriage customs, 355; _chapi_, national dance, 356; conceit, 357; camping-ground, 371; tents, 372; hospitality, 377; diseases, 379; education, ii. 7; methods of cultivation, 9; paternal tenderness, 21; diet, 22; sensitiveness, 32; poverty, 54; "blood feuds," 55; tribal feuds, 84; tribesmen, 98; burial rites, 99; graveyards, 100; religion, 101-103; men's costume, 106; women's, 107; polygamy, 108; population, 110 _note_; taxation, 111; exports, 111; animals, 117

Baldiji, Moslem village, i. 369

Bani, ii. 267

Barchallah, ii. 286

Basnoi, ii. 67

Basrah, i. 1, 6; climate, 7; date industry, 7; inhabitants, 8

Bawali, ii. 124

Bazuft or Rudbar valley, ii. 10, 13

Beladruz, i. 60

Bell, Colonel S., on Van, ii. 338, 340

Berigun, ii. 23

Berwar-Lata valley, ii. 323

Besitun range, i. 98, 119; village, 121, 122

Bideshk, i. 236

Bihishtabad, the _Mansion of Heaven_, ii. 3

Bijar, ii. 173, 178

Bijilan mountain, ii. 368

Bilar, ii. 323

Bingol Dagh, ii. 370

Bitlis, ii. 341, 350; trade, 351; population, 352; Christian Mission at, 354; school, 355; mineral springs, 359; valley, 349

Blizzards, i. 95, 123, 154, 235; ii. 370

Boka, i. 129

"Boy," a pet horse, ii. 135

Bread-making, Persian, i. 159

Browne, Mr., ii. 284, 317-319

Bruce, Dr., i. 5, 46, 248, 252

---- Mrs., i. 245

Buffaloes, ii. 212

Burujird, town of, ii. 124; "tribute insurrection," 127; population, 130; manufactures, 130; prosperity, 131; plain of, 124

Bushire, i. 1; commerce of, 3

C

Canals, i. 51

Caravan, fate of a, i. 133

Caravans, i. 50; ii. 388; collision of, i. 91, 144

Caravanserai, dirt of a, i. 81-83

Carmelite monks, French, i. 37

Carpets, Persian, i. 109

_Chadar_, i. 17

Chahar Bagh bridge, i. 258

---- Mahals or four districts, i. 308, 361

Chaharta, i. 359

Chaldæan plains, i. 14

Challeh Kuh, peak of, i. 370

Chalonitis, i. 85

Chaman Kushan, plain of, ii. 28

_Chapi_, Bakhtiari dance, i. 356

Charmi village, i. 307

Charzabar Pass, i. 94

Cherri Pass, ii. 13

Cheshmeh-i-Charzabar torrent, i. 95

Chesmeh-i-Gurab, i. 346

---- Zarin, plain of, ii. 24

Chigakhor, i. 348; plain of, 369; patients, 369; "season," 370; fort, 375

Child-life, Persian, i. 218

Chiraz, i. 358

Christian missions at Baghdad, i. 24; at Bitlis, ii. 355; at Erzerum, 382; at Hamadan, 162, result of, 164 _note_; at Julfa, i. 248; at Tihran, 188; at Urmi, ii. 221-234, history of, 226, results, 229; at Van, 335 _note_

"Christians of St. John," i. 17

Cochrane, Dr., ii. 224

Ctesiphon, ruins of, i. 22

Curzon, Mr. G., letter to the _Times_, i. 198; on Julfa, 246

D

Dalonak, peak of, ii. 16

Darkash Warkash, i. 317

Dastagird, i. 60

Dastgird, i. 376

"Date boils," i. 39

---- palms, i. 8

Daulatabad, ii. 140

"David's Fort," i. 86

Dead, mode of carrying, i. 36, 168

Dehnau village, i. 353

Demavend, cone of, i. 176, 240

"Demon wind," the, i. 127

Dervishes, i. 236-238

"Desert," the, i. 48

Deswali, ii. 134

Deveh Boyun, ii. 385

Dilakoff, Yacub, ii. 223 _note_

Dilleh, peak of, ii. 22

Dima, ii. 19, 25

Dinarud river, i. 348

Dissa, ii. 216

Diyalah, i. 51, 60

Diz Arjanak, ii. 82

Diza, ii. 276; reduction of the garrison, 276; first visit to a Turkish official, 277

