2^8 Account of a Journey to Cboy in Verjia. 



danjTcrous, as we were obliged to pafs very near the Turkifh 

 borders, whieh are generally infefted by the Lefghinians. 



On the 33d we arrived at the village of Talin, which be- 

 longs to Armenia the Lefs. Scarcely had we got to our 

 lodcine: when intclli»Tencc was received that 3000 Lefghinians 

 had crofied the river behind us, and attacked a village which 

 we pafi'ed a little time before. Mad we fallen in with thefc 

 people on the road, our filvcr plate muft have been loft. 



On the 24th we came to the celebrated Armenian monafterv 

 of Weds, or Edi'ch-mijazin (fevcn churches), which is called 

 alfo the Monafterv of Ararat, where the Armenian patriarch, 

 the chief of the eeclefiaiiical cftablifhment of that country, has 

 his rciidence. Here we were received with great hofpitalitv, 

 lodged in an elegant apartment, and waited on with great 

 attention. Next day I made a drawing of the naonaftery, 

 together with Mount Ararat and the neighbouring country ; 

 which pleafed the patriarch fo nuich when fliown to him 

 by our commanding oflicer, that he rcqueitcd me to make a 

 copv of it for him, and to encourage me to do fo he gave me 

 a confiderable prefent, 



This monaftery is faid to have been built upwards of 1300 

 vears ago, in the reign of an Armenian king named Tartat: and 

 beyond all doubt it is one of the richeft in the world, as it re- 

 ceives a oreat income from the Amienians fcattcred throughout 

 Turkey, Perfia, Georgia, and even Europe; above 800 pea- 

 fants alfo belong to it, and a large trail of land, on which 

 3C0 head of cattle, 100 horfes, and 30 camels, are kept for 

 the purpofes of agriculture. When the patriarch dies, a new 

 one is chofen from their fynod ; and an account of this choice 

 is then tranfmitted to theTurkifli fuUan, the czar of Georgia, 

 and thechan of Ifpahan. The number of the monks amounts to 

 I20, who are lodged in the monaftery, where they enjoy every 

 convenience. Travellers are ftiown here a fragment of Noah's 

 ark, which a monk is faid to have obtained from an angel. 

 This monk had refolved to afcend to the fummit of Mount 

 Ararat, where the ark , refted ; but he was prevented by the 

 Deity, who fent an angel to convey him back; and the angel, 

 to confole him for this difappointmcnt, brought him this 

 fragment, refpeftiug which many other wonderful ftories are 

 told. 



On the 26th we continued our journey to Eriwan, which 

 is only fifteen werfts diftant from the monaftery. This city 

 lies in a fruitful valley on the river Sangintfchey, at the bot- 

 tom of the fnow mountains. It is fortified by a double wall, 

 furniflied with a great many round towers at the diftance of 

 fifteen fathoms from each other, and each mounted with 

 2 four 



