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A BEAUTIFUL SCENE.

eat these? and they formed the subject of conversation for some time.

After two hours of dreary mountains, we entered upon the loveliest scenery it was ever my lot to ride through-the country of the Gebrige. Their mountains are lofty, and even the pass, far from the summit of the surrounding mountains, is 8000 feet above the sea. The mountain tops, wild and grand, were clothed in angry wintry clouds which, lifting ever and anon, revealed for a moment the great heights they had so jealously covered. Rock, glen and valley varied the scene; while the road was shaded, and the hill sides clothed by beech in all its natural beauty of tinted variety; by mountain pine, by tropic sycamore, and flower-laden laburnum. While all above was lofty, grand, and magnificent, the soft valleys below lay basking in sunshine, the golden corn moving in the breeze.

Cottages were sprinkled over the whole; pretty rustic habitations of planks, with sloping roofs. Here one perched on the edge of a precipice; there a few sheltered in a glen; there, on a sunny knoll, here in a shaded nook. Many were built also of stones loosely piled into walls; a pent roof of clinkers covered them in. The keeping the roof

DRESS OF THE WOMEN.

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on seemed an affair of difficulty, for the walls, loose, offered no hold for the rafters; so the edges were piled with heavy stones. Many of the houses were large, and had windows and verandahs: some were placed most picturesquely, and, swathed in creepers, reminded one of Swiss scenery, as it is represented, not as it is. But I might fill pages with description; and had not the bad roads proved the reality, and horses slipping, floundering and falling over the muddy road, convinced me it was no dream, I should have believed the whole a cheat of fancy, to conciliate me for the many injuries she had done me.

The roads being much used, and only earth, were now girth deep in mud, and in places almost impassable. The road was along the side of the mountains, so the whole drama of life was acted beneath our feet in the valleys. Corn rose in frequent patches, or ripe Indian corn in the sheltered places. Here girls were attending the cattle, crossing the rich and luxuriant pasturage.

The dress of the women was much like that of the Armenian women; nor did they seem anxious to veil; and I saw some girls, worthy nymphs of such scenery. The men were fine robust fellows,

210

THE RIVER OF TREBIZOND.

with a very Grecian cast of countenance and manly independence in their bearing, light haired, and black eyed. They seemed industrious, for those who were lounging about had yarn, and worked vigorously, knitting stockings; an odd occupation for a great he creature armed to the teeth.

The girls, as I have said, are strikingly pretty, but soon fade; toil, hard field toil, early marriage, and bad food, soon take the beauty from their cheeks, and the upright perfection from their forms.

We now came on the Jurme Su, the river of Trebizond, whose course we were to follow till it fell into the sea and we into the Quarantine. This country was formerly held by a number of Deri Beys, many of ancient families, who ruled like independent princes, ministering sadly; sometimes acknowledging the Porte, and seeking favour with the Sultan; at others openly defying his authority. Sultan Mahmoud, however, gradually cut down, one by one, these tall flowers, and now nothing remains of them but the ruins of their strongholds, forming picturesque sites on mountain tops or other advantageous points. The people have been great gainers, and now are quiet and

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peaceable at least, as much so as their neighbours. Khans in plenty lined the road: all spoke a great traffic-shops here and there, where Indian corn, bread, unripe peas, and grease, seemed the principal commodities. After six hours, which passed like moments, arrived at Djerijlik, and put up at the guest house. Over it is the large house of one of the former Deri Beys, and inhabited by his relations. The descendants of these men are often found now, generally idle and vicious, subsisting on charity; and the peoples' respect for his gentility, a claim allowed in most countries except England perhaps we are too civilised, too far removed from nature to admit an almost natural claim.

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VISIT FROM A GREAT MAN.

CHAPTER X.

Visit from a Great Man--Pride of the Persian hurt-Evidences of Civilisation as we proceed-Probable Passage of the Ancient GreeksClassical References-Arrival at Trebizond-Consigned to Quarantine-Evasion of the Persian-Quarantine-Italian InnkeeperAnimated Scenes in the yard of the Quarantine-Caravans-What they contain-Native Merchants-New Road-Labourers employed upon it-Of whom composed—Their Wages—Their Recreation during Work-Description of Trebizond-Country around it—American Missionaries in Trebizond-Difficulty of distinguishing the Sects-Easiest distinguished by their Invocations—Arabic Language -By whom best spoken-Its numberless Words-The Pasha offers to punish those who had misused me-Visit to the Pasha-Court of the Serai, and what it contained-Mountain Dogs-The Pasha-His early Life and Reminiscences-Description of the Mosque—Trebizond Honey-Account of it by Xenophon-Family Names adopted in the East-Baths-Antiquity of Trebizond-The Port-Early History of Trebizond-Sultan Mohamet and Comnenus-George of Trebizond-Heroism of David Comnenus-Luzistan-Account of the

Luz.

DJERIJLIK to Trebizond, six hours. The whole distance from Erzeroum is fifty-eight hours. In the evening, the great man who lived in the big house came down and paid me a visit. He was rather outraged; for the whole party, servants, Persian attaché to the embassy, and self, were out in the street of the small village, trying to catch some very wild fowls to convert into dinner, and