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diff --git a/31111-h/31111-h.html b/31111-h/31111-h.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0bf3b03 --- /dev/null +++ b/31111-h/31111-h.html @@ -0,0 +1,7179 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /><link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /><meta name="DC.Creator" content="Thomas Gaskell Allen and William Lewis Sachtleben" /><meta name="DC.Title" content="Across Asia on a Bicycle" /><meta name="DC.Date" content="January 29, 2010" /><meta name="DC.Language" content="English" /><meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /><meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/31111" /><meta name="DC.Rights" content="This text is in the public domain." /><title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of Across Asia on a Bicycle by Thomas Gaskell Allen and William Lewis Sachtleben</title><style type="text/css">/* +The Gnutenberg Press - default CSS2 stylesheet + +Any generated element will have a class "tei" and a class "tei-elem" +where elem is the element name in TEI. +The order of statements is important !!! 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You may copy it, + give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project + Gutenberg License <a href="#pglicense" class="tei tei-ref">included with this + eBook</a> or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license" class="tei tei-xref">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a></p></div><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">Title: Across Asia on a Bicycle + +Author: Thomas Gaskell Allen and William Lewis Sachtleben + +Release Date: January 29, 2010 [Ebook #31111] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACROSS ASIA ON A BICYCLE*** +</pre></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + </div> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.20em"><span style="font-size: 120%"> +ACROSS ASIA ON A BICYCLE +</span></p> +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + <a name="ill1" id="ill1"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i004.jpg" alt="THROUGH WESTERN CHINA IN LIGHT MARCHING ORDER." title="THROUGH WESTERN CHINA IN LIGHT MARCHING ORDER." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THROUGH WESTERN CHINA IN LIGHT MARCHING ORDER.</span></div></div> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-titlePage" style="text-align: center"> +<div class="tei tei-pb" style="text-align: center"></div> + +<span class="tei tei-docTitle" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">ACROSS ASIA ON A</span><br /><span style="font-size: 173%">BICYCLE</span></span><br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center">THE JOURNEY OF TWO AMERICAN STUDENTS<br /> +FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO PEKING</span> +</span> + <br /><br /> +<div class="tei tei-byline" style="text-align: center">BY<br /> +<span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">THOMAS GASKELL ALLEN, </span><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-variant: small-caps">Jr.</span></span></span><br /> +AND<br /> +<span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">WILLIAM LEWIS SACHTLEBEN</span></span></div> +<br /><br /> +<span class="tei tei-docImprint" style="text-align: center">NEW YORK<br /> +<span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">THE CENTURY CO.</span></span></span> + <br /> +<span class="tei tei-docDate" style="text-align: center">1894</span> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-pb" style="text-align: center"></div> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + Copyright, 1894, by<br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Century Co.</span></span> +</p> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic">All rights reserved.</span></span> +</p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 1.80em"><span style="font-size: 90%"> + THE DEVINNE PRESS. + </span></p> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">TO<br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic">THOSE AT HOME</span></span><br /><br /> + WHOSE THOUGHTS AND<br /> + WISHES WERE EVER<br /> + WITH US IN OUR<br /> + WANDERINGS + </p> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagexi">[pg xi]</span><a name="Pgxi" id="Pgxi" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc2" id="toc2"></a><a name="pdf3" id="pdf3"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">PREFACE</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +This volume is made up of a series of sketches describing +the most interesting part of a bicycle journey around +the world,—our ride across Asia. We were actuated by +no desire to make a <span class="tei tei-q">“record”</span> in bicycle travel, although +we covered 15,044 miles on the wheel, the longest continuous +land journey ever made around the world. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The day after we were graduated at Washington University, +St. Louis, Mo., we left for New York. Thence we +sailed for Liverpool on June 23, 1890. Just three years +afterward, lacking twenty days, we rolled into New York +on our wheels, having <span class="tei tei-q">“put a girdle round the earth.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our bicycling experience began at Liverpool. After +following many of the beaten lines of travel in the British +Isles we arrived in London, where we formed our plans +for traveling across Europe, Asia, and America. The most +dangerous regions to be traversed in such a journey, we +were told, were western China, the Desert of Gobi, and +central China. Never since the days of Marco Polo had +a European traveler succeeded in crossing the Chinese +empire from the west to Peking. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Crossing the Channel, we rode through Normandy to +Paris, across the lowlands of western France to Bordeaux, +eastward over the Lesser Alps to Marseilles, and along the +Riviera into Italy. After visiting every important city on +the peninsula, we left Italy at Brindisi on the last day of +1890 for Corfu, in Greece. Thence we traveled to Patras, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagexii">[pg xii]</span><a name="Pg0xii" id="Pg0xii" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>proceeding along the Corinthian Gulf to Athens, where we +passed the winter. We went to Constantinople by vessel +in the spring, crossed the Bosporus in April, and began +the long journey described in the following pages. When +we had finally completed our travels in the Flowery Kingdom, +we sailed from Shanghai for Japan. Thence we voyaged +to San Francisco, where we arrived on Christmas +night, 1892. Three weeks later we resumed our bicycles +and wheeled by way of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas +to New York. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +During all of this journey we never employed the services +of guides or interpreters. We were compelled, therefore, +to learn a little of the language of every country +through which we passed. Our independence in this regard +increased, perhaps, the hardships of the journey, but +certainly contributed much toward the object we sought—a +close acquaintance with strange peoples. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +During our travels we took more than two thousand +five hundred photographs, selections from which are reproduced +in the illustrations of this volume. +</p> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pgxiii" id="Pgxiii" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc4" id="toc4"></a><a name="pdf5" id="pdf5"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CONTENTS</span></h1> + <table summary="This is a table" cellspacing="0" class="tei tei-table" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><colgroup span="3"></colgroup><tbody><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><span style="font-size: 90%">PAGE</span></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right">I.</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Beyond the Bosporus</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg001" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">1</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right">II.</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Ascent of Mount Ararat</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg043" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">43</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"> III.</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Through Persia to Samarkand</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg083" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">83</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right">IV.</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Journey from Samarkand to Kuldja</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg115" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">115</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right">V.</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Over the Gobi Desert and through the Western Gate of the Great Wall</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg149" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">149</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right">VI.