The Armenians,or the people of Ararat : a brief historical sketch of the past and the present condition of Armenia, the Armenians, their religion, and missions among them

Front matter

OR

The People of Ararat.

A Brief Historical Sketch of the Past and the Present Condition of Armenia, the Armenians, their Religion, and Missions among them.

Chapter I. Armenia

Cradle of human race — Boundaries — Ancient testimonies — A highland — Mount Masis (Ararat) — Description — Volcanic origin— The earliest name of Armenia — A blunder — Ancient references— The great rivers — The Garden of Eden — Lakes — Climate — Products — Flowers — Birds — Mines — Cities — Present condition 1-31

Chapter II. The Armenians

Origin of the people — Biblical testimony — Haig, the founder of the race — Successors— Aram — Armenia from Aram — Ararat or Arardhi of Inscriptions — Its antiquity — History furnished by cuneiform inscriptions — Kings of Van — Assyrian culture — Not Assyrians — Tigranes I. — Grecian invasion — Rise of Arsacide dynasty — Tigranes the Great — Roman invasion — Antony, the Roman general — Artavasdes 32-49

Chapter III. Conflicting Forces In The East

Overthrow of the Parthian Empire — Division of the Roman Emp^e — Armenians between Persia and Eastern (Greek) Empire— Armenia’s change of religion— Revival of Zoroastrianism in Persia — Constantine the Great — Intestine troubles in Armenia — Struggle for liberty — Self-called prophet and his followers — Condition of the Christians — Rise of a new dynasty— Tartar and Turkish tribes and their invasion — Downfall

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of the Armenian independence — Gakig — Fall of Ani — Invasion of the Seljukian Turks— Seljukian rule oppressive— Reuben I., Armenian Independence in Cilicia — Crusades — Condition of the new dynasty— Genghis Khan— Conduct of the Crusaders — Armenians surrounded by Mohammedan powers—Defeat of the Armenians— Leo VI., his family captives— Liberated and his death

Chapter IV. The Armenians In The Period Of Subjection

Changes in Western Asia— Origin of Turkish Empire— Othman— Standing army — Janissaries — Conquests — Armenians — Cruelties of Tamerlane — Capture of Constantinople — Letter of Pope Pius II. — Contest over Armenia — Shah Abbas — Captive Armenians— Russian and Persian contests over the land of Ararat Bravery of the Armenians — Russian perfidy — Armenians scattered—Villages— Houses— Occupation of villagers— Patriarchial family life— Shepherd’s life— Farming— Fertility— Churches— People in larger towns and cities— Occupation— Ancient merchants—Cruel jealousy of the Turks— Patriarchate of Constantinople— Mode of government — Armenians in India In Persia — In Russia — Unjust policy of Russia — Number of Armenians— Their language — Literature — Moral character . 6S-56

Chapter V. The Present Armenian Troubles

Christianity persecuted under a political garb— No safety for the Christian — No justice in Turkish courts — corruption of officials— Atrocities— “ The tears of Armenia ’’—Bishop Nerses— Russo-Turkish war— Treaty of Berlin— Anglo-Turkish agreement — England responsible — Reluctance of the government to protect her Christian subjects — Thirteen Armenian villages destroyed — Moussa Bay — Persecutions — Massacres Outrages — European powers — Condition of unjustly imprisoned— Armenia lamented — Must be regenerated . . . 97-120

CONTENTS.

Chapter VI. Pre-christian Monotheism And Polytheism

Primitive monotheism — Instances — Primitive religion of ancient Aryans — Armenians Aryans — Corruption of religion — Sabeism — Polytheism — Babylonian and Assyrian influence — Zoroastrianism— Its corruption by Babylonian and Grecian polytheism 121-127

Chapter VII. Conversion Of The Armenians

Religious condition of Western Asia in the time of Christ— Christianity in Armenia — First Christian nation — Anak — Gregory — Artaxerxes — Tiridates — St. Gregory’s return and work — Conversion of the king and the nation — Scriptures — Persian persecutions— Religious wars — Zoroastrianism enforced — Final victory of Christianity — Council of Chalcedon — Its decision refused— The Armenian Church not Eutychian or Monophysite — Greek oppression — Mohammedanism and its fanatic followers — Cruelties — Gashem — Lack of Christion love 128-148

