volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

212 Island in the Salt Lake of Khdtii.ntyah.
of snowflakes ceased for a little, we saw ahead of us
what appeared to me to be a large lake, and as we drew
near it we saw that its surface was whipped into little
white-crested waves by the angry wind. At 5.20 we
arrived at the southern end of this lake, which is called
Khatuniyah, and to my astonishment our guide rode
his camel straight on to a very narrow tongue of land
which stretched out into the lake. I could see no
houses there, but as we advanced I saw that the tongue of
land led on to a little peninsula, and when we rode on
to this there were ruins of houses all about us. Our
arrival was watched by several men who were standing
on the peninsula, and when they came up to us our
guide and their shekh embraced each other, and then the
latter came up to me and greeted me warmly and offered
me shelter for the night. I did not see where the
shelter was to be found, and when the shekh led our
beasts under a ruined wall that seemed to grow up out
of the lake, I feared that I was to be put there with
them. But the beasts having been tethered and food
given to them, he beckoned me to follow him and I did so.
As we went along I noticed every here and there a
layer of stones about 10 feet in diameter resting on a
thick layer of brushwood and slender tree trunks. At
the side of one of these the shekh stopped and began to
go down a slope^which led him under the layers of wood
and stones. I followed him and found myself in a large
circular basin with sloping sides about 10 feet deep
and 12 feet in diameter ; the floor and sides were lined
with slabs of stone. This basin was the shekh's guesthouse,
and with many kind words he offered the use of
it to me for the night. He shouted and some men
came and lighted a fire of brushwood and camel dung,
and as soon as my luggage came they stowed it round
the sides of the basin, and I took my wet clothes off
and boiled water for my tea. As a house the basin
left much to be desired, but it was a good shelter from
the rain and snow, and when the smoke had cleared
off, and Muhammad had arranged a couple of brushwood
beds, and our candle was lighted, I felt that I