</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">An Interview with the Prime Minister of China</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg207" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">207</a></td> + </tr></tbody></table> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div> +</div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc6" id="toc6"></a><a name="pdf7" id="pdf7"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">List of Illustrations</span></h1> + <ul class="tei tei-index tei-index-ill"><li><a href="#ill1">THROUGH WESTERN CHINA IN LIGHT MARCHING ORDER. [Frontispiece]</a></li><li><a href="#ill10">BICYCLE ROUTE OF Messrs. Allen & Sachtleben ACROSS ASIA. [p. 4 and 5]</a></li><li><a href="#ill11">THE DONKEY BOYS INSPECT THE 'DEVIL'S CARRIAGE.' [p. 6]</a></li><li><a href="#ill12">HELPING A TURK WHOSE HORSES RAN AWAY AT SIGHT OF OUR BICYCLES. [p. 8]</a></li><li><a href="#ill13">AN ANGORA SHEPHERD. [p. 9]</a></li><li><a href="#ill14">1, THE ENGLISH CONSUL AT ANGORA FEEDING HIS PETS; 2, PASSING A CARAVAN OF CAMELS; 3, PLOWING IN ASIA MINOR. [p. 11]</a></li><li><a href="#ill15">A CONTRAST. [p. 12]</a></li><li><a href="#ill16">A TURKISH FLOUR-MILL. [p. 13]</a></li><li><a href="#ill17">MILL IN ASIA MINOR. [p. 15]</a></li><li><a href="#ill18">GIPSIES OF ASIA MINOR. [p. 16]</a></li><li><a href="#ill19">SCENE AT A GREEK INN. [p. 19]</a></li><li><a href="#ill20">EATING KAISERICHEN (EKMEK) OR BREAD. [p. 20]</a></li><li><a href="#ill21">GRINDING WHEAT. [p. 21]</a></li><li><a href="#ill22">A TURKISH (HAMAAL) OR CARRIER. [p. 22]</a></li><li><a href="#ill23">TURKISH WOMEN GOING TO PRAYERS IN KAISARIEH. [p. 23]</a></li><li><a href="#ill24">THE 'FLIRTING TOWER' IN SIVAS. [p. 25]</a></li><li><a href="#ill25">HOUSE OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL IN SIVAS. [p. 26]</a></li><li><a href="#ill26">ARABS CONVERSING WITH A TURK. [p. 29]</a></li><li><a href="#ill27">A KADI EXPOUNDING THE KORAN. [p. 30]</a></li><li><a href="#ill28">EVENING HALT IN A VILLAGE. [p. 32]</a></li><li><a href="#ill29">PRIMITIVE WEAVING. [p. 33]</a></li><li><a href="#ill30">A FERRY IN ASIA MINOR. [p. 38]</a></li><li><a href="#ill31">A VILLAGE SCENE. [p. 40]</a></li><li><a href="#ill32">[Rural scene without caption.] [p. 42]</a></li><li><a href="#ill35">WHERE THE 'ZAPTIEHS' WERE NOT A NUISANCE. [p. 50]</a></li><li><a href="#ill36">READY FOR THE START. [p. 53]</a></li><li><a href="#ill37">PARLEYING WITH THE KURDISH PARTY AT THE SPRING. [p. 56]</a></li><li><a href="#ill38">THE KURDISH ENCAMPMENT. [p. 59]</a></li><li><a href="#ill39">OUR GUARDS SIT DOWN TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION. [p. 65]</a></li><li><a href="#ill40">HELPING THE DONKEYS OVER A SNOW-FIELD. [p. 67]</a></li><li><a href="#ill41">LITTLE ARARAT COMES INTO VIEW. [p. 69]</a></li><li><a href="#ill42">THE WALL INCLOSURE FOR OUR BIVOUAC AT ELEVEN THOUSAND FEET. [p. 72]</a></li><li><a href="#ill43">NEARING THE HEAD OF THE GREAT CHASM. [p. 74]</a></li><li><a href="#ill44">ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ARARAT—FIRING THE FOURTH OF JULY SALUTE. [p. 78]</a></li><li><a href="#ill47">HARVEST SCENE NEAR KHOI. [p. 84]</a></li><li><a href="#ill48">LEAVING KHOI. [p. 86]</a></li><li><a href="#ill49">YARD OF CARAVANSARY AT TABREEZ. [p. 88]</a></li><li><a href="#ill50">LUMBER-YARD AT TABREEZ. [p. 88]</a></li><li><a href="#ill51">THE CONVEYANCE OF A PERSIAN OFFICIAL TRAVELING IN DISGRACE TO TEHERAN AT THE CALL OF THE SHAH. [p. 91]</a></li><li><a href="#ill52">A PERSIAN REPAIRING THE WHEELS OF HIS WAGON. [p. 94]</a></li><li><a href="#ill53">LEAVING TEHERAN FOR MESHED. [p. 96]</a></li><li><a href="#ill54">IN A PERSIAN GRAVEYARD. [p. 98]</a></li><li><a href="#ill55">PILGRIMS IN THE CARAVANSARY. [p. 99]</a></li><li><a href="#ill56">A PERSIAN WINE-PRESS. [p. 100]</a></li><li><a href="#ill57">CASTLE STRONGHOLD AT LASGIRD. [p. 102]</a></li><li><a href="#ill58">PILGRIM STONE HEAPS OVERLOOKING MESHED. [p. 104]</a></li><li><a href="#ill59">RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR AT MESHED. [p. 105]</a></li><li><a href="#ill60">FEMALE PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO MESHED. [p. 106]</a></li><li><a href="#ill61">IN THE GARDEN OF THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE AT MESHED. [p. 107]</a></li><li><a href="#ill62">WATCH-TOWER ON THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY. [p. 108]</a></li><li><a href="#ill63">GIVING A 'SILENT PILGRIM' A ROLL TOWARD MESHED. [p. 109]</a></li><li><a href="#ill64">AN INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL KUROPATKINE AT THE RACES NEAR ASKABAD. [p. 111]</a></li><li><a href="#ill65">MOSQUE CONTAINING THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE AT SAMARKAND. [p. 112]</a></li><li><a href="#ill66">CARAVANSARY AT FAKIDAOUD. [p. 113]</a></li><li><a href="#ill67">A MARKET-PLACE IN SAMARKAND, AND THE RUINS OF A COLLEGE. [p. 114]</a></li><li><a href="#ill70">A RELIGIOUS DRAMA IN SAMARKAND. [p. 116]</a></li><li><a href="#ill71">OUR FERRY OVER THE ZERAFSHAN. [p. 118]</a></li><li><a href="#ill72">PALACE OF THE CZAR’S NEPHEW, TASHKEND. [p. 121]</a></li><li><a href="#ill73">A SART RESCUING HIS CHILDREN FROM THE CAMERA OF THE 'FOREIGN DEVILS.' [p. 123]</a></li><li><a href="#ill74">VIEW OF CHIMKEND FROM THE CITADEL. [p. 125]</a></li><li><a href="#ill75">ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CHIMKEND AND VERNOYE. [p. 129]</a></li><li><a href="#ill76">UPPER VALLEY OF THE CHU RIVER. [p. 132]</a></li><li><a href="#ill77">KIRGHIZ ERECTING KIBITKAS BY THE CHU RIVER. [p. 134]</a></li><li><a href="#ill78">FANTASTIC RIDING AT THE SUMMER ENCAMPMENT OF THE COSSACKS. [p. 138]</a></li><li><a href="#ill79">STROLLING MUSICIANS. [p. 141]</a></li><li><a href="#ill80">THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT KULDJA. [p. 143]</a></li><li><a href="#ill81">THE CHINESE MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA. [p. 145]</a></li><li><a href="#ill82">TWO CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN THE YARD OF OUR KULDJA INN. [p. 146]</a></li><li><a href="#ill83">A MORNING PROMENADE ON THE WALLS OF KULDJA. [p. 148]</a></li><li><a href="#ill86">THE FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA AND HIS FAMILY. [p. 151]</a></li><li><a href="#ill87">VIEW OF A STREET IN KULDJA FROM THE WESTERN GATE. [p. 153]</a></li><li><a href="#ill88">OUR RUSSIAN FRIEND AND MR. SACHTLEBEN LOADED WITH ENOUGH CHINESE 'CASH' TO PAY FOR A MEAL AT A KULDJA RESTAURANT. [p. 155]</a></li><li><a href="#ill89">A STREET IN THE TARANTCHI QUARTER OF KULDJA. [p. 158]</a></li><li><a href="#ill90">PRACTISING OUR CHINESE ON A KULDJA CULPRIT. [p. 160]</a></li><li><a href="#ill91">THE HEAD OF A BRIGAND EXPOSED ON THE HIGHWAY. [p. 161]</a></li><li><a href="#ill92">A CHINESE GRAVEYARD ON THE EASTERN OUTSKIRTS OF KULDJA. [p. 163]</a></li><li><a href="#ill93">SPLITTING POPPY-HEADS TO START THE OPIUM JUICE. [p. 165]</a></li><li><a href="#ill94">THE CHIEF OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE GIVES A LESSON IN OPIUM SMOKING. [p. 167]</a></li><li><a href="#ill95">RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR OF MANAS. [p. 168]</a></li><li><a href="#ill96">MONUMENT TO A PRIEST AT URUMTSI. [p. 170]</a></li><li><a href="#ill97">A BANK IN URUMTSI. [p. 171]</a></li><li><a href="#ill98">A MAID OF WESTERN CHINA. [p. 173]</a></li><li><a href="#ill99">STYLISH CART OF A CHINESE MANDARIN. [p. 174]</a></li><li><a href="#ill100">A CHINESE PEDDLER FROM BARKUL. [p. 176]</a></li><li><a href="#ill101">CHINESE GRAVES ON THE ROAD TO HAMI. [p. 178]</a></li><li><a href="#ill102">SCENE IN A TOWN OF WESTERN CHINA. [p. 179]</a></li><li><a href="#ill103">A LESSON IN CHINESE. [p. 180]</a></li><li><a href="#ill104">A TRAIL IN THE GOBI DESERT. [p. 182]</a></li><li><a href="#ill105">IN THE GOBI DESERT. [p. 183]</a></li><li><a href="#ill106">STATION OF SEB-BOO-TCHAN. [p. 185]</a></li><li><a href="#ill107">A ROCKY PASS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE GOBI. [p. 187]</a></li><li><a href="#ill108">A WASTE OF BLACK SAND IN THE GOBI. [p. 188]</a></li><li><a href="#ill109">A ROAD MARK IN THE GOBI DESERT. [p. 189]</a></li><li><a href="#ill110">WITHIN THE WESTERN GATE OF THE GREAT WALL. [p. 191]</a></li><li><a href="#ill111">RIDING BY THE GREAT WALL ON THE ROAD TO SU-CHOU. [p. 193]</a></li><li><a href="#ill112">A TYPICAL RECEPTION IN A CHINESE TOWN. [p. 196]</a></li><li><a href="#ill113">A CHINAMAN’S WHEELBARROW. [p. 199]</a></li><li><a href="#ill114">MONUMENT TO THE BUILDER OF A BRIDGE. [p. 201]</a></li><li><a href="#ill115">TWO PAGODAS AT LAN-CHOU-FOO. [p. 203]</a></li><li><a href="#ill116">MISSIONARIES AT LAN-CHOU-FOO. [p. 205]</a></li><li><a href="#ill117">LI-HUNG-CHANG. [p. 206]</a></li><li><a href="#ill120">OPIUM-SMOKERS IN A STREET OF TAI-YUEN-FOO. [p. 209]</a></li><li><a href="#ill121">MISSIONARIES AT TAI-YUEN-FOO. [p. 210]</a></li><li><a href="#ill122">ENTERING TONG-QUAN BY THE WEST GATE. [p. 211]</a></li><li><a href="#ill123">MONUMENTS NEAR ONE-SHE-CHIEN. [p. 212]</a></li><li><a href="#ill124">MONUMENT NEAR CHANG-SHIN-DIEN. [p. 215]</a></li><li><a href="#ill125">ON THE PEI-HO. [p. 217]</a></li><li><a href="#ill126">A CHINAMAN SCULLING ON THE PEI-HO. [p. 218]</a></li><li><a href="#ill127">SALT HEAPS AT THE GOVERNMENT WORKS AT TONG-KU. [p. 220]</a></li><li><a href="#ill128">WINDMILLS AT TONG-KU FOR RAISING SALT WATER. [p. 221]</a></li><li><a href="#ill129">FURNACE FOR BURNING WASTE PAPER BEARING WRITTEN CHARACTERS. [p. 225]</a></li><li><a href="#ill130">MR. LIANG, EDUCATED IN THE UNITED STATES, NOW IN THE SHIPPING BUSINESS. [p. 228]</a></li><li><a href="#ill131">A CHINESE SEEDING-DRILL. [p. 230]</a></li><li><a href="#ill132">A CHINESE BRIDE. [p. 233]</a></li></ul> + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.20em"><span style="font-size: 120%"> +ACROSS ASIA ON A BICYCLE +</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + </div> +</div> +<hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-body" style="margin-bottom: 6.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page1">[pg 1]</span><a name="Pg001" id="Pg001" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">ACROSS ASIA ON A BICYCLE</span></h1> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%"> +THE JOURNEY OF TWO AMERICAN STUDENTS</span><br /><span style="font-size: 144%"> +FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO PEKING +</span></h1> +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc8" id="toc8"></a><a name="pdf9" id="pdf9"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">I</span></h2> + +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.40em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%">BEYOND THE BOSPORUS</span></h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On a morning early in April the little steamer conveying +us across from Stamboul touched the wharf +at Haider Pasha. Amid the rabble of Greeks, Armenians, +Turks, and Italians we trundled our bicycles across the +gang-plank, which for us was the threshold of Asia, the +beginning of an inland journey of seven thousand miles +from the Bosporus to the Pacific. Through the morning +fog which enveloped the shipping in the Golden Horn, +the <span class="tei tei-q">“stars and stripes”</span> at a single masthead were waving +farewell to two American students fresh from college who +had nerved themselves for nearly two years of separation +from the comforts of western civilization. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our guide to the road to Ismid was the little twelve-year-old +son of an Armenian doctor, whose guests we had +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page2">[pg 2]</span><a name="Pg002" id="Pg002" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>been during our sojourn in Stamboul. He trotted for +some distance by our side, and then, pressing our hands +in both of his, he said with childlike sincerity: <span class="tei tei-q">“I hope +God will take care of you”</span>; for he was possessed with +the thought popular among Armenians, of pillages and +massacres by marauding brigands. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The idea of a trip around the world had been conceived +by us as a practical finish to a theoretical education; and +the bicycle feature was adopted merely as a means to +that end. On reaching London we had formed the plan +of penetrating the heart of the Asiatic continent, instead +of skirting its more civilized coast-line. For a passport +and other credentials necessary in journeying through +Russia and Central Asia we had been advised to make +application to the Czar’s representative on our arrival at +Teheran, as we would enter the Russian dominions from +Persia; and to that end the Russian minister in London +had provided us with a letter of introduction. In London +the secretary of the Chinese legation, a Scotchman, had +assisted us in mapping out a possible route across the +Celestial empire, although he endeavored, from the very +start, to dissuade us from our purpose. Application had +then been made to the Chinese minister himself for the +necessary passport. The reply we received, though courteous, +smacked strongly of reproof. <span class="tei tei-q">“Western China,”</span> +he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“is overrun with lawless bands, and the people +themselves are very much averse to foreigners. Your +extraordinary mode of locomotion would subject you to +annoyance, if not to positive danger, at the hands of a +people who are naturally curious and superstitious. However,”</span> +he added, after some reflection, <span class="tei tei-q">“if your minister +makes a request for a passport we will see what can +be done. The most I can do will be to ask for you the +protection and assistance of the officials only; for the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page3">[pg 3]</span><a name="Pg003" id="Pg003" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>people themselves I cannot answer. If you go into that +country you do so at your own risk.”</span> Minister Lincoln +was sitting in his private office when we called the next +morning at the American legation. He listened to the +recital of our plans, got down the huge atlas from his +bookcase, and went over with us the route we proposed +to follow. He did not regard the undertaking as feasible, +and apprehended that, if he should give his official +assistance, he would, in a measure, be responsible for the +result if it should prove unhappy. When assured of the +consent of our parents, and of our determination to make +the attempt at all hazards, he picked up his pen and +began a letter to the Chinese minister, remarking as he +finished reading it to us, <span class="tei tei-q">“I would much rather not have +written it.”</span> The documents received from the Chinese +minister in response to Mr. Lincoln’s letter proved to be +indispensable when, a year and a half later, we left the +last outpost of western civilization and plunged into the +Gobi desert. When we had paid a final visit to the Persian +minister in London, who had asked to see our bicycles +and their baggage equipments, he signified his +intention of writing in our behalf to friends in Teheran; +and to that capital, after cycling through Europe, we were +now actually <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">en route</span></span>. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Since the opening of the Trans-Bosporus Railway, the +wagon-road to Ismid, and even the Angora military highway +beyond, have fallen rapidly into disrepair. In April +they were almost impassable for the wheel, so that for the +greater part of the way we were obliged to take to the +track. Like the railway skirting the Italian Riviera, and +the Patras-Athens line along the Saronic Gulf, this Trans-Bosporus +road for a great distance scarps and tunnels the +cliffs along the Gulf of Ismid, and sometimes runs so close +to the water’s edge that the puffing of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kara vapor</span></span> or +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page4">[pg 4]</span><a name="Pg004" id="Pg004" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“land steamer,”</span> as the Turks call it, is drowned by the +roaring breakers. The country between Scutari and +Ismid surpasses in agricultural advantages any part of +Asiatic Turkey through which we passed. Its fertile soil, +and the luxuriant vegetation it supports, are, as we afterward +learned, in striking contrast with the sterile plateaus +and mountains of the interior, many parts of which are +as desolate as the deserts of Arabia. In area, Asia Minor +equals France, but the water-supply of its rivers is only +one third. +</p> + <a name="ill10" id="ill10"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i018.png" alt="BICYCLE ROUTE OF Messrs. Allen & Sachtleben ACROSS ASIA." /></div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i019.png" alt="BICYCLE ROUTE OF Messrs. Allen & Sachtleben ACROSS ASIA." /></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +One of the principal agents in the work of transforming +Asia Minor is the railroad, to which the natives have +taken with unusual readiness. The locomotive is already +competing with the hundred and sixty thousand camels +employed in the peninsula caravan-trade. At Geiveh, the +last station on the Trans-Bosporus Railway, where we left +the track to follow the Angora highway, the <span class="tei tei-q">“ships of +the desert”</span> are beginning to transfer their cargoes to the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page5">[pg 5]</span><a name="Pg005" id="Pg005" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“land steamer,”</span> instead of continuing on as in former +days to the Bosporus. +</p> + <a name="ill11" id="ill11"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i020.png" alt="THE DONKEY BOYS INSPECT THE 'DEVIL'S CARRIAGE.'" title="THE DONKEY BOYS INSPECT THE “DEVIL’S CARRIAGE.”" /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE DONKEY BOYS INSPECT THE </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">DEVIL’S CARRIAGE.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Trans-Bosporus line, in the year of our visit, was +being built and operated by a German company, under +the direct patronage of the Sultan. We ventured to ask +some natives if they thought the Sultan had sufficient +funds to consummate so gigantic a scheme, and they +replied, with the deepest reverence: <span class="tei tei-q">“God has given the +Padishah much property and power, and certainly he +must give him enough money to utilize it.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A week’s cycling from the Bosporus brought us beyond +the Allah Dagh mountains, among the barren, variegated +hills that skirt the Angora plateau. We had already +passed through Ismid, the ancient Nicomedia and capital +of Diocletian; and had left behind us the heavily timbered +valley of the Sakaria, upon whose banks the <span class="tei tei-q">“Freebooter +of the Bithynian hills”</span> settled with his four hundred tents +and laid the foundation of the Ottoman empire. Since +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page6">[pg 6]</span><a name="Pg006" id="Pg006" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>leaving Geiveh we had been attended by a mounted +guard, or <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">zaptieh</span></span>, who was sometimes forced upon us by +the authorities in their anxiety to carry out the wishes +expressed in the letters of the Grand Vizir. On emerging +from the door of an inn we frequently found this unexpected +guard waiting with a Winchester rifle swung over +his shoulder, and a fleet steed standing by his side. Immediately +on our appearance he would swing into the +saddle and charge through the assembled rabble. Away +we would go at a rapid pace down the streets of the town +or village, to the utter amazement of the natives and the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page7">[pg 7]</span><a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>great satisfaction of our vainglorious zaptieh. As long +as his horse was fresh, or until we were out of sight of +the village, he would urge us on with cries of <span class="tei tei-q">“Gellcha-buk”</span> +(<span class="tei tei-q">“Come on, ride fast”</span>). When a bad piece of road +or a steep ascent forced us to dismount he would bring +his horse to a walk, roll a cigarette, and draw invidious +comparisons between our steeds. His tone, however, +changed when we reached a decline or long stretch of +reasonably good road. Then he would cut across country +to head us off, or shout after us at the top of his voice, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yavash-yavash”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Slowly, slowly”</span>). On the whole we +found them good-natured and companionable fellows, notwithstanding +their interest in <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">baksheesh</span></span> which we were +compelled at last, in self-defense, to fix at one piaster an +hour. We frequently shared with them our frugal, and +even scanty meals; and in turn they assisted us in our +purchases and arrangements for lodgings, for their word, +we found, was with the common people an almost unwritten +law. Then, too, they were of great assistance in +crossing streams where the depth would have necessitated +the stripping of garments; although their fiery little +steeds sometimes objected to having an extra rider astride +their haunches, and a bicycle across their shoulders. They +seized every opportunity to impress us with the necessity +of being accompanied by a government representative. +In some lonely portion of the road, or in the suggestive +stillness of an evening twilight, our Turkish Don Quixote +would sometimes cast mysterious glances around him, +take his Winchester from his shoulder, and throwing it +across the pommel of his saddle, charge ahead to meet +the imaginary enemy. But we were more harmful than +harmed, for, despite our most vigilant care, the bicycles +were sometimes the occasion of a stampede or runaway +among the caravans and teams along the highway, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page8">[pg 8]</span><a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>we frequently assisted in replacing the loads thus upset. +On such occasions our pretentious cavalier would remain +on his horse, smoking his cigarette and smiling disdainfully. +</p> +<a name="ill12" id="ill12"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i022.png" alt="HELPING A TURK WHOSE HORSES RAN AWAY AT SIGHT OF OUR BICYCLES." title="HELPING A TURK WHOSE HORSES RAN AWAY AT SIGHT OF OUR BICYCLES." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">HELPING A TURK WHOSE HORSES RAN AWAY AT SIGHT OF OUR BICYCLES.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was in the company of one of these military champions +that we emerged on the morning of April 12 upon +the plateau of Angora. On the spring pasture were feeding +several flocks of the famous Angora goats, and the +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">karamanli</span></span> or fat-tailed sheep, tended by the Yurak shepherds +and their half-wild and monstrous collies, whose +half-savage nature fits them to cope with the jackals which +infest the country. The shepherds did not check their +sudden onslaught upon us until we were pressed to very +close quarters, and had drawn our revolvers in self-defense. +These Yuraks are the nomadic portion of the Turkish +peasantry. They live in caves or rudely constructed +huts, shifting their habitation at will, or upon the +exhaus<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page10">[pg 10]</span><a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tion of the pasturage. Their costume is most primitive +both in style and material; the trousers and caps being +made of sheepskin and the tunic of plaited wheat-straw. +In contradistinction to the Yuraks the settled inhabitants +of the country are called Turks. That term, however, +which means rustic or clown, is never used by the Turks +themselves except in derision or disdain; they always +speak of themselves as <span class="tei tei-q">“Osmanli.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill13" id="ill13"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i023.jpg" alt="AN ANGORA SHEPHERD." title="AN ANGORA SHEPHERD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">AN ANGORA SHEPHERD.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The great length of the Angora fleece, which sometimes +reaches eight inches, is due solely to the peculiar +climate of the locality. The same goats taken elsewhere +have not thriven. Even the Angora dogs and cats are +remarkable for the extraordinary length of their fleecy +covering. On nearing Angora itself, we raced at high +speed over the undulating plateau. Our zaptieh on his +jaded horse faded away in the dim distance, and we saw +him no more. This was our last guard for many weeks +to come, as we decided to dispense with an escort that +really retarded us. But on reaching Erzerum, the Vali +refused us permission to enter the district of Alashgerd +without a guard, so we were forced to take one. +</p> + <a name="ill14" id="ill14"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i025.png" alt="1, THE ENGLISH CONSUL AT ANGORA FEEDING HIS PETS; 2, PASSING A CARAVAN OF CAMELS; 3, PLOWING IN ASIA MINOR." title="1, THE ENGLISH CONSUL AT ANGORA FEEDING HIS PETS; 2, PASSING A CARAVAN OF CAMELS; 3, PLOWING IN ASIA MINOR." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">1, THE ENGLISH CONSUL AT ANGORA FEEDING HIS PETS; 2, PASSING A CARAVAN OF CAMELS; 3, PLOWING IN ASIA MINOR.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We were now on historic ground. To our right, on +the Owas, a tributary of the Sakaria, was the little village +of Istanas, where stood the ancient seat of Midas, the +Phrygian king, and where Alexander the Great cut with +his sword the Gordian knot to prove his right to the +rulership of the world. On the plain, over which we were +now skimming, the great Tatar, Timur, fought the memorable +battle with Bajazet I., which resulted in the capture +of the Ottoman conqueror. Since the time that the title +of Asia applied to the small coast-province of Lydia, this +country has been the theater for the grandest events in +human history. +</p> +<a name="ill15" id="ill15"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i026.png" alt="A CONTRAST." title="A CONTRAST." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CONTRAST.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The old mud-houses of modern Angora, as we rolled +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page12">[pg 12]</span><a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>into the city, contrasted strongly with the cyclopean +walls of its ancient fortress. After two days in Angora +we diverged from the direct route to Sivas through Yüzgat, +so as to visit the city of Kaisarieh. Through the +efforts of the progressive Vali at Angora, a macadamized +road was in the course of construction to this point, a +part of which—to the town of Kirshehr—was already +completed. Although surrounded by unusual fertility +and luxuriance for an interior town, the low mud-houses +and treeless streets give Kirshehr that same thirsty and +painfully uniform appearance which characterizes every +village or city in Asiatic Turkey. The mud buildings of +Babylon, and not the marble edifices of Nineveh, have +served as models for the Turkish architect. We have +seen the Turks, when making the mud-straw bricks used +in house-building, scratch dirt for the purpose from between +the marble slabs and boulders that lay in profusion +over the ground. A few of the government buildings +and some of the larger private residences are improved by +a coat of whitewash, and now and then the warm spring +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page13">[pg 13]</span><a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>showers bring out on the mud roofs a relieving verdure, +that frequently serves as pasture for the family goat. +Everything is low and contracted, especially the doorways. +When a foreigner bumps his head, and demands +the reason for such stupid architecture, he is met with +that decisive answer, <span class="tei tei-q">“Adet”</span>—custom, the most powerful +of all influences in Turkey and the East. +</p> +<a name="ill16" id="ill16"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i027.png" alt="A TURKISH FLOUR-MILL." title="A TURKISH FLOUR-MILL." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A TURKISH FLOUR-MILL.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our entry into Kirshehr was typical of our reception +everywhere. When we were seen approaching, several +horsemen came out to get a first look at our strange +horses. They challenged us to a race, and set a spanking +pace down into the streets of the town. Before we reached +the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">khan</span></span>, or inn, we were obliged to dismount. <span class="tei tei-q">“Bin! +bin!”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Ride! ride!”</span>) went up in a shout. <span class="tei tei-q">“Nimkin +deyil”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“It is impossible”</span>), we explained, in such a jam; +and the crowd opened up three or four feet ahead of us. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Bin bocale”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Ride, so that we can see”</span>), they shouted +again; and some of them rushed up to hold our steeds for +us to mount. With the greatest difficulty we impressed +upon our persistent assistants that they could not help us. +By the time we reached the khan the crowd had become +almost a mob, pushing and tumbling over one another, +and yelling to every one in sight that <span class="tei tei-q">“the devil’s carts +have come.”</span> The +inn-keeper came +out, and we had +to assure him +that the mob was +actuated only +by curiosity. As +soon as the bicycles +were over +the threshold, the +doors were bolted +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page14">[pg 14]</span><a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and braced. The crowds swarmed to the windows. While +the khanji prepared coffee we sat down to watch the amusing +by-play and repartee going on around us. Those +who by virtue of their friendship with the khanji were +admitted to the room with us began a tirade against the +boyish curiosity of their less fortunate brethren on the +outside. Their own curiosity assumed tangible shape. +Our clothing, and even our hair and faces, were critically +examined. When we attempted to jot down the +day’s events in our note-books they crowded closer than +ever. Our fountain-pen was an additional puzzle to them. +It was passed around, and explained and commented on +at length. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our camera was a <span class="tei tei-q">“mysterious”</span> black box. Some said +it was a telescope, about which they had only a vague +idea; others, that it was a box containing our money. +But our map of Asiatic Turkey was to them the most +curious thing of all. They spread it on the floor, and +hovered over it, while we pointed to the towns and cities. +How could we tell where the places were until we had +been there? How did we even know their names? It +was wonderful—wonderful! We traced for them our own +journey, where we had been and where we were going, +and then endeavored to show them how, by starting from +our homes and continuing always in an easterly direction, +we could at last reach our starting-point from the west. +The more intelligent of them grasped the idea. <span class="tei tei-q">“Around +the world,”</span> they repeated again and again, with a mystified +expression. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Relief came at last, in the person of a messenger from +Osman Beg, the inspector-general of agriculture of the +Angora vilayet, bearing an invitation to supper. He +stated that he had already heard of our undertaking +through the Constantinople press, and desired to make +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page15">[pg 15]</span><a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>our acquaintance. His note, which was written in French, +showed him to be a man of European education; and on +shaking hands with him a half-hour later, we found him +to be a man of European origin—an Albanian Greek, and +a cousin of the Vali at Angora. He said a report had +gone out that two devils were passing through the country. +The dinner was one of those incongruous Turkish +mixtures of sweet and sour, which was by no means relieved +by the harrowing Turkish music which our host +ground out from an antiquated hand-organ. +</p> +<a name="ill17" id="ill17"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i029.png" alt="MILL IN ASIA MINOR." title="MILL IN ASIA MINOR." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MILL IN ASIA MINOR.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Although it +was late when +we returned to +the khan, we +found everybody +still up. +The room in +which we were +to sleep (there +was only one +room) was +filled with a +crowd of loiterers, +and tobacco +smoke. +Some were +playing games similar +to our chess and backgammon, +while others were +looking on, and smoking +the gurgling narghile, or water-pipe. +The bicycles had been put away under +lock and key, and the crowd gradually +dispersed. We lay down in our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page17">[pg 17]</span><a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>clothes, and tried to lose consciousness; but the Turkish +supper, the tobacco smoke, and the noise of the quarreling +gamesters, put sleep out of the question. At midnight +the sudden boom of a cannon reminded us that we +were in the midst of the Turkish Ramadan. The sound +of tramping feet, the beating of a bass drum, and the +whining tones of a Turkish bagpipe, came over the midnight +air. Nearer it came, and louder grew the sound, +till it reached the inn door, where it remained for some +time. The fast of Ramadan commemorates the revelation +of the Koran to the prophet Mohammed. It lasts +through the four phases of the moon. From daylight, or, +as the Koran reads, <span class="tei tei-q">“from the time you can distinguish +a white thread from a black one,”</span> no good Mussulman +will eat, drink, or smoke. At midnight the mosques are +illuminated, and bands of music go about the streets all +night, making a tremendous uproar. One cannon is fired +at dusk, to announce the time to break the fast by eating +supper, another at midnight to arouse the people for the +preparation of breakfast, and still another at daylight as +a signal for resuming the fast. This, of course, is very +hard on the poor man who has to work during the day. +As a precaution against oversleeping, a watchman goes +about just before daybreak, and makes a rousing clatter +at the gate of every Mussulman’s house to warn him that +if he wants anything to eat he must get it instanter. Our +roommates evidently intended to make an <span class="tei tei-q">“all night”</span> of +it, for they forthwith commenced the preparation of their +morning meal. How it was despatched we do not know, +for we fell asleep, and were only awakened by the muezzin +on a neighboring minaret, calling to morning prayer. +</p> + <a name="ill18" id="ill18"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i030.jpg" alt="GIPSIES OF ASIA MINOR." title="GIPSIES OF ASIA MINOR." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">GIPSIES OF ASIA MINOR.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our morning ablutions were usually made <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">à la</span></span> Turk: +by having water poured upon the hands from a spouted +vessel. Cleanliness is, with the Turk, perhaps, more than +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page18">[pg 18]</span><a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ourselves, the next thing to godliness. But his ideas are +based upon a very different theory. Although he uses +no soap for washing either his person or his clothes, yet +he considers himself much cleaner than the giaour, for the +reason that he uses running water exclusively, never allowing +the same particles to touch him the second time. +A Turk believes that all water is purified after running +six feet. As a test of his faith we have often seen him +lading up drinking-water from a stream where the women +were washing clothes just a few yards above. +</p> + <a name="ill19" id="ill19"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i033.png" alt="SCENE AT A GREEK INN." title="SCENE AT A GREEK INN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">SCENE AT A GREEK INN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As all cooking and eating had stopped at the sound of +the morning cannon, we found great difficulty in gathering +together even a cold breakfast of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">ekmek</span></span>, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yaourt</span></span>, and +raisins. Ekmek is a cooked bran-flour paste, which has +the thinness, consistency, and almost the taste of blotting-paper. +This is the Turkish peasant’s staff of life. He +carries it with him everywhere; so did we. As it was +made in huge circular sheets, we would often punch a +hole in the middle, and slip it up over our arms. This we +found the handiest and most serviceable mode of transportation, +being handy to eat without removing our hands +from the handle-bars, and also answering the purpose of +sails in case of a favoring wind. Yaourt, another almost +universal food, is milk curdled with rennet. This, as well +as all foods that are not liquid, they scoop up with a roll +of ekmek, a part of the scoop being taken with every +mouthful. Raisins here, as well as in many other parts +of the country, are very cheap. We paid two piasters +(about nine cents) for an <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">oche</span></span> (two and a half pounds), +but we soon made the discovery that a Turkish oche contained +a great many <span class="tei tei-q">“stones”</span>—which of course was +purely accidental. Eggs, also, we found exceedingly +cheap. On one occasion, twenty-five were set before us, +in response to our call for eggs to the value of one +piaster<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page20">[pg 20]</span><a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>—four and a half cents. In Asiatic Turkey we had some +extraordinary dishes served to us, including daintily prepared +leeches. But the worst mixture, perhaps, was the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Bairam soup,”</span> which contains over a dozen ingredients, +including peas, prunes, walnuts, cherries, dates, white and +black beans, apricots, cracked wheat, raisins, etc.—all +mixed in cold water. Bairam is the period of feasting +after the Ramadan fast. +</p> +<a name="ill20" id="ill20"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i034.png" alt="EATING KAISERICHEN (EKMEK) OR BREAD." title="EATING KAISERICHEN (EKMEK) OR BREAD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">EATING KAISERICHEN (EKMEK) OR BREAD.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On preparing to leave Kirshehr after our frugal breakfast +we found that Turkish curiosity had extended even +to the contents of our baggage, which fitted in the frames +of the machines. There was nothing missing, however: +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page21">[pg 21]</span><a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and we did not lose so much as a button during our sojourn +among them. Thieving is not one of their faults, +but they take much latitude in helping themselves. Many +a time an inn-keeper would <span class="tei tei-q">“help us out”</span> by disposing of +one third of a chicken that we had paid him a high price +to prepare. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When we were ready to start the chief of police cleared +a riding space through the streets, which for an hour had +been filled with people. As we passed among them they +shouted <span class="tei tei-q">“Oorooglar olsun”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“May good fortune attend +you”</span>). <span class="tei tei-q">“Inshallah”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“If it please God”</span>), we replied, and +waved our helmets in acknowledgment. +</p> +<a name="ill21" id="ill21"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i035.png" alt="GRINDING WHEAT." title="GRINDING WHEAT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">GRINDING WHEAT.</span></div></div> + + <a name="ill22" id="ill22"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i036.png" alt="A TURKISH (HAMAAL) OR CARRIER." title="A TURKISH (HAMAAL) OR CARRIER." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A TURKISH (HAMAAL) OR CARRIER.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the village of Topakle, on the following night, our +reception was not so innocent and good-natured. It was +already dusk when we reached the outskirts of the village, +where we were at once spied by a young man who was +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page22">[pg 22]</span><a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>driving in the lowing herd. +The alarm was given, and +the people swarmed like so +many rats from a corn-bin. +We could see from their +costume and features that +they were not pure-blooded +Turks. We asked if +we could get food and +lodging, to which they replied, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Evet, evet”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, +yes”</span>), but when we asked +them where, they simply +pointed ahead, and shouted, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Bin, bin!”</span> We did not +<span class="tei tei-q">“bin”</span> this time, because +it was too dark, and the +streets were bad. We walked, or rather were pushed along +by the impatient rabble, and almost deafened by their +shouts of <span class="tei tei-q">“Bin, bin!”</span> At the end of the village we repeated +our question of where. Again they pointed ahead, +and shouted, <span class="tei tei-q">“Bin!”