338 
MONASTERY. 
have a tendency to petrifaction. They are decidedly heavy, and very 
unwholesome for drinking. 
The island is about half a mile from the shore, and is inhabited bv 
Armenian monks, who are sent there in exile for bad conduct from 
Etchmiatzin. At the time of our visit, thirteen people were living 
upon it; three or four priests, and the rest working men. They com¬ 
municate with the shore by means of a raft, which they paddle 
backwards and forwards with two large oars, and they never venture 
across to strangers. As soon as Parsik Aga, my conductor, arriv¬ 
ed opposite the island, he set up great shouts, waving his cap at 
the same time, and thus drew the attention of the exiles to us: 
shortly after we saw them launch their raft, and paddle towards us. 
The chief priest came to inspect the party ; and when he had ascer¬ 
tained who we were, he approached the beach, and we all got into 
the raft, seated ourselves upon a sort of platform or upper work, 
and reached the island in safety. The priest, who was in rags, wear¬ 
ing an old tarnished hood, and whose countenance bespoke a fit 
subject for exile, immediately ran to the church, and began ring¬ 
ing a bell with all his might, in order to do honour to his guests, 
and then lighted up three tallow candles, with the intention of per¬ 
forming a mass. The odour of the building was such, that we declined 
waiting the termination of the ceremony; and we walked up to the 
top of the island, to look at the two churches which have the repu¬ 
tation of being very ancient. They are such as are seen in most parts 
of the district of Erivan—strongly built, but little worthy of notice. 
They attest, indeed, more particularly how flourishing in former days 
must have been the state of Armenia, which could have encouraged 
and supported a religious establishment on so large and splendid a 
scale as these numerous and admirably constructed buildings would 
indicate. 
The island is in latitude 40° 30' North, according to an ob¬ 
servation taken by Captain Monteith. I should judge it to be near a 
mile in circumference. Its soil is a mixture of earth and rock, and the 
exiles cultivate a small tract of it in vegetables and fruits. 
