40 The Persian Travels Book I. 



The thirty-fixth we traveled through the fame Valley for eight or nine hours 

 longer j in this Valley were feveral pleafant Villages , but we lay by a fmall Ri- 

 ver. 



The thirty-feventh we travePd fix hours among the Mountains , where there are 

 fome very narrow Paflages, but ftore of Watery and we lay in a Vale abounding 

 in Pafturage. 



The thirty-eighth we rode for four or five hours over a rugged Mountain in 

 craggy way , at the foot whereof we met with a Village call'd Taqmbac ; from 

 whence it is but five Leagues to Tocat. And thefe are all the Roads from Paries to 

 Jjpahan , through the Northern Territories of Turkie. 



CHAP. VIII. 



How the Author was robb'd near Tocat , and of a certain fort of 

 rare and fine Wool which he firji brought into France. 



TAqmbac is the place where the Per fan Caravan uies to meet , when it 

 departs from Tocat to Smyrna •, and this is the only place in all the Road 

 where a Traveller ought to ftand upon his guard •, by rcafon of Thieves 

 who haunt thefe Quarters , and are great Mafters in their Trade. Once 

 as I came out of Perfa they would needs give me a tail of their Art, notwithstanding 

 all the care I took. There were three or four of 'us that would needs ride before 

 with our Servants to Taquibac> in expectation of the Caravan which was to come 

 the next day ^ where we fet up our Tents upon the Bank of a fmall River. I had 

 then a good many Bales of Wool, with which I made as it were a double Wall 

 about my Tent : fo that there was but one paffage between the Bales, for one Man. 

 In four of thefe Bales I had a quantity of Musk in lead'n Boxes, to the value of ten 

 or twelve thoufand Crowns : which Bales I put within-fide , fo that they touch'd 

 the Tent and my Beds-head. Next Night, it being very dark, the Thieves came, 

 and finding the outward Bales fmell fo ftrong of Musk , they thought one of thofe 

 Bales would be a confiderable Booty. The Bales were all ty'd together with a 

 Cord that kept them faft -, nor was it eafie to undo them, without a noife. They 

 wak'd me with their buttle at firft , and I fent out my Servants to fee if they could 

 catch them-, but they will lye fo clofe upon their Bellies, that in fuch a dark Night 

 as that was tis irapo.fible to difcovcr them. Thereupon my Servants went to fleep 

 again, and the Thieves to their work-, and having with a great deal of ingenuity 

 cut the Cord , they carried away the two Bales. In the Morning four or five of us 

 with a Camel-driver for our Guide purfu'd them, and in half an hour we met with 

 the marks of the Robbery^ for the Rogues being mad that they found nothing but 

 Wool, which they thought to be of no great value, fcatter'd it in the High-way 

 for two or three Leagues together: fo that I caus'd it to be pickt up again, and 

 loft not above fifteen or twenty Pound. I fpeak this to caution the Merchants tha* 

 carry BaJcs of Silk or other rich Commodities, to beware of thefe Thieves-, for 

 they will come creeping upon their Bellies, and then cutting the Bales with great 

 Razors, will prefently empty a Bale of one half of the Goods. 



'Tis true , the Wool was of no great value for their ufe -, but it was a fort of rare 

 and very fine Wool, which I carry'd out of Perfa to Paris , where fuch fine Wool 

 was never feen. As to the place where it is to be had , I met with one of the Gams, 

 or Per fans that adore the Fire , who when I was at ijpahan in the year 1647 ftew'd 

 me a Sample of it , and inform'd me that the greater! part of this Wool comes from 

 the Province of Kerman, which is the ancient Caramania ; and that the beft Wool 

 is to be met with in the Mountains that are next to the City that bears the name 

 u ? rovince: ^ nat the shec P in thofe Parts have this particular property, that 

 when they have fed upon new Grafs from January till May, the Fleece falls off, of 

 it felf, and leaves the Sheep naked, and their Skins fmooth , like a Pig's that is 

 lcalded off; fo that there is no need of bearing them , as with us ; after they have 



gather'd 



