517 



ARMENIA. 



ARMENIA. 



618 



even on the right bank of the Tigris is broken by many rugged 

 projections and rocky eminences. The villages of the plains are 

 inhabited by Kurds, Armenian Catholics, Jacobite and Nestorian 

 Christians, and some Yezedees. The Kurds visit their villages 

 generally only at seed-time and harvest ; during the rest of the year 

 they are roving shepherds, and at all times desperate robbers. Most 

 of the houses are surmounted as in Xenophon's time with a turret, 

 with the addition that this is now loopholed for the use of musketry. 

 In some parts of the plain water is obtained only from wells of a 

 great depth; but near the hills on the Buhtan side, fountains of 

 extremely cold water abound. The heat is very great in summer, 

 and a hot wind blows frequently from the south. In many of the 

 villages a cool dormitory is attached to each house, consisting of a 

 high platform, erected on poles and covered with twigs and leaves. 

 Near the villages wheat, barley, and tobacco are grown ; there are 

 large vineyards also, and in weft-watered valleys rice, cotton, melons, 

 and pumpkins are cultivated to a large extent. Cucumbers are grown 

 "ligioua numbers, and are so good and wholesome as to be eaten 

 by the dozen. The rest of the plain, where the rocky tracts do not 

 occur, is covered in summer with high grass. The mountain slopes 

 are covered with woods. 



The road from the plain of the Tigris to Lake Van runs up the 

 valley of the Bitlie River, which passes near Sert, supposed by some to 

 be the ancient Tigranocerla. This town stands in a wide treeless plain, 

 screened by high mountains to the north-east. A large portion of 

 the plain round it is under cultivation ; maize, tobacco, cotton, and 

 wheat are grown, and also melons and cucumbers in countless 

 numbers ; in each field there is a small stone house, loopholed, for the 

 defence of the property. The ascent from Sert is not generally steep, 

 but gradual, and through an open country, with the exception of here 

 and there a ravine formed by the mountains encroaching on the river. 

 The narrow rocky projections that cross the route are in several 

 instances tunnelled ; but at what period these small tunnels were 

 formed is unknown. The mountains are effects of the Arjerosh- 

 Dagh, which bound the basin of Lake Van on the south ; they 

 arc clothed with woods of oak, and along the rivers are walnut- 

 trees, raspberries, mulberries, and vines. In these mountainous 

 districts the Kurds are not mounted on horseback, as is usual in the 

 plain, but every one of them carries a rifle. 



The BUlis River, which is sometimes called the Eastern Tigris, rises 

 in the Demir-Dagh, a southern branch of the Nimrud-Dagh. The 

 stream flows in a deep bed through a defile of gentle descent south- 

 ward past the city of Bitlis, below which it is spanned by several neat 

 stone bridges. About five miles south of Bitlis the narrow and 

 rocky road, which here runs along the right bank of the river, 

 is carried through a rocky projection by a tunnel 15 feet in width 

 and height, and 20 feet in length. At 16 miles from Bitlis 

 the stream is deep, rapid, and about 12 yards wide. A few miles 

 lower down, striking against a high mountain, .which separates 

 the district of Bitlis from that of Varkhan, the river turns first 

 to the west and then to the south-west, flowing through a country 

 with a very warm climate in summer, and yielding maize, cotton, 

 tobacco, and wheat. Nine miles below Sert the river has in summer 

 a breadth of about 50 yards, with a rapid current, and where it was 

 forded by Colonel Shell it was less than knee-deep. Near the village of 

 Til, which is situated about 10 miles south-west of Sert, the Bitlis falls 

 into the Tigris, here a very rapid river, at least 150 yards wide in 

 July, and waist-deep at the ford about a mile above TiL 



Bturn of Lake Van. The ravine traversed by the Bitlis River 

 above the city of Bitlia opens toward the north-east, upon a small 

 plain between the Kerku-Dagh and the continuation of the Mush- 

 Dagh, which joins the Arjerosh-Dagh to the south of Lake Van. At 

 the eastern end of the plain, just above the village of Tadvan, 

 situated on the lake shore, there is a long line of isolated rocks, 

 consisting of lava, and called the ' Camels of Tadvan,' from a fancied 

 resemblance to a string of those animals. There is a beach of sand 

 and shingle at Tadvan, with rounded pieces of pumice and obsidian. The 

 Arjerosh-Dagh, called farther east the Erdoz-Dagh, runs in a direction 

 of east by south, and at a distance of four to six miles from the lake ; 

 its slopes are covered mostly by the dwarf oak. The interval consists 

 of several small plains and valleys separated by spurs of the Arjerosh- 

 Dagh which occasionally project to th shore, and are generally clothed 

 with timber. Cultivation is confined to the neighbourhood of the villages, 

 come of which are surrounded by plantations of walnut-trees. Barley, 

 oats, apples, plums, pears, apricots, &c. are grown. Fruits do not ripen 

 till August. The plough used in the district of Lake Van is entirely of 

 wood, drawn by bullocks (sometimes eight of them are yoked together) 

 and mounted on two wheels, one larger than the other. From the 

 plain of Vastan at the south-eastern angle of the lake, the Arjerosh 

 W 1.:_. i ii.j i7_j__ _;..- ...:i_....i__ to a bout 4000 feet 



i the summer. The 

 i on a sloping 



ridge, the crest of which is crowned by a castle. A river named Anjel- 

 Chai which flows from the eastward enters the lake to the north of 

 the plain, and by its depositions ban formed a long point bounding 

 i.y of Vastan on the east. This bay is shallow, and will in all 

 probability be at some time completely filled up by the river. The 

 Anjel in summer is only about 20 yards wide, but deep. It rises in 



the angle between the Erdoz-Dagh and Sar-al-Bagh-Dagh, which will 

 be noticed presently. Near its source is the castle of Mahmudiyeh, 

 the strongest fortress in this region, which is held by a Kurdish 

 Khan, who is all but sovereign of the district to the south and 

 south-east of the lake, and maintains an excellent police, so that 

 life and property are much more secure than in other parts of 

 Armenia. Beyond the valley of the Anjel-Chai are bare limestone 

 hills, sloping down to the lake and containing some pretty dells ; 