Chapter VIII. The Armenian Church

A national Church — Surrounded by hostile forces — People scattered— Patriarchates necessitated — Papal missionaries— Influence of Jesuits — Division — Claim of the Church — Bishops or presbyters — Priests or elders — Support of clergy — Deacons — Vartabeds or evangelists— Points of difference from Roman Church — Orthodoxy — Essential doctrines — Need of reformation 149-159

Chapter IX. The Reformed Armenian Church

Signs of reformation — The Bible — American missionaries — Clergymen— “Oriental Melanchthon,” Revs. Goodell and Bird— Missionaries at Constantinople — Romish opposition — Armenian opposition — A young martyr — Liberty granted — Bishop Matteos’s conduct — First Evangelical Armenian Church — Other

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Churches— Protestant community — Rapid progress— Dr. Cyrus Hamlin and the Crimean war— Futile promises of the Porte — Statistics— Bible — Its power— Hinderances— Reports— Martyrdom of Avedis and Sahag — Schools — Scholars — Statistics — Influence of schools — Governmental opposition — Restrictions — Missionaries — Their work — Publications — Missions in Persia — Teheran — Hamadan — Tabriz — Rev. S. G. Wilson’s school — Girls’ school — Scholars — Medical missionary work — The need for medical missionaries 160-203

Appendix

INSCRIPTIONS OF ARMENIA.

(Translated by Professor A. H. Sayce, of Oxford, England. > Inscription of Sarduris I. — Inscription of Ispuinis — Regulations of sacrifices to the gods — Inscriptions of Menuas — Inscriptions of Argistis — Inscription of Sarduris II. — Inscriptions of Rusas — Inscription of Xerxes, the Persian king — Hatti Humayoun of 1856 205-220

Preface

A little over ten and a half years ago the author of this volume landed at the city of New York, without means or friends, but with an imperfect knowledge of some English words. His sole purpose for coming into this country was to prepare for the Christian ministry, to which end he had devoted several years’ study in Marsovan, Asia Minor. .

After the unimagined, touching, and romantic experiences of six months in the city and State of New York, a good Providence led him to meet the late Rev. Dr. H. J. Van Lennep, of Great Barrington, Mass., by whose direction and kindness he went to Wheaton College, Wheaton, 111., where he studied two years.

By the kind suggestion of Dr. Van Lennep he came to Princeton, N. J., and there entered the Theological Seminary.

It was his great delight there to meet the late Rev. Dr. A. A. Hodge, then Professor of Theology in the Seminary, whose kindness as a friend and influence as an exemplary Christian instructor are indelibly written upon the heart and character of the author, who took a great interest in him. He enjoyed the confidence and friendship both of his professors and fellow-students in

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an unusual degree. Rev. Dr. A. A. Hodge, in recommending him to some of the leading ministers of New York, wrote from Princeton, N. J., May 5th, 1886: —

“ Mr. Gabrielian is a native of Armenia, a candidate for the ministry under the care of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. He has the respect and confidence of his professors and fellow-students in a very unusual degree. He is intelligent, diligent, studious, pious, modest, honest, frank, and entirely reliable. He is decidedly and in all respects the best of foreign students we have had for years.”

He graduated “with credit at Princeton Theological Seminary” in 1888, and with the hope of soon returning to his native land he has been ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. But .some circumstances and a deep conviction of the importance of a medical knowledge in his future work, both as a means of finding access to all classes of people and of doing good, led him to take a full medical course at Jefferson Medical College of this c i ty , which course he has completed this spring, and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

Meanwhile the Turkish government, always hostile to Christian civilization, has grown worse and worse. The Kurds, the Circassians, the Turks, and officials, encouraged by the attitude of the government, have reached the height of injustice, cruelty, and barbarism.

The author, not being indifferent to the condition of his people, but as one suffering with them, has taken great pains in gathering such authentic facts to bring them to the attention of the friends of Christianity and humanity, who will undoubtedly take great interest in these down-

PREFACE.

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trodden sons and daughters of Ararat, and lend their sympathy and help to ameliorate their condition and hasten their emancipation from the iron yoke of the “ unspeakable Turk.”

In order to make the work the more interesting and instructive in giving a general and brief outline of the history of the people, their past and present condition, no pains have been spared in consulting the ancient and modern, native and foreign, historians of note.

