ERIVAN. 
319 
which spot it was managed that he should meet the Ambassador, and 
thence they both proceeded with all possible ceremony to the tent, 
where as usual we smoked, drank coffee, and eat sweetmeats. During 
the short time we were seated there, we had an instance of the bar¬ 
barity of these wild men. They were playing as usual, throwing sticks 
and firing pistols at each other, when a quarrel arose between a Courd 
and a Persian, which led to a general fray, when two men were killed. 
We were told that these games seldom terminate without a similar 
catastrophe. 
We staid the following day at Erivan, but the heat was so great that 
we had but little opportunity of seeing it. It consists of an unwalled 
town and a fortress. Both are situated in a hollow, bordered by a suc¬ 
cession of hills, beautifully cultivated with orchards and corn fields. 
The town is dirty and straggling. The fort has the reputation of being 
the strongest in Persia, and the failure of the Russians some years ago 
to take it by storm, has increased its fame an hundred fold, so much 
so, that the Serdar talking about it, said very gravely, “ If three or 
“ four of the Kings of Fireng (Europe) were to unite to take this castle, 
“ they might just take the trouble of going back again, for their labour 
‘‘ would be in vain.” It stands on one side of an immense precipice of 
almost perpendicular rock, at the bottom of which flows the river 
Zengui, and on the other side it is surrounded by a dry ditch, over which 
are temporary bridges. It has a double range of mud walls, and round 
towers, which could not stand three hours’ good battering. The interior 
of the fort is in great measure composed of ruined houses. An ex¬ 
ceedingly good mosque, built by the Turks, of brick and stone, and 
crowned with cupolas covered with lead, stands conspicuous in the 
centre. It is now only used by way of a storehouse. Not far from it 
is a place where the Serdar casts and bores guns and makes shot. 
His palace is also within the fort, and has all the appearance of 
having once been a fine and substantial building. Its chief apartment 
opens upon the precipice of the river, and commands a very beautiful 
view, with the Zengui running close under it. It is from the window of 