Dizabad, i. 140; ruins of, 142

Dizful or Bridge of Diz, ii. 71

Drinayi Pass, ii. 275

Duab river, ii. 11

Duashda Imams, i. 343

Dukkani-Daoud or David's shop, i. 85, 87

Dupulan, i. 351; Pass, 352

E

Elam, Upper, ii. 34

Elburz mountains, i. 176, 225

Elijeh, ii. 386

Elwend, Mount, ii. 144

England, native opinions of, i. 19, 73, 171, 198; ii. 7, 79, 128, 199, 272

Erzerum, ii. 381; Christian mission at, 382; trade, 383; "sights," 383; "troubles," 383; Sanassarian College, 385

Esther and Mordecai, tomb of, ii. 153

Etiquette, code of, i. 105

Euphrates, ii. 365, 368

Eyal, hamlet of, ii. 275

Ezra, tomb of, i. 13

F

Faidun, ii. 47

Fao, i. 5

Fath' Ali Shah, i. 170

Fatima, shrine of, i. 167-169; pilgrimages to, 167

Feraghan, plain of, i. 151; carpets, 151; salt lake, 158

Fire-worshippers, i. 194

Fraser, Mr. Baillie, _Travels in Kurdistan_, i. 28

Frat, the, ii. 386

G

Gaberabad, caravanserai of, i. 232

Gahgoran, ii. 282; night alarm, 283

Gal-i-Bard-i-Jamal Pass, ii. 26, 36

Gal-i-Gav Pass, ii. 34, 39

Gamasiab river, i. 123, 125

Gandaman, plain of, i. 361; village, 363

Gardan-i-Cherri, ii. 13, 19

Gardan-i-Gunak, ii. 71

Gardan-i-Rukh, i. 308

Gardan-i-Tak-i-Girreh, i. 88

Gardan-i-Tir-Machi, ii. 188

Gardan-i-Zirreh, i. 313

Garden of Eden, i. 13

Gargunak, ii. 19

Gartak, ii. 45

Gas Khana marsh, i. 301

Gates, language of, i. 271

Gaukhaud, ii. 168, 176

Gawar, plain of, ii. 275; request for teachers, 281

Geog-tapa, ii. 219; church, 243; orphanage, 244

Geokahaz, ii. 188; cleanliness, 192

Getchid, ii. 389

Gez, i. 240, 242

Ghazit village, ii. 346

Ghazloo Pass, ii. 368; village, 369

Gil-i-Shah Pass, ii. 31

Givr, i. 161

Gokun, ii. 41; river, 45

_Gopher_, a, i. 19

Gorab, plateau of, ii. 15; serious incident, 17

Gudzag, ii. 360

Gulabek, i. 183

Gumushkhané valley, ii. 391

Gurab plain, i. 346

Gur[=a]ns, the, i. 86

Guwa river, ii. 49

H

Hadji Hussein, plain of, ii. 203

Haizdar or Haigatsor plain, ii. 332, 341

_Hak[=i]ms_, female, ii. 74; remedies, 74; diseases, 75

Hamadan, ii. 134, 148; ruinous condition, 149; bazars, 150; _namads_ or felts, 151; intemperance, 152; tomb of Esther and Mordecai, 153; tablets, 154; degradation of the Jews, 155; inhabitants, 155, 156; Faith Hubbard school, 160; Medical mission at, 162; visitors, 162; Christian mission at, 164; travelling arrangements, 165

Hamilabad, i. 127, 134; a diseased crowd, 135

Hamrin hills, i. 59

Hamzikeuy, Greek village, ii. 394

Handawan, pass of, ii. 124

Harta village, ii. 378

Harunabad, i. 94

Hashal river, ii. 341

Hassan-Kaleh, fortress of, ii. 381

Hassan Khan, ruined fort, i. 123

Hesso Khan, a Kurdish chief, ii. 264; costume, 265

Holiwar valley, ii. 95, 104

Holwan, i. 63, 81, 85

Horses, Arab, i. 118.

---- Bakhtiari, ii. 117

---- Persian, i. 190; clothing, 185; ii. 136; food, 137

"Hospital Sunday," i. 155

Husseinabad, i. 134, 176, 212

I

Ilyat villages, i. 78, 81; camps, 84, 314; ii. 193, 205; costume, i. 316; familiarity, ii. 194

Imamzada-i-Mamil, ii. 118

Imamzada torrent, i. 350

Imam Kuli Khan, Ilkhani, i. 325

Inda Khosh, ii. 206

Indo-European telegraph line, i. 227

Inn, Turkish, i. 52

Irene, Lake, ii. 87, 88

Isfahan, i. 244; bridges, 258; dyed fabrics, 258; _Medresseh_, armoury, 266; trade, 267; _Farhang_ newspaper, 268; manufactures, 269; climate, 269

Isfandyar Khan, Ilbegi, i. 328; _haram_, 332-335

J

Jabali-Besitun range, i. 112, 119

Jafirabad, ii. 184

Jagatsu river, ii. 197

Jairud, i. 158; fruit exported, 158

Jalanda mountain, ii. 50

Jamilabad village, ii. 143

Jan Mir, sheikh, i. 79

Jehanbin, i. 312

Jelu ranges, ii. 281, 325

Julfa, i. 227, 243; "alleys," 246; society, 247; history, 248; church missions at, 248; schools, 250: mission house, 251; picnics, 257; "city of waters," 269; preparations for journey, 281-285

K

_Kabobs_, Persian dish, ii. 139

Kahva Rukh, i. 300, 308; patients, 309; nocturnal robbery, 311

Kaisruh mountain, ii. 11

Kaj, ii. 3

_Kajawehs_ or panniers, i. 118

Kala Kuh, ii. 58, 65

Kalahoma, ii, 47, 50; patients, 51

Kalhurs, the, i. 86

_Kalian_, or water pipe, i. 107

Kalla Khanabad, ii. 105

Kamand-Ab, ii. 124

Kamarun, ii. 47

Kamerlan Pass, ii. 325

_Kanaats_, i. 241

Kandal Pass, ii. 285

Kangawar, i. 131

Kanisairani summits, ii. 276

Kar Kanun, ii. 27

Kara Kapru, ii. 369

Karabul[=a]k, Kurdish village, ii. 182

Karachai river, ii. 196

Karaftu, fortress palace of, ii. 194

Karasu river, i. 112, 114

_Karsi_ or platform, i. 132

Karun river, i. 5, 342, 351; ii. 23, 29; trade on, i. 10, 12; its tributaries, ii. 30

Kashan, i. 220; telegraph station, 227; manufactures, 230; _reflêt_ tiles, 231

Kashava, ii. 202

Kashgan, ii. 120

Kasr-i-Kajar, i. 195

Kasr-i-Shirin, i. 79; ruins of, 80; romantic legends, 80 _note_

Kasrik Kala Pass, ii. 332

Kasseinabad, i. 226

_Katirgis_ or muleteers, i. 50

Kavir or Great Salt Desert, i. 174, 177

Kavrak, defiles of, ii. 196

Kazimain, i. 23

Kerbela, "Dead March," i. 35, 36; pilgrims to, ii. 189-191

Kerkhah, i. 94

_Ketchuda_ or headman, i. 329; duties, 377

Khana Mirza plain, i. 360

Khanjarak, ii. 329; poverty, 330; church, 330

Khannikin, i. 61; _haram_, 66, 71; trade, 69; peasant life, 74-76

Kharba valley, ii. 36

Khariji village, i. 312

Kharshut valley, ii. 391; village, 392

Khashmaghal village, ii. 184

Kherson valley, ii. 19

Khosroe Parviz, legend, i. 80 _note_

Khuramabad, ii. 103, 120; dirt and squalor, 122; Bala Hissar fort, 123

Killa Bazuft, ii. 8, 19

Kirmanshah, i. 98; population, 101; street, 102; inhabitants, 102; customs, 103; punishment, forms of, 103; reception by the Governor, 103; the Citadel, 104; code of etiquette, 105, of pipes, 107; rugs, 109; carpet-weaving, 110; soldiers, 111; lanterns, 111; horses, 118

Kirrind, i. 84, 92; plain of, 87; valley, 90

Kizil Kabr, red range of, ii. 197

---- Robat, i. 53; dirt and discomfort, 60

---- Uzen stream, ii. 180

Knapp, Mr. and Mrs., ii. 355

Kochanes, ii. 261, 286; Mar Shimun the Patriarch, 288-294; church, 296-302; cattle plague, 319

