Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - V. To Erivan. The physical features of Armenia
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TO ERIVAN 115
work was at once drawn up, and wc agreed to have a meeting
at six the same afternoon with the large committee that the
Government had appointed to collaborate with us. The
various problems and plans had to be discussed without delay.
Wc went for a stroll along the main street in the blazing,
dazzling sunshine. The pavements were crowded, and wc
were constantly surrounded—chiefly by child beggars. Some
of these were in rags, but they looked healthy enough,
and not at all necessitous. Many were good-looking ; in
particular, one frank, merry girl was quite a beauty.
It was curious, however, to notice that the great majority
of those who were walking the streets at this time of day were
men. Nearly all wore brown, grey or white Soviet blouses
with a belt round the waist, and soft, prosaic-looking Bolshevik
caps on their heads ; so it cannot be said that the streets
presented a scene of Oriental life and colour. Most of them
seemed to be fairly well dressed, which did not suggest that
there was much poverty.
On either side of the street was a row of small trees. The
houses were for the most part low, generally only one storey,
but sometimes two, and all had flat roofs. As a rule they
stood in luxuriant orchards, watered by a network of channels.
Erivan is famous for its gardens. High stone walls sur
rounded each garden, so wc could not see in, except here and
there through an open door. There were a few large public
buildings made of brick. The pavements were laid with big,
flat paving-stones, and the streets with good-sized, moderately
even setts ; there were few horse-drawn vehicles, only an
overburdened donkey here and there, or a slow, heavily
laden bullock-cart. Now and then a motor-car would tear
along the street with some public official in it.
Near the top of the main street stands the university in its
fine garden, and above that again the hospital in another
large garden. Farther up, the town and the gardens abruptly
come to an end, and the road goes in a wide curve up the
bare mountain-side and on across the mountainous country
north of the town, following the east side of the deep ravine
formed by the river Zanga. This road continues all the way
to Tiflis.
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