_ 310 _ which they were covered. It is true that the great number and height of the mountains and hills existing in this Upper Armenia is something incredible; it is one thing to see them and another to read about them, for it seems as if Our Lord had decided to bring together all the mountains there are in the world. Over the top of this ascent we travelled through so much snow that the animals sank into it up to the knee, and it was rather troublesome to get them out. A little farther on, also in a northerly direction, in a low-lying area among some mountains a small hermitage of the same Armenians has been built. We travelled through this snow until after midday, when, going down a small descent, we came to the end of it. To the south-west there was a village of mud houses called Palu, peopled by Armenians who also live by cultivation and rearing [livestock]. Here the plague was also doing its work. We spent that night, and on the following day we took the road again in the same direction over very rough ascents and descents, with the same snow which came up to the knee. When we had gone about a league, we came to a great, steep descent overlooking the sea, where the animals slipped on the deep snow, and collided with one another
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy