8 The Persian Travels Book I. 



defrays the Expenccs upon the Road *, and the remainder is the Captain of the Ca- 

 ravan's Profit. 



Having pafs'd this Mountain , you come to lodge in a Plain which they call 

 €ioganderefi ,and from thence toiTr^mwjyou meet only with three Villages by the 

 way, Achikala, Ginnis, and Higia, which arc thcOv^Ws Stages. During theie 

 three lad days journeys , you keep all along the Banks of Euphrates for the mod 

 part , which is yet but narrow, taking its fouree Northward of Erz.erom. 'Tis a 

 wonderful thing to lee the vaft quantities of large Ajparagtu that grow all along 

 the River , with which you may load feveral Camels. 



A League on this fide Brzerotn the Caravan is conftrainM to ftop^ for the Officer 

 of the Cuftom-Houle accompani'd with the Bajhas Lieutenant , comes here and 

 tyes all the Bales and Chefls with a crols Cord , upon which he puts a Seal , to 

 the end that when the Merchants come to the Town , they may not be able to 

 take out any Bags of Money, or any pieces of Stuff on purpoie to hide them till they 

 go away. T he particular Bufinels of the Bafias Lieutenant in meeting the Caravan, 

 is to fee whether the Merchants be well provided with Wines. And if he defirc 

 any Bottles , whether it be then , or in the City, where they are not afham'd to 

 viut every Merchant, there is no rcfufing them. For there grows no Wine at 

 Erzerom, all that is drank there being a imall Wine of Mingrelia, which is always 

 green: which forces the Merchants to furnifh themlelves'" with Wine at Tecat, 

 which they may do fufficiently to lad them into Perfia. The Officer of the Cuftora- 

 Houfe generally allows the Caravan three days to reft-, during which time he 

 fendsto the principal Merchants fome Fruit and other Imall Refrcfh men ts, by which 

 he is no lofer. After the three days are over, he comes and opens all the Bales 

 and Chefts , and takes a p articular account of all the Merchandize?. This Search 

 and the changin|foT Beads , caufes the Caravan to ftay generally twenty or five 

 and twenty days at Erzerom. 



Erz^erom is a frontier Town of Turkie toward Perfia. It is fituated at the end 

 of a large Plain environ'd with Mountains , the Plain being bcautifi'd with many 

 fair Villages. If you take in the Caftlc and the Suburbs it may pals for a City, 

 but the Houfes are ill built of Wood , without any neatnefs or proportion. There 

 are fome Remains of Churches and of the ancient Buildings of the Armenians, by 

 which you may conjecture that it never was very beautiful. TheFortrefs ftands 

 upon a high ground , with a double Wall , fquare Towers clofe one to another, 

 and a pitiful Moat. The Bafiarehdes there but in a very ill Houfc, all the Buildings 

 about the Fortrefs being in a bad condition. In- the fame Enclofure there is^a 

 little rifing Ground upon which they have rais'd a fmall Fort , wherein the Janifary- 

 Aga lives, and where the Bajha has no Power. When the Grand Siy;or has a 

 mind to the Head of this Bajha, or any other confiderable perfon in the Province, 

 he fends a.Capigi, with ordee to the Janifary to fend for the Perfon to the little 

 Fort, where the Execution is prefently done. One Example hereof I law in my 

 lad Travels into Perfia : For the Bajha of Erzerom not having fent Twelve thoufand 

 Men fo foon as the Grand Signor rcquir'd them for his Wars in Candy, the fame 

 Capigi that brought the Sentence of his Death , had the fame Order for the Exe- 

 cution of the 'Bajha of Kars-, and meeting this Capigi upon the Road in a Village, 

 upon his return for Conflantinople, he would needs fhew me whether I would or no' 

 the Heads of the two Sofia's , which he was carrying to the Grand Signor in a 

 Bag. s 



Between the firft and fecond Gate of the Fortrefs are to be feen four and twenty 

 Pieces of Cannon, mod excellent Guns, but lying one upon another without 

 Carnages. They lye at Erz^erom to be ready upon all occafions when the Grand 

 SigKor makes War againft the Per fans. 



There are in Erzerom feveral great Inns*, this City, like Toe at , being one of 

 the greateft Thoroughfares in Turkic The Country about it bears Wine, but 

 not very good , and in regard the People are ftriftly forbid to drink Wine the 

 Merchants are fore'd to buy it very privately, for fear it fhould come to the know- 

 ledge of the Cadi. Though it be very cold at Erz.erom, Barley grows there in 

 fourty days, and Wheat in fixty, which is very remarkable. The Cuftoms paid 

 there for the carrying out of the Gold and Silver, and upon all other Commodities 

 is very ievere. Silk , that comes out of Perfia , pays four and twenty Crowns for a 



Camel's 