</span> Finally an old man led us to what +seemed to be a private residence, where we had to drag +our bicycles up a dark narrow stairway to the second +story. The crowd soon filled the room to suffocation, +and were not disposed to heed our request to be left +alone. One stalwart youth showed such a spirit of opposition +that we were obliged to eject him upon a crowded +stairway, causing the mob to go down like a row of tenpins. +Then the owner of the house came in, and in an +agitated manner declared he could not allow us to remain +in his house overnight. Our reappearance caused a jeering +shout to go up from the crowd; but no violence was +attempted beyond the catching hold of the rear wheel +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page23">[pg 23]</span><a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>when our backs were turned, and the throwing of clods +of earth. They followed us, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">en masse</span></span>, to the edge of +the village, and there stopped short, to watch us till we +disappeared in the darkness. The nights at this high +altitude were chilly. We had no blankets, and not enough +clothing to warrant a camp among the rocks. There was +not a twig on the whole plateau with which to build a fire. +We were alone, however, and that was rest in itself. After +walking an hour, perhaps, we saw a light gleaming from +a group of mudhuts a short distance off the road. From +the numerous flocks around it, we took it to be a shepherds’ +village. Everything was quiet except the restless sheep, +whose silky fleece glistened in the light of the rising moon. +Supper was not yet over, for we caught a whiff of its savory +odor. Leaving our wheels outside, we entered the first +door we came to, and, following along a narrow passageway, +emerged into a room where four rather +rough-look<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page24">[pg 24]</span><a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ing shepherds were ladling the soup from a huge bowl in +their midst. Before they were aware of our presence, we +uttered the usual salutation <span class="tei tei-q">“Sabala khayr olsun.”</span> This +startled some little boys who were playing in the corner, +who yelled, and ran into the haremlük, or women’s apartment. +This brought to the door the female occupants, +who also uttered a shriek, and sunk back as if in a swoon. +It was evident that the visits of giaours to this place had +been few and far between. The shepherds returned our +salutation with some hesitation, while their ladles dropped +into the soup, and their gaze became fixed on our huge +helmets, our dogskin top-coats, and abbreviated nether +garments. The women by this time had sufficiently recovered +from their nervous shock to give scope to their +usual curiosity through the cracks in the partition. Confidence +now being inspired by our own composure, we +were invited to sit down and participate in the evening +meal. Although it was only a gruel of sour milk and rice, +we managed to make a meal off it. Meantime the wheels +had been discovered by some passing neighbor. The news +was spread throughout the village, and soon an excited +throng came in with our bicycles borne upon the shoulders +of two powerful Turks. Again we were besieged with +entreaties to ride, and, hoping that this would gain for +us a comfortable night’s rest, we yielded, and, amid peals +of laughter from a crowd of Turkish peasants, gave an +exhibition in the moonlight. Our only reward, when we +returned to our quarters, was two greasy pillows and a +filthy carpet for a coverlet. But the much needed rest +we did not secure, for the suspicions aroused by the first +glance at our bed-cover proved to be well grounded. +</p> + <a name="ill23" id="ill23"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i037.png" alt="TURKISH WOMEN GOING TO PRAYERS IN KAISARIEH." title="TURKISH WOMEN GOING TO PRAYERS IN KAISARIEH." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">TURKISH WOMEN GOING TO PRAYERS IN KAISARIEH.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +About noon on April 20, our road turned abruptly into +the broad caravan trail that runs between Smyrna and +Kaisarieh, about ten miles west of the latter city. A long +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page25">[pg 25]</span><a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>caravan of camels was moving majestically up the road, +headed by a little donkey, which the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">devedejee</span></span> (camel-driver) +was riding with his feet dangling almost to the ground. +That proverbially stubborn creature moved not a muscle +until we came alongside, when all at once he gave one of +his characteristic side lurches, and precipitated the rider +to the ground. The first camel, with a protesting grunt, +began to sidle off, and the broadside movement continued +down the line till the whole caravan stood at an angle of +about forty-five degrees to the road. The camel of Asia +Minor does not share that antipathy for the equine species +which is so general among their Asiatic cousins; but steel +horses were more than even they could endure. +</p> +<a name="ill24" id="ill24"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i039.png" alt="THE 'FLIRTING TOWER' IN SIVAS." title="THE “FLIRTING TOWER” IN SIVAS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">FLIRTING TOWER</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> IN SIVAS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A sudden turn in the road now brought us in sight of +old Arjish Dagh, which towers 13,000 feet above the city +of Kaisarieh, and whose head and shoulders were covered +with snow. Native tradition tells us that against this +lofty summit the ark of Noah struck in the rising flood; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page26">[pg 26]</span><a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and for this reason Noah cursed it, and prayed that it +might ever be covered with snow. It was in connection +with this very mountain that we first conceived the idea +of making the ascent of Ararat. Here and there, on some +of the most prominent peaks, we could distinguish little +mounds of earth, the ruined watch-towers of the prehistoric +Hittites. +</p> +<a name="ill25" id="ill25"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i040.png" alt="HOUSE OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL IN SIVAS." title="HOUSE OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL IN SIVAS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">HOUSE OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL IN SIVAS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Kaisarieh (ancient Cæsarea) is filled with the ruins and +the monuments of the fourteenth-century Seljuks. Arrowheads +and other relics are every day unearthed there, to +serve as toys for the street urchins. Since the development +of steam-communication around the coast, it is no +longer the caravan center that it used to be; but even +now its <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">charshi</span></span>, or inclosed bazaars, are among the finest +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page27">[pg 27]</span><a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in Turkey, being far superior in appearance to those of +Constantinople. These <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">charshi</span></span> are nothing more than +narrow streets, inclosed by brick arches, and lined on +either side with booths. It was through one of these +that our only route to the khan lay—and yet we felt that +in such contracted quarters, and in such an excited mob +as had gathered around us, disaster was sure to follow. +Our only salvation was to keep ahead of the jam, and get +through as soon as possible. We started on the spurt; +and the race began. The unsuspecting merchants and +their customers were suddenly distracted from their +thoughts of gain as we whirled by; the crowd close behind +sweeping everything before it. The falling of barrels +and boxes, the rattling of tin cans, the crashing of crockery, +the howling of the vagrant dogs that were trampled +under foot, only added to the general tumult. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Through the courtesy of Mr. Peet of the American +Bible House at Constantinople, we were provided with +letters of introduction to the missionaries at Kaisarieh, +as well as elsewhere along our route through Asiatic +Turkey, and upon them we also had drafts to the amount +of our deposit made at the Bible House before starting. +Besides, we owed much to the hospitality and kindness of +these people. The most striking feature of the missionary +work at Kaisarieh is the education of the Armenian +women, whose social position seems to be even more +degraded than that of their Turkish sisters. With the +native Armenians, as with the Turks, fleshiness adds +much to the price of a wife. The wife of a missionary +is to them an object both of wonderment and contempt. +As she walks along the street, they will whisper to one +another: <span class="tei tei-q">“There goes a woman who knows all her husband’s +business; and who can manage just as well as +himself.”</span> This will generally be followed in an +under<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page28">[pg 28]</span><a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tone by the expression, <span class="tei tei-q">“Madana satana,”</span> which means, +in common parlance, <span class="tei tei-q">“a female devil.”</span> At first it was a +struggle to overcome this ignorant prejudice, and to get +girls to come to the school free of charge; now it is hard +to find room for them even when they are asked to pay +for their tuition. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The costume of the Armenian woman is generally of +some bright-colored cloth, prettily trimmed. Her coiffure, +always elaborate, sometimes includes a string of gold +coins, encircling the head, or strung down the plait. A +silver belt incloses the waist, and a necklace of coins calls +attention to her pretty neck. When washing clothes by +the stream, they frequently show a gold ring encircling +an ankle. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the simplicity of their costumes, as well as in the +fact that they do not expose the face, the Turkish women +stand in strong contrast to the Armenian. Baggy trousers +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">à la</span></span> Bloomer, a loose robe skirt opening at the sides, +and a voluminous shawl-like girdle around the waist and +body, constitute the main features of the Turkish indoor +costume. On the street a shroud-like robe called yashmak, +usually white, but sometimes crimson, purple, or +black, covers them from head to foot. When we would +meet a bevy of these creatures on the road in the dusk of +evening, their white, fluttering garments would give them +the appearance of winged celestials. The Turkish women +are generally timorous of men, and especially so of foreigners. +Those of the rural districts, however, are not +so shy as their city cousins. We frequently met them at +work in groups about the villages or in the open fields, +and would sometimes ask for a drink of water. If they +were a party of maidens, as was often the case, they would +draw back and hide behind one another. We would offer +one of them a ride on our <span class="tei tei-q">“very nice horses.”