At a little before noon on the 16th of November we mounted our horses in the court of the American Mission, whither we had proceeded to take leave of our friends. We passed by the church of Arakh, and emerged from the zone of gardens upon the surface of the bare plain. The usual stoppages in connection with the baggage, which seldom fails to begin by slipping from the horse's back to beneath his girth, enabled us to fill our eyes with the vision of the bay and beauteous city which we might never contemplate again (Fig. 138). We had purchased two new horses, one for the dragoman and the other to carry our effects. You require a good animal for the last of these purposes, who will trot along by himself. But throughout our journey we experienced the greatest difficulty in obtaining serviceable beasts at any price. Even at Van my choice was narrowed by the various ailments of the other candidates to a sturdy four-year-old who had not known work. This youngster, an iron grey, was no sooner set at large than he set off at full gallop across the plain. His career was cut short by the rapid overthrow of his load, which dragged him panting to the ground. But we trained him to perfection before reaching the northern capital, and I sold him at a profit in Trebizond. Worse fortune attended our second purchase, that of a seasoned horse of milk-white hue. I noticed that he was limping about an hour out of Van; and, to my surprise, when I came to examine him closer, he proved to be an ingenious substitute for the one I had bought. The colour was the same, and also the appearance; but not the points which had influenced my selection, although they would not appeal to the dragoman's eye. The knave of an Armenian who had concluded the sale with me had abstracted his former property from my stable, and had put in his place this unsound hack. I sent him back in charge of the zaptieh with a letter to Mr. Devey; but I do not know whether our Consul ever recovered my stolen steed. He most kindly sent me on a fine horse of his own, which reached us safely at Vostan. Such are the tricks of these subtle Armenians, whom long centuries of oppression have ingrained with every kind of turpitude. As we rode along this shore, one regretted God's covenant, that He would be patient with the hopeless race of man. To overwhelm them in these waters and people afresh the scene of their crimes, would, it seemed to us, be the kindest and wisest plan.