Il6 EXPEDITIONS BEFORE ALEXANDER. [CHAP*.

union with its western branch. From this point the route by
which they reached the high plateau of Armenia is clearly deter-
mined by the nature of the ground. Xenophon informs us that
they passed the source of the Tigris, and beyond
that came to a river of no great size, called the
Teleboas, after which they forded the Euphrates,
which was reported to rise not very far off1. Now the pass which
crosses the Taurus range immediately above Bitlis bifurcates at
the point where the source of the Tigris lies, one branch leading
eastwards to the Lake of Van, which is only a few miles distant,
though out of sight, the other westwards to the plain of Mush ;
and as no mention is made of the lake, it is clear that the latter
«,. m 1 u route is the one that they followed. The Teleboas

The Teleboas ' .

(Kara-su). of Xenophon must be the Kara-su, which rises
almost at the same spot as the Tigris, and runs in

Eastern

Euphrates the opposite direction to it, until it reaches the
(Murad-su). Murad-su, or Eastern Euphrates, in the further part
of the plain of Mush2.

The Greek force had now arrived at the upland levels of this
bleak country — the plain of Mush is between four
Armenia.nd8°f an<* ^ve thousand feet above the sea— and at once
discovered the severity of an Armenian winter. The
historian describes the sufferings of his soldiers as they plodded
through the deep snow, some of whom lost their eyesight, others
their toes, while a certain number died from exhaustion. He also
dwells with satisfaction on the shelter afforded by the dwellings of
the inhabitants— which, like those of the same region at the present
under- ^ were half underground, and contained the cattle
ground Dwell- as well as human beings— and on the plentiful
ng8' provision of food, and especially of beer, which they

contained8. The next feature of the country which is mentioned
after the Euphrates is the river Phasis, in the neigh-
rhe Phasis kourhood Of yfafa ^ met ^ a ^e called

Phasiani4. Now as the plain in which the Araxes

4. 4. 3.4. 5. 2.
2 See the Author's Turkish Armenia, pp. 293, 299,
8 Anab^ 4. 5. 25—27; Turkish Armenia, p. 287.