_ 120 _ - this is a little more than half a vintem - to a Kurd who is the lord of this land. In the afternoon we put up at Abician, a small place inhabited, like the earlier ones, by Kurds. On the next day we stayed at another village called Hiemet, inhabited by Kurds; and on the next, Christmas Eve, in another, inhabited by similar people. On the Tuesday, Christmas Day in the morning we arrived at Kara Amid. Item: Kara Amid(A) is a famous and noble city, and from Hasuh to here we had been travelling all the time towards the west. In order to enter the city we diverted about half a league because of a river which encircles it; this is the other part of the River Tigris, which mingles with the main river at the city of Seinqif, two days’ journey beyond. Once we had crossed the river by a large bridge, we approached the city, which is at some distance from it on a hill, up a badly-paved ascent. A guard who was already in front of us and accompanying us took us to the customs-house; they habitually do this so that merchandise cannot be stolen [and removed] by other roads. All the merchandise stayed in the customs-house for clearance. When we came out of the customs-house, they searched all our saddle-bags and all (A) Formerly Amida.
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