Note 18 — Chapter VIII · FROM MUSH TO ERZERUM

The town, which has a population of several thousands, clusters at the foot of a long ridge of volcanic rock which projects from the towering background of mountain into the floor of the plain. The southerly extremity of that precipitous ridge is crowned by lines of battlements, a work ascribed to the Genoese.18 But the present masters of the country have neglected the fortifications, and have fallen back upon Erzerum. Pasin lies at the mercy of their good neighbours, the Russians, who already hold its doors. After fording the river of Upper Pasin, the Kala Su, as it is called—a sluggish stream, flowing in a divided channel—we passed through a feudal gateway within a wall which was in ruins, and groped our way through irregular lanes heaped with filth. Quarters were at last discovered in a new and well-kept coffee-house—a room of some size, with a wooden stage or daïs erected around the bare walls. Upon this stage, behind the half-screen of an open balustrade, a number of loungers in various dress, some wearing the turban, others the fez, others again the Persian lambskin cap,19 were gathered in groups, sipping coffee from delicious little cups, and drawing the fragrant fumes of the Persian tobacco from hubble-bubble or kaleon. In a further corner, away from the light, one could not mistake some tall, lean figures, and features of big birds of prey; we were indeed in the presence of some officers of Hamidiyeh, conspicuous by the brass ensigns on their lambskin caps. They were spreading their coverlets for the night, or were turned towards the wall, bowing the head and then the body in prayer.