Kooltapa, ii. 169; robbery, 171

Kop Dagh, ii. 387

---- Khané, ii. 388

Kornah, i. 13

Kotranis, ii. 323

_Kourbana_, celebration of the, ii. 310

_Kufas_ or _gophers_, i. 18

Kuh-i-Bozah, i. 129

Kuh-i-Dinar, ii. 2

Kuh-i-Gerra, ii. 2

Kuh-i-Haft Kuh, ii. 94

Kuh-i-Hassan, i. 129

Kuh-i-Kaller, i. 360

Kuh-i-Milli, ii. 12

Kuh-i-Nassar, i. 313

Kuh-i-Paran, i. 129

Kuh-i-Rang, ii. 34

Kuh-i-Sabz, i. 316

Kuh-i-Shahan, ii. 26

Kuh-i-Sukhta range, i. 313

Kuh-i-Zirreh, ii. 2

Kuh-Shah-Purnar, i. 313

Kuh Sufi, i. 257

Kuh Surisart, ii. 194

Kuhr[=u]d, i. 233; exports, 234; valley, 232; pass of, 234

Kûm, i. 160, 211; telegraph line and post-office, 166; Fatima, shrine of, 167; the dead, source of wealth, 168; industries, 170; "holy" city, 170; theological college, 170; ruinous condition, 220

Kunak, i. 363

Kupru Bridge, ii. 391

Kurdish houses, i. 88; ii. 191; women, 192

Kurds, depredations of the, ii. 272; robbery and violence, 278, 295, 323, 330; costume, 352-354; _physique_, 352; description of, 372; outrages, 375; remorseless robbers, 377

Kut-al-Aimarah, i. 18

Kuzik lake, ii. 365

L

Labaree, Dr., ii. 240 _note_

Lahdaraz, i. 359

Land, cultivation of, i. 21

Lanterns, Persian, i. 111; ii. 158

Layard, Sir A. H., _Early Adventures_, i. 13 _note_; on Ali-Ilahism, 87; on the Bakhtiaris, 294

Lazes, the, ii. 391

Legation, the British, at Tihran, i. 175

Letter from the Turkish Ambassador, ii. 322

Libasgun, i. 365

Lodgings for travellers, i. 82

Luri-Buzurg, the, i. 286-299

Lurs, Bakhtiari, i. 293-297; external improvement, ii. 18

Lurs, Feili, i. 297-299

Lyne, Mr. and Mrs., i. 214

M

Mahidasht, i. 93; plain of, 97; river, 96

Makhedi, ii. 58

Mar Shimun, the Syrian Patriarch of Kochanes, ii. 288-294

Marbishu, ii. 267; church, 269; _Qasha_ Ishai's dwelling, 271

Margil, i. 7

Martaza, Ilyat encampment, i. 343

Masir, ii. 48

Matchetloo, ii. 364

Mauri Zarin valley, ii. 77

Mehemetabad, ii. 211

_Meron_ or holy oil, i. 277

Merwana, ii. 262

Merwanen village, ii. 327

Miandab, ii. 204

Mianmalek Pass, ii. 194

Mirza Taghi, murder of, i. 206

Missionaries, female, life, i. 253-255

---- Medical, i. 38, 188, 250; ii. 162, 224

Missions. _See_ Christian

_Modakel_, i. 115

Mohammerah, i. 5

Moharrem, or month of mourning, ii. 158

Money, difficulty of procuring, ii. 320

Mongawi village, ii. 143

Mowaz, ii. 15

Muhammad Jik, ii. 202

Murad-chai river, ii. 365

Murcheh Khurt, i. 232, 239

Muschir-u-Dowleh, i. 205; his mosque, 206; college, hospital, 207; palace, 207; _andarun_, 209

Mush, plain of, ii. 348

Myan Tak hamlet, i. 88

N

Naghun village, i. 331; Pass, ii. 2

Nahrwan canal, i. 51

Nal Shikan Pass, i. 94

_Namads_ or felts at Hamadan, ii. 151

Names, i. 140

Nanej, i. 135; female curiosity, 137; ceremonials on the birth of a child, 138, 139

Narek village, ii. 342

Nasrabad, i. 226; ii. 184

Nimrud Dagh, ii. 342

_No Ruz_ or New Year, festival of, annual ceremony, i. 204, 219

Norduz, ii. 327

Norullak, plain of, ii. 365

O

_Odah_, Turkish guest-house, ii. 344

Odling, Dr. and Mrs., i. 198

Ombar, ii. 263

Orta Khan, first camping-ground, i. 49

P

Padshah-i-Zalaki, ii, 60; disorderly crowd, 60; attack, 63; thefts, 71; savage life, 73

Pai-Tak, i. 87

Pambakal Pass, ii. 30

Pamir desert, "the roof of the world," i. 127

Parwez, ii. 90, 93, 104; under fire, 90

Pasbandi Pass, i. 312

Pasin Plain, ii. 381

"Pass of the Angel of Death," i. 175

Passangh[=a]m, i. 225

Peasant's house, Persian, i. 148; flat roofs, 149

Pedlars, i. 260

Pelu, Mount, ii. 338

Persia, bibliography of, i. 6, 13, 84, 87, 107, 113, 138, 182, 228, 286, 307, 327; ii. 158, 243, 249, 258, 269, 300, 304, 335, 363, 367, 378, 383, 384

