Note 185 — A NARRATIVE OF ITALIAN TRAVELS IN PERSIA.

Erzingan, Eriza, a town and district of the same name. The town is situated on the eastern branch of the Euphrates, below Erzeroum. The fine plain slopes gently from north to south, acting as a kind of vast drain for the waters of the mountains on the north and two other sides—viz., the Mezoor Dagh and the Kesheesh Dagh, thus conveying them to the Kara Su. Otherwise, it is a perfect level, free from stone or elevation of any kind, but some artificial mounds at the east corner. It is a garrison town, with new barracks just built; the town and villages contain about twelve thousand houses, or, by the usual calculation, sixty thousand inhabitants. The soil is rich, producing abundance of grain, cotton, fruits, and melons.