672 
ARZEROOM. 
Arzeroom is a pashalick ; but the present pasha was absent on 
a visit to Constantinople at the time of my arrival, and hence I 
found the reins of government in the hands of the serraskier. 
The city lies in latitude 39° 56' N. and is numbered amongst the 
most ancient capitals of Armenia; of old, it was called Arze. 
November 9th. — Our complement of horses was brought 
very early this morning, but from various circumstances it was 
nine o’clock before we got free of our most filthy menzil; an 
exaggeration of the too common negligence of the East, particu¬ 
larly unpardonable here, from the unusual command of water 
the town possesses ; it being abundantly supplied, not only from 
the countless springs which flow from the mountains, but from 
numerous fountains in various parts of the city and suburbs. 
Before we arrived at the western gate, whence we were to take 
our departure, the path to it carried us almost entirely round the 
town, but only between the two walls; and on issuing forth, we 
found ourselves at once on the high road, which lay in a long 
hollow between the undulating slopes that form the burying- 
ground of the inhabitants. It was very extensive: and for the 
first time I saw those Turkish memorials of the dead, which, 
shaped something like our upright tombstones, are surmounted 
with turbans. Other graves were covered with small open struc¬ 
tures, under which appeared the sarcophagus of the deceased. 
Amongst these silent abodes of undisturbed rest, I perceived 
several women, whose long white veils enveloping their figures, 
and their varied attitudes of grief and prayer, gave them the 
appearance of as many marble statues, placed in positions of 
mourning over the departed mussulmauns. The usual chadre, 
or great wrapping veil of the Arzeroom females differed totally 
from those of Persia and Bagdad, being chiefly of a sad white, 
