42 OVERLAND TO INDIA CHAP.
of the way, and for their own sake avoid a graze from the axles ; but they are tied together, and if the file is going along the left side of the road and the first camel in the detachment takes it into his head, as often happens, to pass over at the last moment to the other side, there is confusion, and we have to wait till they have passed. Though the animals are so numerous, the drivers are few ; but the camels are intelligent and know the way after so many pilgrimages to and fro between Tabriz and Trebizond, and generally take care of themselves. The men are Tatars or Persians from Azerbeijan, unlike the Turks both in features and dress, in black kullah or lambskin cap, blue frock-coats with waist-belts, slipper-like shoes, and a kinjal or dagger in the belt. Sometimes a blunderbuss is seen thrust under a rope on a load. Dromedary and camel caravans always travel at night, for the animals cannot see to graze in the dark, and in the daytime they are let loose to feed themselves. In the fasting month cart, horse, and mule caravans travel at night, but at other times they prefer the daylight.
The red Turkish flag, with its white crescent, distinguishes a wretched hut at Ghechid as a military post. In a side valley with a brook the road, walled up in terrace form along the foot of the mountain, occupies the valley bottom, which is here very narrow, and the driver hurries through a corridor-like passage, for it would be a delicate operation to squeeze past a caravan if we met one. The hollow way, however, soon emerges into more open ground, and we mount up the mountain slopes. Clouds hang like curtains and cotton wool over the heights, but the rain has ceased. The horses toil up to a new pass, Vavuk-dag, a flat gentle arch, where, with a temperature of 43.7° and a wind, it feels raw and chilly. To the east the country is level or slightly undulating. The road runs straight down,
often very steeply, and on the long descents the driver dares not for a moment lose control over his horses, or
these over the carriage. Cherchi is the name of the next watchhouse, and in Khadrak are houses of stone, with verandahs, however, of wood—stone becomes the more corn-mon building material, for up here wood is much dearer.
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