316 
TABRIZ TO ARZ-ROUM. 
feed our cattle, and depart. The fear of Abdulla Aga created such 
a distrust, that we were avoided by every one whom we met; and 
even when any permitted us to approach, all our assurances were in¬ 
sufficient to inspire them with confidence. Although we offered great 
prices for the necessaries of our supply, the people would hardly sell a 
single article; and the few pieces of bread and eggs which formed 
our meal at Deli-baba were not procured without the greatest 
difficulty. 
Although the country is in a terrible state of disturbance, caravans 
travel freely on the road. We met a large one which had been eight 
days from Arz-roum. Our mule-driver happened to kill a serpent; he 
cut it immediately in two pieces, and threw the parts on different sides, 
saying, “ It is a lucky sign, our enemies will not overcome us.” 
The soil over which w r e passed was admirably rich, and the most 
delightful spring reigned on the tops of the mountains, where we 
culled nosegays of a thousand hues; yet the snow lay in several 
places, and covered the fetlocks of our horses, while close to it rose 
every flower. 
13th. We quitted the village of Deli-baba early in the morning, 
having passed a night full of anxiety and watchfulness in the open 
fields; as we were told that we were not safe, and might probably be 
attacked, though nothing, thank God, disturbed us. We proceeded 
on a bearing of West to Amra Kieu , a village prettily situated at the 
utmost extremity of a plain, and surrounded by some trees, (in our 
later course a very scarce object) the willow and the plane. We crossed 
a beautiful country cultivated in most parts, and considering the ex¬ 
treme misery of the inhabitants themselves, looking very prosperous. 
The spring was here in its first burst, and the corn was scarcely a 
span high : the fields were no longer watered by dikes as in Persia, 
for the nature of the seasons and of the country render unnecessary any 
artificial means of irrigation. The hills to the Northward of the plain, 
through which we passed, rise in a gentle acclivity, and to our view 
displayed habitations and culture; but as we met no person on the 