---- farewell impressions of, ii. 246-260; condition, 247; population, 249; condition of the working classes, 250; independence, 251; characteristics of the upper classes, 252; morals, 252; education, 253; law, 254; Shah, a despotic ruler, 255; official corruption, 257

Persian frontier, i. 78

---- lady, costume of a, i. 216, 217; amusements, 219

Pharipah, i. 134

Pigeon towers, i. 302

Pikhruz, ii. 358, 363

Pipes, etiquette of, i. 107-109

Pira Mah mountain, ii. 197

Piru, precipice of, i. 120, 121

Pirzala, ii. 276

Polygamy, i. 214

Post stations, i. 223

Potter, Dr., i. 188

Pul-i-Hawa, ii. 114

Pul-i-Kaj[=u], i. 258

Pul-i-Kala, i. 304

Pul-i-Wargun, i. 300

Q

Quhaibalak, ii. 286

Qwarah, ii. 286

R

Rahwan, plain of, ii. 348

Ramazan, fast of, i. 303

Rawlinson, Sir H., on Ali-Ilahism, i. 86; on the rock sculptures, 112; on Besitun antiquities, 122; on the Bakhtiaris, 296

Reynolds, Dr., ii. 336

Rhages or Rhei, ancient city of, i. 178, 194

Riji, i. 360

Riz, i. 301; pigeon towers, 301; lack of privacy, 303

"Road Beetle," i. 242

---- Guards, escort of, ii. 193, 201

Ross, Colonel, i. 2

Rugs. _See_ Carpets

Russia, native opinions of, i. 198; ii. 181, 199

Rustam-i village, ii. 4

S

Sabz Kuh, i. 359

Sabzu ravine, i. 352; river, 359; valley, 359

Safid-Kuh, or "white mount," ii. 19

Sah Kala, ii. 49

Sahid stream, ii. 41; village, 41; burial-ground, 42

Sahmine, ii. 137; buildings, 138; exports, 139

Sain Kala, ii. 197; trade, 197; inhabitants, 198

Salamatabad village, ii. 180

Sanak river, ii. 206, 208

"Sang Miwishta," ii. 70

Sanginak mountain, i. 345

Sanjud, ii. 194

Sannah, i. 119, 125; a diseased crowd, 127

Sar-i-Cheshmeh-i-Kurang, ii. 29, 33

Sarakh river, ii. 188

Sarawand, ii. 88; noisy crowd, 89

Saripul-i-Zohab, i. 77; history of, 84

Saruk, i. 143; carpets, 146; climate, 146; peasants' houses, 148; flat roofs, 149

Sassoon, Sir A., i. 36

Schindler, General, on the population of Persia, ii. 249

Scribe, Persian, i. 284

Seleucia, i. 22

Seligun, valley of, i. 313; ii. 1; lake, i. 315

Serba torrent, ii. 17

Seyyids, the, i. 32; ii. 123

Shah, palace of the, at Tihran, i. 192; _haram_, 192; hunting grounds, 195; gardens, 198; treasure house, 199; Peacock Throne, 201; presentation to, 201; description of, 202; despotic ruler, ii. 255

Shahbadar village, ii. 115

Shalamzar, i. 312; eye diseases, 312

_Shamal_, i. 1, 5

Shamisiri valley, ii. 20

Shamran, twin peaks of, i. 124

Shamsabad village, i. 312; river, 317

Shashgird, caravanserai of, i. 173, 213

Shat-el-Arab, the, i. 5, 6

Shawutha, hamlet of, ii. 285

Shedd, Dr., ii. 226

Sheraban, i. 57

Shiahs, the, i. 35

Shimran hills, i. 182, 193, 195

Shiraz, i. 227

Shorab valley, ii. 27

Shurishghan, legends, i. 309 _note_

Shuster, ii. 16

Shuturun, ii. 77; mountain, 83

Siashan, i. 150

Silakhor, plain of, ii. 89, 94

Sinsin, i. 225

Sipan Dagh, ii. 342, 362

Snow scene, i. 153

Soh village, i. 236; telegraph testing station, 227, 236

_Sowars_, the, i. 78

Stone lions, i. 343

Sujbul[=a]k, ii. 187, 207; cemetery, 206; trade, 207; consulate, 207; inhabitants, 207