The last chapter, on Missions, from the beginning to the present time, is the longest chapter, but by no means an adequate account of that grand work. It is given in a very succinct manner.

The author’s thanks are due to the Rev. Dr. Judson Smith, Secretary of the American Board of Foreign Missions, who has so kindly furnished him with the Annual Reports of the Board, to which free references have been made.

In regard to the style and language of the book, no one can be more deeply conscious of its defects than the author himself. But if the esteemed reader will imagine the condition and circumstances under which this work has been prepared, his criticism might be a little modified.

The grateful acknowledgments of the author are also due to the friends who assisted him and encouraged the publication of this work. May the Lord bless and make it the means of advancing His Kingdom and liberating His oppressed creatures.

Philadelphia, Pa., July, 1892.

Chapter I. Armenia

The student of the Bible will find a great delight in perusing any biblical and historical work, for the discoveries of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Moabitish, and Persian monuments and tablets, with the decipherment of their cuneiform inscriptions, have verified much of biblical narrative, satisfied the honest doubting minds, and silenced the idle cavilers. Armenia, indeed, does not equally rank with these countries in the importance of its discoveries, or in its immediate relation to the land of the Israelites. Yet Armenia played an important role in the drama of the history of Western Asia in the past, and who can tell what she may still do in the future.

Moreover, Armenia was the cradle of the human race, the home of infant humanity, and the history of the human race begins from Armenia. It has also sources of information in its ruined cities non-exhumed, castles, caves, and in the old monasteries. And when this information is gathered and compiled it will shed a great deal of light upon many historical subjects, both sacred and secular.

The country of Armenia lies directly north of the Mesopotamian plain. It is a mountainous country, and

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contains all of the great river resources of Western Asia. The Euphrates, the Tigris, the Araxes, the Cyrus (Kur), the Acampsis, and the Halys take their rise in the highlands of Armenia, and flow into three different seas, fertilizing the subjacent countries through which they run. Armenia is well likened to Switzerland in its relation to the western part of Asia, as the latter is to Western Europe.

Its boundaries have varied at different times. According to the native historians, the country reached its greatest extent under the administrations of the kings, Aram and Tigranes II. The former drove out the Babylonian and the Median invaders, and enlarged his territories by the annexation of a large portion of Asia Minor to his dominions. According to some authorities, the neighboring nations began to call the country Aramia, which in the lapse of time was changed to Armenia.

On the north, Armenia reached almost to the Caucasian Mountains ; on the west, the Black Sea and Asia Minor. Mesopotamia lay on the south, the upper part of which was included in the Armenian provinces, “ the Nairi ” of the cuneiform inscriptions. On the east, the Caspian Sea and Media bounded Armenia.* In the time of Herodotus, Armenia must have been about five hundred and fifty miles from east to west, and about two

* Pliny agrees with the Armenian historians in bringing the eastern boundary to the Caspian Sea, and Herodotus makes Armenia to border on Cappadocia and Cilicia on the west, stating that “this stream (the Halys River) rises in the mountain country of Armenia.’’

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hundred to two hundred and fifty miles from north to south. The country was divided into two parts, namely, Armenia Major and Armenia Minor; the latter lay to the west of the Euphrates, the former was again divided into fifteen provinces.

Armenia is a highland from four thousand to seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. Its surface is undulating, with beautiful dells and hills, with fertile valleys and forest-covered mountains, with fecundant and extensive plains and pasture lands, and lofty snow-capped mountains with glittering snowy peaks piercing the clear, blue sky. The highest mountain of Western Asia is situated at the centre of Armenia. It is Mount Masis of the natives, and Mount Ararat of the Europeans, which is of unsurpassed beauty, magnificence, and grandeur. No traveler has yet ever seen it and not spoken of it in admiration. “ The impression made by Ararat upon the mind of every one who has any sensibility of the stupendous works of the Creator is wonderful and overpowering, and many a traveler of genius and taste has employed both the power of the pen and of the pencil in attempting to portray this impression, but the consciousness that no description, no representation, can reach the sublimity of the object thus attempted to be depicted must prove to the candid mind that, whether we address the ear or eye, it is difficult to avoid the poetic in expression and exaggerated in form, and confine ourselves strictly within the bounds of consistency and truth.”*

* “Journey to Ararat,” page 146.

