After this was sufficiently examined, a common box, which contained my greatest treasure, a small relief from Nineveh, was brought forward.  One of the men took hold of a heavy wooden axe, for the purpose of striking off the lid.  This was rather too much for me, and I would not allow it.  To my great satisfaction, a German woman came in just at this moment.  I told her what was in the box, and that I did not object to its being opened, although I wished them to do it carefully with a chisel and pincers; but, strange to say, there were no such tools in the place, although they were wanted daily.  I at last succeeded in persuading them to break off the lid with care.  Notwithstanding the anxiety I was in, I could not help laughing at the foolish faces which both the women and the customs’ officer made when they saw the fragments of brick from Babylon, and the somewhat damaged Ninevite head.  They could not at all comprehend why I should carry such objects with me.

The German woman, Henriette Alexandwer, invited me to take coffee with her; and when she heard of my perplexity with respect to a lodging, she offered me a room in her house.  On the following day, I visited the governor, who received me very politely, and overpowered me with favours,—­I was obliged to move into his house directly.  He attended to my passport, and obtained all the necessary vises, of which I required half a dozen since entering the Christian dominions, and made an agreement for me with some Tartars, whose caravan was going to Tiflis.  I then looked round the miserable half-ruined town with the good Mrs. Alexandwer, and saw Noah’s monument.

According to Persian accounts, Natschivan is said to have been one of the largest and handsomest towns of Armenia; and Armenian writers affirm that Noah was the founder.  The modern town is built quite in the Oriental style; only a few of the houses have the windows and doors turned towards the streets; generally the front faces the small garden.  The dress of the people is also rather like the Persian, but the officials, merchants, etc., wear European costume.

Nothing more remains of Noah’s sepulchre than a small arched chamber, without a cupola.  It appears to have been formerly covered with one, but it is not possible to decide from the few ruins that now remain.  In the interior, neither a sarcophagus nor grave are to be seen; a single brick pillar stands in the centre, and supports the roof.  The whole is surrounded by a low wall.  Many pilgrims come here, Mahomedans as well as Christians; and both sects entertain the remarkable belief, that if they press a stone into the wall while thinking of something at the same time, and the stone remains sticking to the wall, that their thoughts are either true or will come to pass, and the reverse when the stone does not adhere.  The truth of the matter is, however, simply this:  the cement or mortar is always rather moist, and if a smooth stone is pushed a little upwards while being pressed, it remains hanging; if it is only pressed horizontally, it falls off again.