Outside of the gates of the fortress on the east, west and north sides, is the suburb, inhabited by more than thirty thousand Rayas; on the south side, from the gate of Tabríz to that of Erzenján a wall has been begun, had it been finished, it would have made Erzerúm an amazingly strong fortress. Between this wall and the castle is the suburb divided into seven quarters. The suburb of the Tabríz gate extends from the quarters of Dáragách, and that of Dúlúkler to Gumishlí Kunbed. The suburb of the Georgians on the north side, is the quarter of the rich merchants; here is the custom-house where I was employed as clerk: round it are the houses of Persian, Indian, and Chinese merchants, next to the custom-houses of Constantinople and Smyrna, that of Erzerúm is the most busy. The suburb of Erzenján extends, on the eastern side of the castle-gate, from the Camel fountain to the mill of Alí. This suburb being mostly inhabited by Armenians, there are thirteen churches here. The Infidels wear variegated turbans, and blue coats, and the lower classes wear felt, with coarse shoes called Chárk; their women wrap white sheets round their heads, and the Musselmán women wear pointed caps of gold and silver stuff, velvet trowsers and yellow boots: they are extremely pretty, their teeth as well arranged as their words; with their beautiful hair, dragging a thousand lovers after them as slaves. The men are long-lived, in society may be found many men past seventy years of age, with full use of all their faculties. They generally speak a peculiar dialect, but their divines and poets speak with great eloquence, and their story-tellers delight intelligent people by their tales of Hamza, and by Chinese shades. There are also many Santons and holy men, of whom Allahán-dede was famous for his uxoriousness. Though the air of Erzerúm is cold, yet its vegetables are abundant, its soil being extremely fertile, and blessed with productions of all kind, which makes Erzerúm one of the cheapest places in the world. Though Erzerúm has neither gardens nor vineyards, yet it is famed for roses; some winter apples and pears are the only fruits which are found here. Plane-trees and willows are in abundance in all the walks and in the rose-gardens; on account of their long winter and short summer, the sowing and harvest is over in two months. At the time I was at Erzerúm there happened, in the month of July, when the horses were out at grass, such a storm of lightning, thunder, hail and snow, that all the horses broke away and ran half mad to the neighbouring villages. The length and severity of the winter here is explained by the following tale. They asked a Dervish “from whence he came?” he said, “from the snow of Divine Mercy;” they asked, “what was the name of the place;” “Erzerúm,” said the Dervish, which may be spelled Erezolúm (cruel to man); they continued to ask “whether he had seen any summer there.” The Dervish said, “By God, I remained