is so lofty that it is covered with snow the whole year. We were told that many who had attempted to reach the top of this mountain had never been more heard of, while others, on making the same attempt, said, on their return, that it was quite inaccessible. From this place forwards we travelled through extensive plains intermixed with hills, and arrived on the 30th of July at a castle named _Chiagri_, inhabited by Armenians. Finding abundance of bread, wine, and poultry in this place, we rested here for a day, and then set out with a new guide for Ecbatana or Tauris. Leaving Chiagri towards evening of the 1st August, we came next day to an Armenian village at the foot of a mountain, where we had to cross a river in boats, and were informed that Uzun-Hassan had formerly gained a great victory near this place over the Tartars, having hemmed them into a corner, where their army wasted away with famine and disease. The ruler of these Tartars, named Sultan _Buzech_[2], was made prisoner, and was afterwards put to death. We here saw, on our left hand, eleven Armenian villages, near each other, who were Catholic Christians, their bishop being under submission to the Roman pontiff. The country is extremely agreeable, and is the most fertile of all the provinces of Persia. We arrived on the 3d of August at a large village called Marerich, near which we passed the night, and had to ride all the next day through a plain country exposed to great heat, which was greatly aggravated, as we could not procure a single drop of water for ourselves or our horses. On the way we met several Turkmans, whose custom it is to encamp here and there about the country, wherever they can find pasture for their cattle, and to change their residence as the pastures become exhausted. These people are abominable robbers, and look upon rapine as their highest glory; and as we had great reason to be afraid of them, I gave orders to all my people to tell whoever we met, that I was journeying to wait upon their sovereign, which was the only expedient for saving us from their violence.