S 



Tbe Persian 'Travels 



Book I. 



defrays the Expences upon the Road \ and the remainder is the Captain of theC*- 

 rAvarfs Profit. 



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

 Giog'anderefi , and from thence to Erz.erom you meet only with three Villages by the 

 way, Achihala, Ginnis f ar\d Higia, which are the Caravan's Stages. During thefe 

 three Iaft days journeys , you keep all along the Banks of Euphrates for the molt 

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

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

 the River , with which you may load lèverai Camels. 



A League on this fide Efz.eroqtihe Caravan is conftrain'd to Hop for the Officer 

 of the Cuftom-Houfe accompanm with the Bafia's Lieutenant , comes here and 

 tyes all the Bales and Chefts with a crois 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 purpofe to hide them till they 

 go away. The particular Bufinefs of the Bajha's Lieutenant in meeting the Caravan^ 

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

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

 vifit every Merchant, there is no refufing them. For there grows no Wine at 

 Emerom, all that is drank there being a fmall Wine of Mingrelia, which is always 

 green : which forces the Merchants to furnifh themfelves with Wine at Tocat^ 

 which they may do fufficiently to laft them into Per fia. The Officer of the Cuftora- 

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

 fends to the principal Merchants fome Fruit and other fmall Refrefhments, by which 

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

 and Chefts , and takes a particular account of all the Merchandizes. This Search 

 and the changing of Beafts , caufes the Caravan to ftay generally twenty or five 

 and twenty days at Erz,erom. 



Erzerom is a frontier Town of Tnrhie toward Perfia. It is fituated at the end 

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

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

 but the Houfes are ill built of Wood , without any neatneft 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. The Fortrefs ftands 

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

 and a pitiful Moat. The Eafia refides there but in a very ill Houfe, 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 Signor has a 

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

 he fends a Capigi, with order- to the January to fend for the Perfon to the little 

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

 îaft Travels into Perfia '• For the Bafia of Erz.erom not having fent Twelve thoufand 

 Men fo foon as the Grand Signor required 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 {hew me whether I would or no, 

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

 Bag. 



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

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

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

 Sigtior makes War againft the Perfians. 



There are in Erzerom feveral great Inns this City , like T icat , being one of 

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

 not very good , and in regard the People are ftri&ly forbid to drink Wine , the 

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

 ledge of the Cadi. Though it be very cold at Erzerom , 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, 

 isveryfevere. Silk, that comes out of Perfia, pays four and twenty Crowns for a 



Camel's 



