He Attended To My Passport, And Obtained All The Necessary Vises, Of Which I Required Half A Dozen Since Entering The Christian Dominions, And Made An Agreement For Me With Some Tartars, Whose Caravan Was Going To Tiflis.

I then looked round the miserable half-ruined town with the good Mrs. Alexandwer, and saw Noah's monument.

According to Persian accounts, Natschivan is said to have been one of the largest and handsomest towns of Armenia; and Armenian writers affirm that Noah was the founder. The modern town is built quite in the Oriental style; only a few of the houses have the windows and doors turned towards the streets; generally the front faces the small garden. The dress of the people is also rather like the Persian, but the officials, merchants, etc., wear European costume.

Nothing more remains of Noah's sepulchre than a small arched chamber, without a cupola. It appears to have been formerly covered with one, but it is not possible to decide from the few ruins that now remain. In the interior, neither a sarcophagus nor grave are to be seen; a single brick pillar stands in the centre, and supports the roof. The whole is surrounded by a low wall. Many pilgrims come here, Mahomedans as well as Christians; and both sects entertain the remarkable belief, that if they press a stone into the wall while thinking of something at the same time, and the stone remains sticking to the wall, that their thoughts are either true or will come to pass, and the reverse when the stone does not adhere. The truth of the matter is, however, simply this: the cement or mortar is always rather moist, and if a smooth stone is pushed a little upwards while being pressed, it remains hanging; if it is only pressed horizontally, it falls off again.

Not far from Noah's tomb stands another very handsome monument; unfortunately I could not learn to whose memory it was erected, or to what age it belonged. It consists of a high building, resembling a tower with twelve angles; the walls between the angles are covered, from top to bottom, with the most artistic mathematical figures in triangles and sexagons, and some places are inlaid with glazed tiles. The monument is surrounded by a wall, forming a small court-yard; at the entrance-gates stand half-ruined towers, like minarets.

17th August. I felt very unwell today, which was the more unpleasant, as the caravan started in the evening. For several days I had been unable to take any food, and suffered from excessive lassitude. Nevertheless I left my rest, and mounted my caravan nag; I thought that change of air would be the best restorative.

Fortunately we went only a short distance beyond the city gate, and remained there during the night and the following day. We did not proceed any further until the evening of the 18th of August. The caravan only conveyed goods, and the drivers were Tartars. The journey from Natschivan to Tiflis is generally made in from twelve to fourteen days; but with my caravan, to judge from the progress we made at the commencement, it would have occupied six weeks, for on the first day we went scarcely any distance, and on the second, very little more than the first; I should have travelled quicker on foot.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 321 of 364
Words from 165299 to 165859 of 187810