LAKES OF OUROOMIA, &c. 
245 
ties, and certainly a safer foundation; but it does not lie so 
central for all his objects as the old capital of Azerbijan, and 
therefore that must be the residence of its governor. 
Mr. M £ Donald has put Koiy down in his map as the ancient 
Artaxata ; but by whatever name this fine town of Azerbijan 
might have been designated in former times, assuredly it has not 
the remotest claim to that of the celebrated Armenian city. In 
short, its position does not answer in any one way, to the topo¬ 
graphy given of Artaxata by the old authors. 
The lake of Ouroomia lies to the south-east of Koiy, at no 
great distance from the city, and is generally considered the 
Spauto and Marcianus of Strabo and Ptolemy. Eben Haukel, a 
Persian writer, states its length to be about live days’ journey 
and, he adds, that its waters are so exceedingly salt no fish can 
exist in them. By an experiment of the late Mr. Brown’s, they 
were found to contain one-third more salt than the sea. The 
lakes Sevan, Ouroomia, and Van, are the only pieces of water of 
that form, which we find throughout the vast country lying be¬ 
tween the Euxine, Caspian, and Ormuz seas ; and their situa¬ 
tions seem pretty nearly at equal distances from each other. 
The Van lies west of the other two, and of its shores little can 
be said at present; the ferocity of the Curdish inhabitants ren¬ 
dering it impossible for any European traveller to penetrate 
their borders. With regard to the Sevan, the beauty of its cir¬ 
cumjacent scenery has been already described ; and the climate 
of Azerbijan, which circles the Ouroomia, is said to be the most 
salubrious in Persia. My visit to this province being in the 
winter, I can only speak of its generally very clear atmosphere; 
but with an intensity of cold in the month of December, equal 
to what is termed a moderate season at St. Petersburg!!. 
