siatic commerce. Its streets are clean and tolerably
broad; in each a little rivulet is carried underground, with openings at
regular intervals giving access to the water. Of the houses the
passer-by sees no more than is seen in any other Oriental town: lofty
windowless walls, with low entrances to the street, while the inner
front looks upon open courtyards, which bloom with trees and flowers,
and usually adjoin a pleasant garden.

On the 16th of August, Madame Pfeiffer quitted Tabriz, and in a vehicle
drawn by post-horses she set out, with one attendant, for Natchivan. At
Arax she crossed the Russian frontier. Reaching Natchivan after an
uneventful journey, she joined a caravan bound for Tiflis, the drivers
of which were Tartars. Of the latter she remarks that they do not live
so frugally as the Arabs. Every evening a savoury pilau was made for
their enjoyment, frequently with dried grapes or plums.

The caravan route lay through the large fertile valleys which lie at the
base of Ararat. Of that famous and majestic mountain, which lifts its
wan and aged brow some 16,000 feet above the sea-level, our traveller
obtained a noble view. Its summit is cloven into two peaks; and in the
hollow between, an ancient tradition affirms that Noah's ark rested on
the subsidence of the Great Flood.

In the neighbourhood of a town called Sidin, Madame Pfeiffer met with a
curious adventure. She was returning from a short walk, when catching
the sound of approaching post-horses, she paused for a moment to see the
travellers, who consisted of a Russian seated in an open car, with a
Cossack carrying a musket by his side. As soon as the vehicle had passed
she resumed her walk; when, to her astonishment, it stopped suddenly,
and almost at the same moment she felt a strong grasp on her arms. It
was the Cossack, who endeavoured to drag her to the car. She struggled
with him, and pointing to the caravan, said she belonged to it; but the
fellow put his hand on her mouth, and flung her into the car, where she
was firmly seized by the Russian. Then the Cossack sprang in, and away
they went at a smart gallop. The whole affair was the work of a few
seconds; so that Madame Pfeiffer could scarcely tell what had happened;
and as the man still held her tightly, and kept her mouth covered up,
she was unable to give an alarm. The brave woman, however, preserved her
composure, and speedily arrived at the conclusion that her gallant
captors had mistaken