CHAPTER  X.
WHO ARE THE ARMENIANS?

THAT a field so rich in possibilities for the student
of history, ethnology, or language as Armenia
and Kurdistan should have remained as yet so
little explored, is due, no doubt, to three causes ^:
first, the apparent loss of significance of the Armenian
nation, which now, like Poland, seems but a stranded
wreck in the stream of history ; second, to her geo¬
graphical isolation and the danger and hardship of
travel in that region ^; third, to the linguistic
obstacles to be overcome.

So little clear and accurate information about the
Armenians is readily accessible that the following
brief outline is offered in the hope of meeting this
want at the present time.

History—The  Armenian  race  belongs   to  the

^ " Kurdistan abounds in antiquities of the most varied and interest¬
ing character. . . ., Tfe may indeed be asserted that there is no
region of the East at the present day which deserves a more careful
scrutiny and promises a richer harvest to the antiquarian explorer
than the lands inhabited by the Kurds from Erzeroum to Kirman-
shahan."—Major-Gen'eral H. C. Rawlinson, Encyc, Britannica,
article on ** Kurdistan."

^ Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, yourneys in Persia and Kurdistan,
2 vols. New York : Putnam's, 189I.    London : John Murray.

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