PREPARATIONS FOR VISITING ANNI. 
169 
for one consisting of natives entirely. That it should be suf¬ 
ficient for my purpose, General YarmollofF had taken care ; 
having sent orders, not only for an adequate number of men and 
horses, but for every provision to be made that could render my 
journey, as far as his influence went, as little subject to incon¬ 
venience as possible. 
Aware that Anni, one of the ancient capitals of Armenia, lay 
not far within the Turkish frontier, my curiosity was roused to 
visit it; and I could not refrain from expressing my wish to the 
commanding officer at the fort, and consulting with him how it 
might be done without the protection of a Turkish passport. So 
far from damping my ardour, he entered warmly into all the 
objects of my curiosity ; and telling me, Anni was only forty 
wersts beyond the barrier, he assured me, if I liked to attempt 
it, I should have those with me who should be passport suf¬ 
ficient. Accordingly, next morning, at a very early hour, I 
took leave of my kind host, and found the promised guard 
already in waiting. It consisted of ten horsemen, who were to 
be at my orders all the way to Erivan. We were to take Anni 
in our march. These men were all well-armed, and capitally 
mounted; and, I doubted not, could be desperate fellows, 
should occasions call them forth. At least, so I might gather, 
from their garb and faces ; for, never since I set foot amongst the 
Caucasus, had I beheld a more murderous-looking band of 
villains. Their chief was a brawny, determined-visaged man, 
and wore round his neck a medal of the Emperor Alexander, 
which had been hung there, with a ribband of St. George, as a 
badge of his superior bravery, during the late war between Persia 
and the Russian empire. A pair of long Turkish pistols were 
stuck at his girdle, from which were suspended his sabre, and a 
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