 from the head of one of these an aqueduct conveys a stream of 

 water to the city of Van. This canal, the formation of which is 

 attributed to Semiramis, skirts the village of Artemid, irrigating 

 its gardens and turning some mills on its way to Van. The Erdoz-Dagh 

 at their south-eastern extremity joins the Sar-al-Bagh Mountains, 

 which form the crest of the highland that separates lakes Van and 

 Urumiyeh. On the eastern slopes of this range are the sources of the 

 Great Zab, which flows south by east along the eastern base of the 

 mountains on its way to join the Tigris. It receives from the southern 

 slopes of the Erdoz Mountains the Hekari on the left bank. In the 

 mountainous region between the two rivers is the district of Tyari, 

 inhabited by Nestorian Christians, who call themselves Kaldani. 

 Between them and the Erdoz range are the Hekknriyeh Kurds, whose 

 chief town is Julamerk. West of Hekkariyeh is the district of 

 Amadiyeh, and between this and Sert the region of Buhtan. The 

 mountainous country that lies to the south of the Arjerosh and 

 Erdoz ranges is imperfectly known ; it is the country of the ancient 

 Karduchi and the native seat of their descendants the Kurds. It was 

 anciently called Qordyene and Cordyene, and now forms Turkish 

 Kurdistan, a name which is often used to denote a large part of the 

 country described here under the head of Armenia. 



On the eastern shore of Lake Van the crest of the mountains is at 

 a distance of about 30 miles from the lake. These mountains are 

 covered with snow, and some of their summits, as Herawel-Dagh in a 

 spur separating the valley of Elbagh from the basin of the Kotur, a 

 feeder of the Araxes, rise to about 9000 feet above the sea. On the 

 left bank of the Kotur is another very lofty summit called Haleb- 

 Dagh, or Mount Erlan. Between the sources of the Kotur and the 

 Great Zab these eastern mountains divide into two ranges the 

 western one a black, steep, snow-capped range, forming the eastern 

 edge of the basin of Lake Van ; and the eastern bounding the basin 

 of Lake Urumiyeh on the west. Between the two ranges lies the 

 valley of Elbagh, at the head of which and at an elevation of 

 7500 feet above the sea, the Great Zab has its rise. The valley 

 opens toward the south and is said to be about 20 miles long and 

 5 miles wide. The soil of the valley is rich and fertile, and previous 

 to the emigration of the Armenian inhabitants at the close of the 

 war between Russia and Turkey in 1830, this was a wealthy district. 

 The crest of the eastern range forms the boundary line between Persia 

 and Asiatic Turkey. From the source of the Kotur the mountains run 

 northward to the neighbourhood of Bayazid where they meet the 

 Ali-T.igh, which contains the sources of the Murad, and the Gernawuk, 

 a feeder of the Araxes. 



Between the eastern watershed and the shore of the lake, the surface 

 presents high plains and valleys, with some hill ranges. A remarkable 

 object in the plain, a few miles to the eastward of the city of 

 Van, is the rugged mass of the Warak-Dagh, a naked black range 

 about 15 miles in length. In the neighbourhood of Van the plain is 

 studded with villages, which are surrounded by gardens and orchards ; 

 and from the high isolated rock on which the citadel stands, to the 

 large and beautiful lake which is of a clear blue colour like the sea, 

 with its ring-fence of mountains and surrounding plains and valleys, 

 may be seen the gardens "of Van, situated between the city and the 

 Warak-Dagh, and which cover a level area of about 4 by 7 miles. The 

 area is occupied by vineyards, orchards, melon-grounds, and some 

 fields. Nearly the whole popxilation of the city resides in the gardens 

 in summer. The gardens are all surrounded by mud-walls, which 

 intercept the view ; and streams bordered by willows run through the 

 main avenues, which are lined with houses. 



The city of Van, according to Armenian traditions, is very ancient; 

 its foundation is ascribed to Semiramis, who it is alleged called it 

 Shemiramgerd. This tradition is said to be confirmed by one of the 

 numerous arrow-headed inscriptions cut in the rocks in which the 

 citadel of Van is situated, and on the hard compact limestone rock of 

 the mountains to the east of the gardens. In the citadel rock are 

 caves supposed to have been formerly used as sepulchres. Some 

 coarse calicoes are manufactured at Van from cotton imported from 

 Persia; and wheat is exported to Persia. Other manufactured 

 articles are brought from Damascus, Aleppo, and Erz-rum, or Persia. 

 A few yellow berries (Rhamnns infectoriua) ar - exported, and orpiment, 

 the produce of the Hekkariyeh Mountains. 1 he country about Van 

 yields all kinds of corn, fruits, and wine in abundance. Linseed is 

 grown for making lamp-oil. Bullocks are used for carrying burdens 

 by the Kurds, who have almost as high a regard for their horses as 

 for their own persons. The population of Van is es imated at 5000 

 Mohammedan and 2000 Armenian families. In the country parts of 

 the pashalik of Van the Armenians outnumber the Mussulmans. A 

 large number of the former migrate to Constantinople, where they are 

 employed as labourers, porters, and artisans. Yet the population of 

 the pashalik is thin, and extensive tracts of fine land are untilled and 