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“ Nothing can be more beautiful than its shape, more awful than its height. All the surrounding mountains sink into insignificance when compared to it. It is perfect in all its parts ; no hard, rugged feature, no unnatural prominence ; everything is in harmony, and all combined to render it one of the sublimest objects in nature.”

MOUNT MASIS (ARARAT).

Mount Masis (Ararat) is situated on a wide and fertile plain, which is watered by the Araxes with its tributaries. This river traverses the plain, running on the north of the mountain, and fertilizes the plain, which is dotted by numerous villages. This plain is, in fact, a plateau, about seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. The

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mountain still rises over ten thousand feet higher than the plain, thus making the total height of it over seventeen thousand feet from the sea level. It is, therefore, perpetually covered with snow and ice, that dazzles in splendor the eyes of the spectator.*

Mount Masis (Ararat) and other mountains have been visited at times by violent earthquakes and eruptions. Though Mount Masis itsell is formed of volcanic rocks, no record of its volcanic activities is preserved for us by the ancients. However, a German traveler makes mention of his seeing a terrifying sight more than a century ago, and says: “Some distant southern volcanoes, or Ararat itself (the terrible gorge of which, distant from Caucasus in a straight line one hundred and fifty miles, one can hardly look at without shuddering, and which, on the 13th of January and 22d of February, 1783, began again to throw out smoke and fire), must have burned the top of Caucasus, and thrown upon it those mineral ashes.”

In the year 1840, on the 20th of June, a terrible earthquake shook the foundation of the mighty mountain. The monastery of St. James and the village of Aicuri were buried in the ruins, and the inhabitants of the village, about one thousand in number, were buried alive. The towns of Nakhjevan and Erevan did not escape the calamity. In both of these towns hundreds of houses were thrown down and thousands of human beings

*Sir Layard saw the mountain from a distance of about one hundred and forty-five miles on the south side of it, and a German traveler from the Caucasian mountains on the north, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles.

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unexpectedly, within a few minutes, were swept out of their earthly existence.

Undoubtedly must such calamities have been repeated in the past, but we are not informed concerning them by the ancient writers. But sad it is still to hear such news . as the following : —

“Paris, May 17th (1891).— The Dix-Nenvieme Siccle states that commercial advices have been ' received at Marseilles from Trebizond to the effect that a new volcano has appeared in Armenia at the summit of Mount Nimrod, in the District of Van, vomiting forth flames and lava. The villages at the base of the mountain have been destroyed, and many persons are said to have been killed or injured. The fugitives are camping outside the range of destruction. They are almost entirely destitute, and the greatest misery prevails among them.’’

The earliest name of Armenia, by which it was known to the ancient Hebrew and Assyrian writers, was Arai at. We are told, in connection with the Deluge, that when the waters of the great flood subsided the aik of Noah “ rested upon the mountains of Ararat;' The language of the Bible is both accurate and precise. Not upon Mount Ararat, as it is generally and incorrectly said and written by many, but upon the mountains of Ararat.

The author of the book of Genesis is accurate in his expression and precise in his knowledge of the fact that Ararat is the name of the country upon whose mountains the tempest-tossed vessel of the patriarch rested. Whether his knowledge was the result of Divine inspiration, or as a historical fact preserved and handed down

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to the author’s time, we cannot tell. The accuracy of the statement, however, which stood the criticisms of centuries, and especially this age of criticism, has a rightful claim to its acceptance by all.

The following is a specimen of such absurdities and blunders so often ignorantly, or by carelessness committed : —

A traveler, well known in this country, writes to one of the leading daily papers as follows : “ At daylight we were in a broad, flat valley lying between the greater and lesser Caucasus. The latter, to our south, lifted, not far off, from twelve to fifteen thousand feet, and were clothed in snow. In the far distance were others. I saw a sharp, conical burnished peak, which I took to be Ararat. I could not help thinking what a hard time the mighty line of living things had when marching by twos, male and female, from those cold, bleak heights down into the plains below, after the great flood had subsided; and what a time good old Noah must have had to keep some of his warm-blooded pets from freezing on that lofty sixteen-thousand-feet-high pinnacle. What a pity our theologians do not boldly preach that the Bible is a mighty system of truth, but that its truths come to us clothed in Oriental legend and fable — that the truth is there, pure and undefiled, as the grain is pure and uncontaminated by the chaff in which it is housed— instead of trying to make a reasoning world swallow the chaff for solid kernels.”

