mined to test its qualities; so a rhubarb pudding was made, and our host was not a little surprised to see us eat it with sugar. The principal export of the place is silk, the cultivation of which has been introduced within the last few years, and is manufactured and sent from hence to all parts of Coordistan. Turkish and Coordish are the two languages generally spoken by the inhabitants, Arabic being but little known. The population of the place is more than half Moslem, including Turks, Arabs, and Coords; of the Christians I shall speak more in detail.
According to the last census, the Armenians of Diarbekir number 1700 families, with two churches, a Bishop, and thirty priests; there are besides several villages of the same rite in the vicinity of the town. The churches, one of which has been lately rebuilt, are spacious edifices, and connected with each is a school in which 300 children receive regular instruction in ancient and modern Armenian. Bishop Egop being absent, I had a long interview with his archdeacon and with many of the priests, who were anxious to hear of our Church and people. They were surprised to learn that we had bishops in England, and that in other important respects we differed from the Independents.
Until lately the papal Armenians worshipped with the Chaldeans, but they have now built a splendid church. They number about seventy-five families with two resident priests, and their numbers are said to be on the increase.
The Greeks have a small church in the town, consisting of a transept, in which are the tombs of S. Cosmas and S. Damian to whom the church is dedicated, and a semi-circular nave surmounted by a dome. On my first visit there were only fifteen members of this rite left, all the rest, to the number of fifty families, having submitted to Rome. The orthodox Greeks were then left without any spiritual guide, if we except an occasional visit from a priest who came from Kabban Maaden, whilst the Romanists made all haste to secure their ground by taking possession of the church, and by sending a bishop to look after the interests of the new converts. The Greek Patriarch succeeded in reclaiming the church, and I am happy to say that within the last three years, the dissenting bishop and
