804 Journal of a Tour through [Nov. 



inaccessible hold, pent up amid wild tracts of country, shut out from 

 general communication, liable to frequent and sudden inroads of a 

 merciless enemy, and from bis cradle to his grave, either the spoil or 

 the antagonist of the oppressor. Poverty, suspicion, loneliness — a life 

 of hazard — flight or attack — what original constitution of virtue could 

 have attained its true stature ? There is no national character that 

 would not have darkened under this perpetual rudeness of fortune. It 

 is really astonishing that the Kurd retains any qualities entitling him 

 to rank among men. 



For several centuries Kurdistan has been a continued scene of 

 war, turbulence and robbery. Some of its eastern districts have 

 remained in the power of Abbas Mirza, whose force has never been 

 able to reduce to subjection the various chieftains in the north and 

 south, who claimed a predatory independence. The form of the 

 country, indeed, is sufficiently favorable to such pretensions ; being 

 intersected by mountainous tracts, over which it is extremely difficult 

 to conduct an army. The Eliats, or wandering tribes, roam over 

 its extensive plains, and the Persians, from Azerbijan, have long 

 carried their ravages not only over the frontier, but into the heart 

 of the country, over its ranges of hills, and to the gates of its towns. 

 The desolation and want of security can hardly be conceived, when 

 occasioned by these ravages. In some tracts, the whole open country 

 has been swept, the inhabitants having been put to death, or carried 

 away as slaves. The consequence is, that numerous small towns, 

 particularly near the frontiers, have been abandoned, as well as all 

 cultivation. The peasant goes out to his labour with his matchlock 

 slung over his shoulder. All intercourse between villages is carried 

 on with the greatest timidity, and at intervals, when a sufficient 

 number of men can be collected to form a kafilah, and to resist the 

 bands of robbers, even these are frequently attacked, and the 

 merchants and travellers composing them not only plundered, but 

 detained in captivity, or murdered. This state of things has given 

 rise to extensive dealings in slaves. 



The tribes which range the deserts differ in their habits, according to 

 the circumstances in which they are placed. In some parts they are pas- 

 toral, hospitable, and kind to strangers ; in others, they are reserved, 

 and shun all intercourse ; in others again, predatory, cruel, and feroci- 

 ous. Those of the latter description are to be found near Lake Van, and 

 in Armenia, towards Erzerouin*. We find them to the north, on the 



* As a proof of this, I may mention the recent murder of M. Schultz, a 

 distinguished antiquarian and indefatigable traveller. This melancholy event 



