'Telegraph and travel. A narrative of the formation and development of telegraphic communication between England and India, under the orders of Her Majesty's Government, with incidental notices of the countries traversed by the lines.' [‎450] (489/782)

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TELEGRAPH AND TRAVEL.
[chap.
Euphrates—at first exhibited in sparse and dry cultivation and
desolate look of villages, and latterly in the absence of villages
altogether, halting-stations excepted—was never more strongly
impressed upon my mind than on this day's journey. At the
same time, the openness, as it were, of desolation and depopu
lation, is less painful to the eye and sense than the dreary basin
in the immediately surrounding hills, hiding a dismal village
such as Hakim Khan or Hasan Chelibi. Put up at a khan.
Kurdish tents near the town.
" July 9,—Delikli Tash, the ' stone with the hole ;' 4 hours,
or 12 miles. A small Turkish village of about sixty houses.
Country undulating: hills not actually barren, but of pale hue
and wanting in bright vegetation. Armenian chaosh relieved
by a corpulent Turk whom we meet on the way, and who
escorts us to the day's stage. His interest with the Mudir pro
cures us an excellent room; but we are doomed to a series of
visits, and the Mudir will feed us, which are inconvenient con
tingencies. Compromise the matter by accepting breakfast
only, pleading the state of my companion's health as an excuse
for the heavier meal.
" July 10.—Ulach ; a short 4- hours, or about 10 miles. Ar
menian village of some sixty houses, dirty and offering little
worthy of note. Road through a pass in the hills, and over
high hilly tract, to plain country. The fat chaosh is a
great character. His name is Aflatun, ' Plato.' He talks of
Europe with immense yusto, of beer, champagne, and ladies.
His description of a German hotel he had once visited was
capital: and equally amusing are his quotations from Hafiz,
and the sighs with which each is accompanied. His politics
are ambitious, and embrace a variety of individuals and subjects,
such, for instance as Garibaldi, the French Emperor, Spain,
Portugal, the war between Denmark and Germany, the war in
America: but there is more ambition than profundity in his
speculations. The secret of the ' Delikli Tash ' was solved this
morning. We descended a really fine pass of this name, sighting
a grand panorama of the lower country and distant hills. On
our left was a circular rock, with a hole sufficiently large to