_ 323 _ The Euphrates will be described later in the appropriate place. From this caravanserai we travelled through mountain-ranges all covered with snow, over very rough roads. In places, the melting snow which ran on to them, for it is muddy terrain, accumulated and stuck together, and became like flagstones. The animals slid about and their loads and we ourselves landed on the ground at every step, and this gave us a deal of trouble, until we arrived at another caravanserai about a league from the last one, with another bridge and a stream. From here, in a southerly direction, not far away, there is a small village of Armenians with another monastery near a range of mountains, and in the other direction there is a valley called in Turkish Gulzeldere, which means “beautiful valley” for its great coolness and verdure. Beyond this caravanserai, about half a league over the same rough roads, we passed another, they were all made and built so close to one another as a refuge for these caravans, and because in the depth of winter it is not possible to make a day’s journey longer than from one to the other. After this last caravanserai, half a league on, we arrived on Friday 14th December at a city called Betliz,
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