Undoubtedly our honorable traveler will claim to belong to that “ reasoning world ” of which he speaks. But if all who make up that “ reasoning world ” will

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reason as he does, namely, to take that erroneous expression of the common people, and call that highest mountain peak — which is over seventeen thousand feet from the sea-level— Mount Ararat, and add to this error, or comparatively a modern designation, another, namely, that the ark of Noah rested upon this mountain, then turn around and condemn the Bible as an Oriental legend and fable,” it must be said that this kind of “ reasoning ” of the so-called “ reasoning world ” is absurdity, and not reasoning at all.

Ararat is mentioned in three other books of the Old Testament, beside the above, in connection with the flood : II. Kings xix. 37 ; Isaiah xxxvii. 38, and Jeremiah li. 27. None of these passages speaks of it as a mountain, but as a country. The first two passages, identical in import, speak of the escape of Adiammelech and Sharezer “into the land of Ararat, aftei having committed the crime of assassinating then own lather, Sennacherib.

The prophet Jeremiah summons the forces of Armenia to combine with the Medes to overthrow' Babylon, in these words “ Set ye up a standaid in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her (Babylon). Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. * * *

“ Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes.” (li., 27, 28.)

The following is from an inscription of Assur-Natsir- Pal, the king of Assyria, and the date of his reign is assigned by Professor Sayce from B. C. 883 to B. C. 85S : “The cities of Khatu, Khotaru, Nistun, Irbidi, Mitqia,

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Arzania, Tela (and) Khalua, the cities of Qurkhi, which in sight of the mountains of U’su, Arua (and) Arardhi, mighty mountains, are situated I captured.” Professor Sayce remarks that “ Arardhi seems to be the earliest form of Urardhu (of later Assyrian inscriptions), the Biblical Ararat.’ (Records of the Past, vol. 2, page 140.) These passages from the Bible and the Assyrian inscription show, beyond doubt, that Ararat was the earliest name of Armenia, and it was not the name ofa mountain ; and finally, that the ark of Noah rested upon the mountains of Ararat or Armenia. Thus the history of the human race began anew from the land of Ararat.

It has been said that the great rivers of Western Asia take their origin from the highlands of Armenia/ The river Acampsis of the ancients, identified by some with the Pison of the Bible, has its sources from the southwest of Erzerum. It receives several streams, and with beautiful windings flows into the Black Sea. About the Araxes, according to some the Gihon of the Bible, there is an interesting statement in an Armenian history: “ Aramais (king of Armenia) built a city of hewn stone on a small eminence in the plain of Aragay, and near the bank of a river before mentioned, which had received the name of Gihon. The new city, which afterwards became the capital of his kingdom, he called Armavir, after his name, and the name of the river he changed to Arax, after his son Arast. 1 he river Araxes is fed and swollen by many streams, rivulets, and brooks, which run from the sides of numerous glens, through picturesque ravines, and mingle with it. Along its tortuous course it carries a great fertility, and finally mingles with no less than the

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famous river Cyrus (Kur), and pours itself into the bosom of the Caspian Sea.

The two other rivers of Armenia are the Euphrates and Tigris, whose identity with those mentioned in connection with the Garden of Eden is beyond doubt. Both of these rivers take also their origin from the highlands of Armenia. The Euphrates, from the springs which are not very far from Mount Masis (Ararat, so-called) takes a westward course along the Taurus mountain chain on the northern side of the mountain. Near Malatix eh the river turns towards the southeast and approaches the source of the Tigris, but within a few miles distance From this point onward, with a southeasterly course, these rivers flow, and finally they unite and pour into the Persian Gulf.

The student of the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian history and civilization knows what fertility these riveis carried along their course through the Mesopotamian plain, and how, with numerous canals and channels, thi_\ irrigated the land of the great empires and became the means of commercial intercourse with the neighboiing nations.

The claim of Armenia to the possession within its bosom of the Garden of Eden ought not to be disputed. No country, indeed, has attempted to contend with Armenia for this honor. Her natural beauty, salubiious climate, her exuberant fertility, the fragrance of hei flowers, the variety of her singing birds, above all, her mountainous bosom and overflowing breasts ftom which the mighty waters run down on her sides and fill the great channels of those rivers, which fertilize the subjacent

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countries and replenish the three adjacent seas; all these do justify her claim, and render it almost a historical fact that Armenia was the cradle of infant humanity. “Ancient traditions place the province of Eden in this highest portion of Armenia, anciently called Ararat, and it appears to furnish all the conditions of the Mosaic narrative.”*

If variety makes beauty Armenia furnishes such a variety, making her one of the most beautiful countries in the world ; not only has she those gigantic mountains with their snow-crowned heads looking down upon the clouds that envelop their skirts while they mock at the ambient air and the winds, not only has she hundreds of murmuring streams and rippling brooks gliding along the sides of thousands of hills, which swell those kingly rivers and cause them to overflow their banks; but she also has some beautiful lakes, like jewels set in their respective caskets. The lake of Sevan, which lies between the Araxes and the Cyrus, occupying the centre of a fertile plain of northern part of Armenia, is called “Sweet Lake,” in contradistinction to the others, which are salt-water lakes. Lake Sevan, near the city of Erevan, is now in the Russian provinces of Armenia. The lake of O rmi, or Orumiah, lies in the southern part of the country, now in the Persian provinces of Armenia. These lakes, and some others, are surrounded by romantic views and poetic scenery, but the lake of Van, surpassing them in size, in importance, and splendor, causes us with her to linger a little longer.

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*“ Bible Lands,” page 21. Van Lennep.

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The area of Lake Van is about fourteen hundred square miles ; its surface is over five thousand feet high above the level of the sea. It is embosomed at the centre of a verdant and rich plain, which plain also is en- - circled by an exceedingly beautiful, romantic, undulating mountain-chain, which culminates on the north in the sublime monarch of mountains of Western Asia, Mount Masis (Ararat).

The beauty of Lake Van and its surroundings always did and will more intensely enchant the poets and artists who are more fortunate and enjoy the beauty of nature more than the rest of us. The following is the language of a distinguished explorer: “ A range of lowhills now separated us from the plain and lake of \ an We soon reached their crest and a landscape of surpassing beauty was before us. At our feet, intensely blue and sparkling in the rays of the sun, was the inland sea, with the sublime peak of the Subban Dagh (mountain) mirrored in its transparent waters. The city (of \ani, with its castle-crowmed rock and its embattled walls and towers lay' embowered in orchards and gardens. To oui right a rugged snow-capped mountain opened midway into an amphitheatre, in which, amid lofty trees, stood the Armenian Convent of Seven Churches. To the west ol the lake was the Nimrod Dagh, and the highlands nourishing the sources of the great rivers of Mesopotamia. The hills forming the foreground of our picture were carpeted with the brightest flowers, over which wandered the flocks, while the gaily dressed shepherds gathered around as wre halted to contemplate the enchanting scene."*

* Layard’s “ Nineveh and Babylon,” pages 333~4-

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Many a scene like the above has enchanted the foreign traveler and inspired the native authors and poets, and caused the wandering, expatriated sons and daughters of Armenia to remember her former majestic beauty and splendor, but marred by the vicissitudes of the ages, and especially under the iron heel of the present tyrant, her indescribable misery, and weep like Jeremiah : “ Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people." (Lamentations iii. 48.)

It might easily have been understood that the climate of Armenia cannot be mild in winter on account of the altitude of the country, which is from four thousand to seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. In general it is very healthy, but in winter the cold is severe, and it lasts from the middle of October until the beginning of May.

In the valleys the weather is a good deal milder and very pleasant. The summer is short, but warm ; this especially is so in certain valleys, which are far away from the reach of the sea breeze, too much inclosed by high mountains and too deep for the mountain breeze. The length of the winter should not mislead the reader, for neither is it uniformly long nor is the degree of cold weather the same all over the country.

Such a variety of climate combined with a naturally fertile soil will produce a vegetation rich in quantity and splendid in quality. There are, indeed, a very few large forest and timber lands left on account of their being inaccessible to the people and for want of good roads. The government is entirely indifferent, both in

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cultivating or protecting the people who would cultivate such forest trees for the two-fold use of them as timber and fuel. Consequently the people suffer very much for the want of these ; especially- is this true in certain districts.

But such vegetations as wheat, barley, cotton, tobacco, and grapes are almost unexcelled in quality, although they are cultivated with very rude instruments and under many disadvantages and difficulties. Almost all the fruits, and such vegetables raised in gardens common in this country, are in the list of the products of Armenia.