Page:The Six Voyages of John Baptista Tavernier.djvu/33

soon as the Caravan is lodg'd, the Servants go and cut the Grass from off the Hillocks, where it is much better then upon the Plains. But while the Beasts feed only upon Grass they are much weaker, and cannot travel so far as at other times.

From the Mountain where the Armenians were set upon, you come to Almous, a little Village upon a River, which you cross, over a Bridge of Wood.

Going out of Almous, you cross a large Plain, at the end whereof you lodge upon the Bank of a fair River, call'd Toufanlou-sou, which falls into the River of Tocat.

Having pass'd this River, you ascend a high Mountain, which the People of the Country call Kara-behir-beguiendren, or, the Mountain that stops the Grand Signors; for it is very rugged, and you must of necessity alight, to ascend it. In that bad Way two Horses that carry'd each of them two Bales of English Cloth burst under their Burthen, which prov'd excellent Food for several Tartars that were before us, and were pitch'd in the place where we intended to have lodg'd our selves; so that we were forc'd to go a quarter of a League farther. These Tartars when they heard of our two dead Horses, made immediately to the Mountain fifteen or sixteen of them with all joy imaginable, to devour it. They flea'd the Horses, and when they came back (for I stay'd to see them) they brought every one a great piece of Flesh between the Saddle and their Horses backs. For by that means the Flesh mortifies, and bakes as it were, through the motion and heat of the Horse, and so they eat it without any more a-do. I saw one of them that took a piece of those Horses Flesh, and after he had beaten it soundly between two nasty Linnen Clothes, with a piece of a Stick, set his Teeth in it, and devour'd it with a very greedy appetite.

Upon the top of the Mountain which I have mention'd, there is a Plain, and in the mid'st of the Plain a Fountain call'd Chesmé-beler, or, A Fountain of Crystal, near to which, on the South-side, there stands a Village.

From the place where we lodg'd, we came to a little Town called Adras, the Inhabitants whereof are all Armenians.

Aspidar is but two Leagues from Adras, and is but a Village.

Isbeder is another Village in the Mountains, where the Caravan generally stays one or two days; as well to pay the Custom, which is the fourth part of a Rixdollar upon every Camel, and half as much for every Horse; as for the excellency and cheapness of the Wine, where every Man provides for himself.

Twice we pass'd by and paid nothing, in regard that the Caravan was too strong for the Toll-gatherers; and were it not that they stay for the Wine, they might go directly forward without paying any thing.

Leaving Isbeder, we came to another great Town in the Mountains; all the Houses are hewn out of the Rock upon which it is seated, as are also all the Stair-Cases. From this Village, having pass'd a River, over a wooden Bridge, at the end whereof there stands an Inn, you come to Zacapa, another Village, from whence through very narrow passages, where you are forc'd to unload the Camels, and carry your Goods upon Mens shoulders for thirty Paces together, you come to encamp in a little Plain. It lyes at the foot of a high Mountain, which they call Dikmebell, beyond which lies the Town Kourd-Aga, after which you cross three Rivers; one fordable, the other over two Bridges, and then you come to a Village call'd Garmeru.

From Garmeru you go to Seukmen, another Village; from Seukmen to Louri; from Louri to Chaouqueu, which are two very handsom Towns.

I saw an Old Man at Chaouqueu who was above a Hundred and Thirty Years old, who when Sultan Amurath besieged Bagdat, gave his whole Army as much Oats as serv'd them one whole day. In recompence whereof, the Sultan exempted him and his Children from all Taxes and Tolls for their Lives.

Leaving Chaouqueu, you come to a high craggy Mountain which is call'd Aaggidogii, or, The Bitter Mountain. The Ways being narrow, the Caravan is forc'd to travel single; and then it is that they count all the Horses, and all the Camels; every Horse and every Camel paying to the Caravan-Master a certain Duty, which amounts to a good Sum if the Caravan be numerous. One part of that Money is to pay seven or eight Armenians, that guard the Caravan all the way; another partdefrays