Proceeding at four o'clock, we arrived in half-an-hour at the promontory which had been our point of course. We were obliged to cross the neck of this rocky cape, in order to avoid a marsh. Nor was the surface of the plain less boggy to which we descended--such is the neglect or inability on the part of the natives to profit by the natural advantages so lavishly bestowed. We were obliged to hug the headlands of the southern barrier for some considerable time. When at last we struck into the open plain on a more north-westerly course, the village which was our goal proved to be completely destitute both of barley and of hay. We were therefore escorted by a peasant to a neighbouring settlement, in the recesses of the spurs. It consisted of some thirty miserable tenements, of which ten belonged to Armenian families and twenty to Kurds. No grain was possessed by this village, but, after much wrangling, a little barley was produced. This sufficed to feed the horses, and we decided to spend the night there; the name of the place was Zirket. But which of these underground hovels was the least repugnant as a lodging for the night? The first I entered displayed the flicker of a fire of dried manure, and was almost filled by the dim forms of cattle. But I could hear a human cough and the wheezing of sick people; and, as I advanced, I stumbled upon a prostrate figure. It was muffled in a ragged shawl, and I could not see the features; when I touched it on the bare feet it did not move. No better fortune attended a visit to a neighbouring hut; it was more lofty, but it was tenanted by a huddled group of women, one of whom was unable to move from the ground. Returning to my first choice, I ordered the cattle to be ejected, and the sleeper to be taken to an adjacent stable. We slept beside our horses and were attacked in force during the night by a formidable army of minute enemies.