_ 129 _ important. It had great underground caverns inside, in which three hundred horsemen could be accommodated. Now it was unoccupied; it had been used as a place of assembly for thieves, but now the road was clear of them. Near the monastery is a plain about half a league across, called [Kará Seku], “black plain”. It is a very muddy place; and when it rains it becomes an impassible marsh, which causes caravans to remain in these cavems for fifteen days, without being able to cross. Before this plain there were settlements and a city, all in ruins. We arrived in the afternoon at an ancient caravanserai which a daughter of Hassan Pasha had caused to be built, and near it was a well of good water called [Kará Jorun], “black basin”, for a very large basin there in black stone, which is filled with water by a treadwheel. Beasts drink from it; and on the other side water is drawn from a tap, at which travellers drink. Two years before a Moor had caused a strong stonework building to be constructed, in which there is a man who receives wages to attend to the treadwheel and ensure that the basin is full in order to save trouble for travellers. Alongside this caravanserai is a small village of stone and mud houses inhabited by Turkmen peasants.
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