South of this beaten avenue are situated regions which, in spite of the researches of individual travellers, are still but imperfectly known. The lake of Van remains a centre of agriculture and primitive industry; yet it lies beyond a zone of feebly governed country which, year by year, is becoming more difficult to cross. The pest of Kurds has settled firmly upon these richly favoured territories, destroying agriculture and banishing trade. What caravans there are travel in large bodies, and every man is armed to the teeth. Between Erzerum and the town of Van they choose between two routes according to the season of the year. In summer they cross the mountains behind the northern capital, and proceed by the plain of Khinis, crossing the Murad at Melazkert. During winter they make the round by way of Pasin and Alashkert, deviating on the confines of the latter district, and passing the river at Tutakh. The approach through the town of Mush is used only once a year, when the pilgrims journey from Erzerum to the cloister of Surb Karapet. On that occasion the caravan, according to my informants, continues its course as far as Van. By the two first routes it is usual to follow the eastern shore of the lake, which is reached near the little town of Akantz. [1] We set out from Karakilisa on October the 29th, mounted on our newly-purchased horses, and accompanied by a zaptieh or gendarme. Our objective was this same Akantz; the principal intermediate stations were Tutakh and Patnotz. I had thought it possible to accomplish the ride in the course of two days; our friends laughed at the idea. I decided therefore to start in the afternoon, with the hope of arriving on the evening of the third day. At a quarter-past three o'clock we were making our way along the marsh to the point where the Murad leaves the plain. After reaching the bend, we proceeded down the passage which receives the river, towards Dombat and the grassy hills which I have already mentioned. On our left hand, at an interval of about 500 yards from the left bank, rose the first gentle slopes of the Ala Dagh system; this high land was answered on the right bank, at about a similar distance, by the outworks of the Kilich Gedik. The Murad pursues its course between these two blocks of mountain, and, a little lower down, forces its way through the narrowing gap. Near Dombat both banks are of considerable elevation, and the ridges appear to cross the direction of the stream. Before arriving opposite the village we crossed the Sharian Su, a tributary which collects the drainage of the western portion of the plain, and which appeared to us to have a volume scarcely less than that of the principal branch.