Indies,--E.

[16] These were most princely letters-patent; equal in weight to 400
guineas, perhaps equal in efficacious value to 4000 in our times.--E.

SECTION II.

_Description of Armenia the Lesser, of the country of the Turks of Greater
Armenia, Zorzania, the kingdom of Mosul, of the cities of Bagdat and
Tauris, and account of a strange Miracle[1]._

There are two Armenias, the Greater and the Lesser. In the Lesser Armenia
the king resides in a city called Sebaste; and in all this country justice
and good government are strictly enforced. This kingdom has many cities,
fortresses, and castles; the soil is fertile, and the country abounds with
game and wildfowl, and every necessary article of provisions, but the air
is not very good. Formerly the Armenian gentlemen were brave men and good
soldiers, but are now become effeminate, and addicted to drinking and
debauchery. The city of Giazza, on the Black Sea, has an excellent harbour,
to which merchants resort from divers countries, even from Venice and
Genoa, for several sorts of merchandize, especially for the different kinds
of spices, and various other valuable goods, which are brought here from
India, as this place is the settled market for the commodities of the east.

Turcomania is inhabited by three different nations, Turcomans, Greeks, and
Armenians. The Turcomans, who are Mahometans, are a rude, illiterate, and
savage people, inhabiting the mountains and inaccessible places, where they
can procure pasture, as they subsist only on the produce of their flocks
and herds. In their country there are excellent horses, called Turkish
horses, and their mules are in great estimation. The Greeks and Armenians
possess the cities and towns, and employ themselves in manufactures and
merchandize, making, especially, the best carpets in the world. Their chief
cities are Cogno or Iconium, Caesarea, and Sebaste, where St Basil suffered
martyrdom. This country is under subjection to one of the khans of the
Tartars.

The Greater Armenia is a large province, subject to the Tartars, which has
many cities and towns, the principal of which is Arsugia, in which the best
buckram in the world is made. In this neighbourhood there are excellent hot
springs, which are celebrated as salutary baths in many diseases. The
cities next in consequence are Argiron and Darziz. In the summer season
many Tartars resort to this country on account of the richness of the
pastures, and retir