of an afternoon and gallop over the powdery snow, it is necessary to protect the ears against frost-bite. On the other hand, it is not easy to realise the severity of the weather, so brilliant are the rays of the sun. And the warmth of walking exercise completes the illusion of a snowfall in summer, while your spaniel ranges widely over the endless white surface, intent upon his forbidden pursuit of the larks. The charm of the place--and it has a charm which must appeal to all sensitive minds--consists in the grandiose scale of the surroundings--the sculpturesque beauties of the parallel lines of mountain which meet in the perspective of the west; the subtle effects of light and tint, which are those of some summit in the mountains transferred to the habitable earth. The setting of the sun and the rising of the moon reflect the originality of such conditions. The plain itself must be close upon 6000 feet high; it has a length, from west to east, of eighteen miles, and it is not less than some ten miles across. [186] In its trough lies the infant stream of the Western Euphrates, which, rising on the slopes of the Dümlü Dagh, [187] a mountain of the northern border, is for some little distance lost in a zone of marshes, almost opposite the city but not less than about five miles away. These marshes are quite an aviary of all kinds of wildfowl, which, besides supplying eggs to the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, afford most excellent opportunities to the sportsman. The enceinte, or circumvallation of Erzerum was constructed during the period between the war of 1855 and that of 1877. It consists of a rampart or ramparts of earth with ditches, and resembles the enceinte of Paris. Cannons are mounted upon it at intervals. It embraces an area of about three square miles, and is furnished with four principal gates. That on the west is called the gate of Erzinjan, and the one on the east the gate of Tabriz. The gates on the north and south-west are named respectively the Olti and Kharput gates. Each gate is guarded by sentries. The space enclosed within this rampart is only partially covered by buildings, the town occupying not more than about a square mile of ground. Down to comparatively recent times Erzerum consisted of a citadel and walled city, with suburbs lying outside the walls. These walls, which dated back to the Byzantine period, were double and defended by sixty-two towers. They were further protected by a moat. Their circumference appears to have been not less than three or four miles, and no Christian was allowed to reside within them. They were provided with four gates, bearing the same names as those in the present enceinte. Texier, who visited Erzerum in 1839, records that Greek characters were to be seen upon the gates, and crosses incised in the stones of the walls. Both features were evidently of Byzantine origin. His authoritative testimony is supported by at least two of his predecessors, Hamilton (1836)