Sulduz, plain of, ii. 214

Sultan Ibrahim, i. 360

Sunnis, the, i. 36

Surmel, the, ii. 394

Sutton, Dr. and Mrs., i. 24, 37, 39, 46

Syrians, characteristics of the, ii. 241; costume, 242; pious phrases, 242; baptism, 299; clerical dress, 302; burial rites, 303; marriage customs, 307; fasts, 308; episcopal succession, 309; _kourbana_, 310; dancing, 312; condition of, 324

T

Tabarak, stream, ii. 19

Tadvan village, ii. 360

Taimur Khan, ii. 52

Taj Khatan, i. 157; bread-making, 159

Tak-i-Girreh, pass of, i. 88

Tak-i-Kasr, palace of, i. 22

Takautapa, ii. 179, 186

Takt-i-Bostan, rock sculptors of, i. 112

_T[=a]nd[=u]r_ or fire-hole, i. 132

Tang-i-Ardal, gorge, i. 342

Tang-i-Bahrain, ii. 94

Tang-i-Buzful, ii. 124

Tang-i-Darkash Warkash, ii. 3

Tang-i-Ghezi, ii. 24

Tang-i-Karun, ii. 11

Taug-i-Wastagun, i. 361

Tarsa, ii. 49

_Tazieh_ or Passion Play, i. 35, 184; ii. 158

Tchoruk, ii. 388

Terpai torrent, ii. 286

Threshing, mode of, ii. 138

Tigris, river, i. 1, 9, 15, 27, 51; ii. 350; navigation of, i. 12

Tihran, i. 175; arrival at, 180; aspects of, 183; population, 184; bazars, 184; horse furniture, 185; foreign goods, 186, 187; European quarter, 188; Christian mission at, 188; dispensary, hospital, 188; modern improvements, 189; Imperial Bank, 189; squares, 192; Citadel or Ark, 192; freight of goods, 196; society, 197; Museum, 199; telegraphic centre, 227

Tiles, i. 231

Toogh village, ii. 349

"Tower of Silence," i. 194

Travelling equipments, i. 44, 47, 117, 282

Trebizond, ii. 386, 396

Tuk-i-Karu, ii. 94

Tulwar village, ii. 177

Tur, i. 338, 347

_Turbehs_ or mausoleums, ii. 362

Turkish house, i. 40

Turkman, hamlet of, ii. 211, 217

Twig Bridge, ii. 114

U

Undzag, ii. 344

Urmi, the "Paradise of Persia," ii. 217; Protestant missions at, 221-234; the Fiske Seminary, 222; College, 222; medical mission, 224; siege, 225; schools, 226, 231; history of the mission, 226; results, 229; Anglican mission, 229; Sisters of Bethany, 232; population, 235; antiquarian interests, 236; Syrians or Assyrians, 237; inhabitants, 237; tenure of houses, 237; of lands, 238; laws injurious to Christians, ii. 240

Urmi, Dead Sea of, ii. 215, 235

V

V-Shaped slit, difficult passage of the, ii. 44

Van, ii. 325, 334 _note_; Christian mission at, 335; schools, 335; the "Gardens," 337; castle, 338; church, 339; increasing trade, 339

---- Dead Sea of, ii. 332

---- Lake, ii. 342

Varak Dagh, ii. 342

Varzahan village, ii. 389

Vastan village, ii. 342

Vignau, M. du, i. 227

W

Walnut trees, ii. 346

Water supply of Persia, i. 241, 305

Wells, Colonel, i. 197, 227

Wiyjahea caravanserai, i. 54

Wolff, Sir H. Drummond, i. 181

Writing, a fine art, i. 284

Y

Yakobiyeh, i. 46, 52

Yalpand village, ii. 144

Yangaloo, Armenian village, ii. 366

Yekmala, ii. 275

Yezd, i. 194

Yezidi torrent, ii. 286

Yezidis, the, ii. 317

Z

Zab river, ii. 286

Zagros, gates of, i. 87

Zainderud river, i. 258, 269, 301; ii. 19; process of rinsing, i. 258

_Zalabi_, Bakhtiari eatable, i. 330

_Zaptiehs_, ii. 326

Zarak village, ii. 360

Zard Kuh range, ii. 23, 27, 28

Zarin valley, ii. 19

Zibar mountains, ii. 214

Zigana mountain, ii. 392

Zobeideh valley, i. 95

THE END

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_.