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 retire again in winter, because of the abundance of snow.  The ark of Noah rested on Arrarat, one of the mountains of Armenia.

This country has the province of Mosul and Meridin on the east, or Diarbekir; and on the north is Zorzania[2], where there is a fountain that discharges a liquid resembling oil; which, though it cannot be used as a seasoning for meat, is yet useful for burning in lamps, and for many other purposes; and it is found in sufficient quantities to load camels, and to form a material object of commerce.  In Zorzania is a prince named David Melic or King David; one part of the province being subject to him, while the other part pays tribute to a Tartar khan.  The woods are mostly of box-trees.  Zorzania extends between the Euxine and Caspian seas; which latter is likewise called the sea of Baccu, and is 2800 miles in circumference:  but is like a lake, as it has no communication with any other sea.  In it there are many islands, cities, and castles, some of which are inhabited by the people who fled from the Tartars out of Persia.