Of the castle of Cafondur; of the town of Bitlis; of the Kurdish tribes; and of the Curd, Sarasbec, the lord of that city, who has but little respect for Sciech Ismael. As I think I have now said quite enough about this city and its state, it seems to me I ought to continue the journey I have begun. Therefore, at the end of two months I set out towards Bitlis, and at the end of five days’ journey arrived at a castle called Cafondur,[575] inhabited by a Curdish chief who governs it in the allegiance of the ruler of Bitlis. It is a small castle built on a peaked mountain, the whole country being mountainous and arid, as from Asanchif to Bitlis the whole road is hilly with some narrow and dangerous passes. And, although I had promised to describe my journey straight on, nevertheless, for my own satisfaction, and to please my readers, I will make mention of a city a little out of the road named Sert,[576] where nuts and chesnuts grow in large quantities, and also gall for tanning. There are also three fine castles under the kingdom of Asanchif, called Aixu, Sanson,[577] Arcem;[578] this Arcem is governed by a tall Saracen negro, a slave of Sciech Ismael, named Gambarbec, of gigantic height and strength. Sciech Ismael made him a Sultan, and placed him under Custagialu. I now recollect that I mentioned before that there were six great cities and five castles in the province of Diarbec; but I did not name them at the time; but now I will give the name of each. The cities are Orfà, Caramit, Mirdin, Gizire, Asanchif, and Sert;[579] the castles are Jumilen,[580] Dedu, Arcem, Aixu, Sanson, all of which have their particular rulers subject to Custagialu Mahumutbec. But to return to the castle of Cafondur[581] we have mentioned, near which, in a deep valley, is a stream,[582] and a fine large chan built, for the accommodation of people travelling during the deep snow, as it snows in an extraordinary manner in that country. I myself was compelled to remain a month in this chan, not being able to continue my journey to Bitlis, on account of the deep snow which covered all the country. In this place one gets dear bread, victuals, barley, and fodder, from some Curdish peasants, who inhabit certain villages on the mountains.[583] This country is perfectly free from robbers, as the whole time I remained in that chan I was molested by no one, although I went about a great deal with the servant of our Carimbassi;[584] and, although he had some of the goods of this same Carimbassi with other merchandise left at Asanchif, to the value of ten thousand ducats, and I had three thousand ducats in my possession, we never had any hindrance. Setting out at the beginning of the month, I arrived at Bitlis as best I could, and remained there about fifteen days expecting Comminit of Casvem, with whom I had been sent by my employers to Tauris to recover some money.