LETTER XIII.

FROM DATEV то

NAKHCHEVAN.

Village of Datev-Lor-Substitute for ovens and fireplaces-An evening conversation-The Armenian parish clergy-Their appointment-Qualifi cations-Habits and character-Duties-Incomes-Former state of Lor -Low diet of the common people-Condition of the Armenian females -Beautiful winter scenery-Sisiyán-Hospitality of the mountaineers— Reception at Shaghád-Observance of the Sabbath-Attendance on public worship-Descent from the mountains-Selasíz-Commencement of Persian manners-Arrival at Nakhcheván.

DEAR SIR,

E

We left the convent of Datev, at 10 A. M. on the morning of the 4th of November, my last date. The bishop accompanied us to the village of Datev, about a mile distant, whither he was going to attend the last of the first eight masses said for the soul of his deceased superior. It contains according to one informant 50, and according to another 80 houses. As we stopped only a moment for a guide, we had no apportunity to examine it. A rain that had been drizzling all the morning, now became a driving snow storm, which completely impeded our prospect the remainder of our ride. With difficulty we climbed a mountain ridge, where the snow was already of considerable depth, and the wind and cold oppressive; and then, by a declivity fearfully steep, descended into the bottom of a deep confined valley, where we found the quiet village of Lor, at 2 P. M.

Our muleteers, not at all to our dissatisfaction, refused on account of the storm to go farther, although we had

40

SUBSTITUTE FOR OVENS AND FIREPLACES.

rode but two fúrsakhs; and we called upon the kakhia for lodgings. He welcomed us hospitably to his own family room. It was under ground, like all the houses of these mountains, and lighted only by an open sky-light in the centre, through which the snow was continually falling. In different parts, piles of grain were heaped upon the ground, which formed the floor. Here a deep wicker basket plastered with mud and cow-dung, answered the purpose of a flour-barrel; there was a large chest of bread, the principal food of the family. In a dark corner was a pile of carpets, matresses, cushions and coverlets for their accommodation at night; and in another direction stood a cradle, with its crying contents.

with

What attracted our attention most this stormy day, was the apparatus for warming us. It was the species of oven called tannoor, common throughout Armenia and also in Syria, but converted here for purposes of warmth into what is called a tandoor. A cylindrical hole is sunk about three feet in the ground in some part of the room, a flue entering it at the bottom to convey a current of air to the fire which heats it. For the emission of smoke no other provision is made than the open sky-light in the terrace. When used for baking bread, the dough, being flattened to the thickness of common pasteboard perhaps a foot and a half long by a foot broad, is stuck to its smooth sides by means of a cushion upon which it is first spread. It indicates, by cleaving off, when it is done, and being then packed down in the family chest, it lasts at least a month in the winter and ten days in the summer. Such is the only bread known in the villages of Armenia; and even the cities of Eriván and Tebriz offer no other variety than a species perhaps only twice as thick, and so long that it might almost be sold by the yard. To bake it, the bottom of a large oven is covered with pebbles, (except one corner where a fire is kept constantly burning,) and

EVENING CONVERSATION.

41

upon them when heated, the sheets of dough are spread. The convenience of such thin bread, where knives and forks are not used and spoons are rare, is that a piece of it doubled enables you to take hold of a mouthful of meat more delicately than with your bare fingers; or, when properly folded, helps you to convey a spoonful safely to your mouth to be eaten with the spoon itself. When needed for purposes of warmth, the tannoor is easily transformed into a tandoor. A round stone is laid upon the mouth of the oven, when well heated, to stop the draught; a square frame about a foot in height is then placed above it; and a thick coverlet, spread over the whole, lies upon the ground around it, to confine the warmth. The family squat upon the floor, and warm themselves by extending their legs and hands into the heated air beneath it, while the frame holds, as occasion requires, their lamp or their food. Its economy is evidently great. So full of crevices are the houses, that an open fireplace must consume a great quantity of fuel, and then almost fail of warming even the air in its immediate vicinity. The tandoor, heated once or at the most twice in twenty-four hours by a small quantity of fuel, keeps one spot continually warm for the relief of all numb fingers and frozen toes.

Seated in the family circle with our host, his wife and children, and a few neighbors, around the tandoor, we passed an interesting evening. He was the son of one of the priests of the village, was a sober-minded thinking man, and possessed much more information than one would expect to find in such a place. His own inclination gave the conversation a serious turn, and to prove or illustrate the various topics discussed, he brought forth and frequently referred to the family Bible; a treasure which we found in no other instance in Armenia, and even here perhaps an unwillingness to think that it does not exist, rather than the real circumstances of the case, induce me

42

contents.

EVENING CONVERSATION.

to use the name. It was a quarto printed at Moscow and given by the missionaries at Shoosha to the father of our host; and though in the ancient dialect, we found him able to understand it, and somewhat acquainted with its His seriousness made him a promising subject for missionary instruction; and that his candor was encouraging, may be shown by the effect which only one passage of Scripture had upon his mind. Having learned from Antonio that bishops in our country are married, he appealed to us with the greatest astonishment, for the reason of so uncanonical a practice. We simply referred him to 1 Tim. 3:2. After examining it attentively, his astonishment was completely reversed, and he asked us with quite as great anxiety, why the Armenian church had forbidden the custom. We replied, that in the face of such plain passages of Scripture we could not be responsible for its decisions, and he must ask his own bishops the reason of them.

Finding that the conversation had continued, before we were aware, to a late hour, we apologized for breaking in upon his hours of sleep. But he assured us that neither he nor his family were at all incommoded, for his father sometimes entertained them till almost morning by reading and religious conversation. This declaration, added to the character which the old gentleman had impressed upon his son, made us extremely regret that his having gone to the mass at Datev, and being prevented by the storm from returning, deprived us of an opportunity of seeing him. Our host assigned us our lodgings for the night upon carpets around the four sides of the tandoor; where, warmed by its heat and the furs in which we wrapped ourselves, we slept comfortably until morning, while he with his wife and children lay down a few feet distant.

Being himself the son of a priest, the kakhia gave us some important information respecting the secular or parish

ARMENIAN PARISH CLERGY.

43

priesthood, which you will allow me to combine with what we obtained from other sources and present to you here, while what I have said upon the monastic orders is fresh in your recollection.-Their appointment rests with the inhabitants of the village where they officiate, and of which they are almost always themselves natives. The laity are entitled to a voice in the affairs of the church in some other respects, but their rights seem never to have been reduced to any regular form, either by law or custom. No committees are appointed, and when a question occurs which seems to require the opinion of his people, the priest merely calls perhaps a few of the acknowledged leaders of his parish to the church door after service, for the purpose of consultation. The right of electing their own priests the laity universally exercise, and rarely, if ever, does a bishop attempt to interfere with it, by imposing upon them one without their request, or contrary to it. The inhabitants of a town or village fix upon some one of their number, pay his ordination fee to the bishop, and he of course becomes their priest. Should the Armenian church ever engage in the struggles of a reformation, this invaluable. right, being already in their possession, will not be one of the many for which the laity will have to contend. Its value seems now, however, to be extremely small. Not even do the people avail themselves of it to reduce their priests to the moderate number which they can respectably support. The proportion of priests in the villages, will average at least one to every fifty families; in the towns, it is somewhat less. I must add, too, that though their election rests with the people, their bishop has the power of deposing them at will; and the apprehension of such an event makes them perfectly submissive to the nod of the higher clergy.

Of their qualifications the most important in its practical bearing is marriage. So cautiously do the regulations of