</span> This +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page29">[pg 29]</span><a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would cause a general giggle among her companions, and +a drawing of the yashmak closer about the neck and face. +</p> +<a name="ill26" id="ill26"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i043.png" alt="ARABS CONVERSING WITH A TURK." title="ARABS CONVERSING WITH A TURK." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">ARABS CONVERSING WITH A TURK.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The road scenes in the interior provinces are but little +varied. One of the most characteristic features of the +Anatolian landscape are the storks, which come in flocks +of thousands from their winter quarters in Egypt and +build summer nests, unmolested, on the village housetops. +These, like the crows, magpies, and swallows, prove valuable +allies to the husbandmen in their war against the +locust. A still more serviceable friend in this direction +is the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">smarmar</span></span>, a pink thrush with black wings. Besides +the various caravan trains of camels, donkeys, horses, and +mules, the road is frequently dotted with ox-carts, run +on solid wooden wheels without tires, and drawn by that +peculiar bovine species, the buffalo. With their distended +necks, elevated snouts, and hog-like bristles, these animals +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page30">[pg 30]</span><a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>present an ugly appearance, especially when wallowing +in mud puddles. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Now and then in the villages we passed by a primitive +flour-mill moved by a small stream playing upon a horizontal +wheel beneath the floor; or, more primitive still, +by a blindfolded donkey plodding ceaselessly around in +his circular path. In the streets we frequently encountered +boys and old men gathering manure for their winter +fuel; and now and then a cripple or invalid would accost +us as <span class="tei tei-q">“Hakim”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor”</span>), for the medical work of the +missionaries has given these simple-minded folk the impression +that all foreigners are physicians. Coming up +and extending a hand for us to feel the pulse they would +ask us to do something for the disease, which we could +see was rapidly carrying them to the grave. +</p> +<a name="ill27" id="ill27"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i044.png" alt="A KADI EXPOUNDING THE KORAN." title="A KADI EXPOUNDING THE KORAN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A KADI EXPOUNDING THE KORAN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our first view of Sivas was obtained from the top of +Mount Yildiz, on which still stands the ruined castle of +Mithridates, the Pontine monarch, whom Lucullus many +times defeated, but never conquered. From this point +we made a very rapid descent, crossed the Kizil +Irmak for the third time by an old ruined bridge, +and half an hour later saw the <span class="tei tei-q">“stars and stripes”</span> +flying above the U. S. consulate. In the society +of our representative, Mr. Henry M. Jewett, we +were destined to spend several weeks; for a +day or two after our arrival, one +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page31">[pg 31]</span><a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of us was taken with a slight attack of typhoid fever, +supposed to have been contracted by drinking from +the roadside streams. No better place could have been +chosen for such a mishap; for recovery was speedy in +such comfortable quarters, under the care of the missionary +ladies. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The comparative size and prosperity of Sivas, in the +midst of rather barren surroundings, are explained by +the fact that it lies at the converging point of the chief +caravan routes between the Euxine, Euphrates, and Mediterranean. +Besides being the capital of Rumili, the former +Seljuk province of Cappadocia, it is the place of residence +for a French and American consular representative, +and an agent of the Russian government for the collection +of the war indemnity, stipulated in the treaty of ’78. +The dignity of office is here upheld with something of +the pomp and splendor of the East, even by the representative +of democratic America. In our tours with +Mr. Jewett we were escorted at the head by a Circassian +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">cavass</span></span> (Turkish police), clothed in a long black coat, with +a huge dagger dangling from a belt of cartridges. Another +native cavass, with a broadsword dragging at his +side, usually brought up the rear. At night he was the +one to carry the huge lantern, which, according to the +number of candles, is the insignia of rank. <span class="tei tei-q">“I must give +the Turks what they want,”</span> said the consul, with a twinkle +in his eye—<span class="tei tei-q">“form and red tape. I would not be a +consul in their eyes, if I didn’t.”</span> To illustrate the formality +of Turkish etiquette he told this story: <span class="tei tei-q">“A Turk was +once engaged in saving furniture from his burning home, +when he noticed that a bystander was rolling a cigarette. +He immediately stopped in his hurry, struck a match, and +offered a light.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill28" id="ill28"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i046.png" alt="EVENING HALT IN A VILLAGE." title="EVENING HALT IN A VILLAGE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">EVENING HALT IN A VILLAGE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The most flagrant example of Turkish formality that +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page33">[pg 33]</span><a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>came to our notice was the following address on an official +document to the Sultan: +</p> + +<div class="block tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"> +<span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">The Arbiter; the Absolute; the Soul and Body of the +Universe; the Father of all the sovereigns of the earth; +His Excellency, the Eagle Monarch; the Cause of the +never-changing order of things; the Source of all honor; +the Son of the Sultan of Sultans, under whose feet we +are dust, whose awful shadow protects us; Abdul Hamid II., +Son of Abdul Medjid, whose residence is in Paradise; our +glorious Lord, to whose sacred body be given health, and +strength, and endless days; whom Allah keeps in his palace, +and on his throne with joy and glory, forever. Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span> +</div> +<a name="ill29" id="ill29"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i047.png" alt="PRIMITIVE WEAVING." title="PRIMITIVE WEAVING." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">PRIMITIVE WEAVING.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +This is not the flattery of a cringing subordinate, for +the same spirit is revealed in an address by the Sultan +himself to his Grand Vizir: +</p> + +<div class="block tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"> +<span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Most honored Vizir; Maintainer of the good order of +the World; Director of public affairs with wisdom and +judgment; Accomplisher of the important transactions of +mankind with intelligence and good sense; Consolidator +of the edifice of Empire and of Glory; endowed by the +Most High with abundant gifts; and </span><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">‘</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Monshir,</span><span style="font-size: 90%">’</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> at this +time, of my Gate of Felicity; my Vizir Mehmed Pasha, +</span><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page34">[pg 34]</span><a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span style="font-size: 90%">may God be pleased to preserve him long in exalted +dignity.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Though the Turks cannot be called lazy, yet they like +to take their time. Patience, they say, belongs to God; +hurry, to the devil. Nowhere is this so well illustrated +as in the manner of shopping in Turkey. This was +brought particularly to our notice when we visited the +Sivas bazaars to examine some inlaid silverware, for +which the place is celebrated. The customer stands in +the street inspecting the articles on exhibition; the merchant +sits on his heels on the booth floor. If the customer +is of some position in life, he climbs up and sits down on +a level with the merchant. If he is a foreigner, the merchant +is quite deferential. A merchant is not a merchant +at all, but a host entertaining a guest. Coffee is served; +then a cigarette rolled up and handed to the <span class="tei tei-q">“guest,”</span> +while the various social and other local topics are freely +discussed. After coffee and smoking the question of +purchase is gradually approached; not abruptly, as that +would involve a loss of dignity; but circumspectly, as if +the buying of anything were a mere afterthought. Maybe, +after half an hour, the customer has indicated what he +wants, and after discussing the quality of the goods, the +customer asks the price in an off-hand way, as though he +were not particularly interested. The merchant replies, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, whatever your highness pleases,”</span> or, <span class="tei tei-q">“I shall be +proud if your highness will do me the honor to accept it +as a gift.”</span> This means nothing whatever, and is merely +the introduction to the haggling which is sure to follow. +The seller, with silken manners and brazen countenance, +will always name a price four times as large as it should +be. Then the real business begins. The buyer offers one +half or one fourth of what he finally expects to pay; and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page35">[pg 35]</span><a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a war of words, in a blustering tone, leads up to the close +of this every-day farce. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The superstition of the Turks is nowhere so apparent +as in their fear of the <span class="tei tei-q">“evil eye.”</span> Jugs placed around +the edge of the roof, or an old shoe filled with garlic and +blue beets (blue glass balls or rings) are a sure guard +against this illusion. Whenever a pretty child is playing +upon the street the passers-by will say: <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, what an +ugly child!”</span> for fear of inciting the evil spirit against its +beauty. The peasant classes in Turkey are of course the +most superstitious because they are the most ignorant. +They have no education whatever, and can neither read +nor write. Stamboul is the only great city of which +they know. Paris is a term signifying the whole outside +world. An American missionary was once asked: <span class="tei tei-q">“In +what part of Paris is America?”</span> Yet it can be said that +they are generally honest, and always patient. They +earn from about six to eight cents a day. This will furnish +them with ekmek and pilaff, and that is all they expect. +They eat meat only on feast-days, and then only +mutton. The tax-gatherer is their only grievance; they +look upon him as a necessary evil. They have no idea of +being ground down under the oppressor’s iron heel. Yet +they are happy because they are contented, and have no +envy. The poorer, the more ignorant, a Turk is, the better +he seems to be. As he gets money and power, and +becomes <span class="tei tei-q">“contaminated”</span> by western civilization, he deteriorates. +A resident of twenty years’ experience said: +<span class="tei tei-q">“In the lowest classes I have sometimes found truth, honesty, +and gratitude; in the middle classes, seldom; in the +highest, never.”</span> The corruptibility of the Turkish official +is almost proverbial; but such is to be expected in the +land where <span class="tei tei-q">“the public treasury”</span> is regarded as a <span class="tei tei-q">“sea,”</span> +and <span class="tei tei-q">“who does not drink of it, as a pig.”</span> Peculation +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page36">[pg 36]</span><a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and malversation are fully expected in the public official. +They are necessary evils—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">adet</span></span> (custom) has made them +so. Offices are sold to the highest bidder. The Turkish +official is one of the politest and most agreeable of men. +He is profuse in his compliments, but he has no conscience +as to bribes, and little regard for virtue as its own reward. +We are glad to be able to record a brilliant, though perhaps +theoretical, exception to this general rule. At Koch-Hissar, +on our way from Sivas to Kara Hissar, a delay was +caused by a rather serious break in one of our bicycles. +In the interval we were the invited guests of a district +kadi, a venerable-looking and genial old gentleman whose +acquaintance we had made in an official visit on the previous +day, as he was then the acting <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">caimacam</span></span> (mayor). His +house was situated in a neighboring valley in the shadow +of a towering bluff. We were ushered into the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">selamlük</span></span>, +or guest apartment, in company with an Armenian friend +who had been educated as a doctor in America, and who +had consented to act as interpreter for the occasion. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The kadi entered with a smile on his countenance, and +made the usual picturesque form of salutation by describing +the figure 3 with his right hand from the floor to his +forehead. Perhaps it was because he wanted to be polite +that he said he had enjoyed our company on the previous +day, and had determined, if possible, to have a more extended +conversation. With the usual coffee and cigarettes, +the kadi became informal and chatty. He was evidently +a firm believer in predestination, as he remarked that God +had foreordained our trip to that country, even the food +we were to eat, and the invention of the extraordinary +<span class="tei tei-q">“cart”</span> on which we were to ride. The idea of such a +journey, in such a peculiar way, was not to be accredited +to the ingenuity of man. There was a purpose in it all. +When we ventured to thank him for his hospitality +to<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page37">[pg 37]</span><a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ward two strangers, and even foreigners, he said that this +world occupied so small a space in God’s dominion, that +we could well afford to be brothers, one to another, in +spite of our individual beliefs and opinions. <span class="tei tei-q">“We may +have different religious beliefs,”</span> said he, <span class="tei tei-q">“but we all belong +to the same great father of humanity; just as children +of different complexions, dispositions, and intellects +may belong to one common parent. We should exercise +reason always, and have charity for other people’s +opinions.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From charity the conversation naturally turned to justice. +We were much interested in his opinion on this +subject, as that of a Turkish judge, and rather high official. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Justice,”</span> said he, <span class="tei tei-q">“should be administered to the +humblest person; though a king should be the offending +party, all alike must yield to the sacred law of justice. +We must account to God for our acts, and not to men.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The regular route from Sivas to Erzerum passes through +Erzinjan. From this, however, we diverged at Zara, in +order to visit the city of Kara Hissar, and the neighboring +Lidjissy mines, which had been pioneered by the Genoese +explorers, and were now being worked by a party of +Englishmen. This divergence on to unbeaten paths was +made at a very inopportune season; for the rainy spell +set in, which lasted, with scarcely any intermission, for +over a fortnight. At the base of Kosse Dagh, which +stands upon the watershed between the two largest rivers +of Asia Minor, the Kizil Irmak and Yeshil Irmak, +our road was blocked by a mountain freshet, which at its +height washed everything before it. We spent a day and +night on its bank, in a primitive flour-mill, which was so +far removed from domestic life that we had to send three +miles up in the mountains to get something to eat. The +Yeshil Irmak, which we crossed just before reaching Kara +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page38">[pg 38]</span><a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Hissar, was above our shoulders as we waded through, +holding our bicycles and baggage over our heads; while +the swift current rolled the small boulders against us, and +almost knocked us off our feet. There were no bridges +in this part of the country. With horses and wagons the +rivers were usually fordable; and what more would you +want? With the Turk, as with all Asiatics, it is not a +question of what is better, but what will do. Long before +we reached a stream, the inhabitants of a certain town +or village would gather round, and with troubled countenances +say, <span class="tei tei-q">“Christian gentlemen—there is no bridge,”</span> +pointing to the river beyond, and graphically describing +that it was over our horses’ heads. That would settle it, +they thought; it never occurred to them that a <span class="tei tei-q">“Christian +gentleman”</span> could take off his clothes and wade. Sometimes, +as we walked along in the mud, the wheels of our +bicycles would become so clogged that we could not even +push them before us. In such a case we would take the +nearest shelter, whatever it might be. The night before +reaching Kara Hissar, we entered an abandoned stable, +from which everything had fled except the fleas. Another +night was spent in the pine-forests just on the border +be<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page39">[pg 39]</span><a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tween Asia Minor and Armenia, which were said to be the +haunts of the border robbers. Our surroundings could +not be relieved by a fire for fear of attracting their attention. +</p> + <a name="ill30" id="ill30"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i052.png" alt="A FERRY IN ASIA MINOR." title="A FERRY IN ASIA MINOR." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A FERRY IN ASIA MINOR.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When at last we reached the Trebizond-Erzerum highway +at Baiboot, the contrast was so great that the scaling +of Kop Dagh, on its comparatively smooth surface, was +a mere breakfast spell. From here we looked down for +the first time into the valley of the historic Euphrates, +and a few hours later we were skimming over its bottom +lands toward the embattled heights of Erzerum. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As we neared the city, some Turkish peasants in the +fields caught sight of us, and shouted to their companions: +<span class="tei tei-q">“Russians! Russians! There they are! Two of them!”</span> +This was not the first time we had been taken for the subjects +of the Czar; the whole country seemed to be in dread +of them. Erzerum is the capital of that district which +Russia will no doubt demand, if the stipulated war indemnity +is not paid. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The entrance into the city was made to twist and turn +among the ramparts, so as to avoid a rush in case of an +attack. But this was no proof against a surprise in the +case of the noiseless wheel. In we dashed with a roaring +wind, past the affrighted guards, and were fifty yards +away before they could collect their scattered senses. +Then suddenly it dawned upon them that we were human +beings, and foreigners besides—perhaps even the dreaded +Russian spies. They took after us at full speed, but it +was too late. Before they reached us we were in the +house of the commandant pasha, the military governor, +to whom we had a letter of introduction from our consul +at Sivas. That gentleman we found extremely good-natured; +he laughed heartily at our escapade with the +guards. Nothing would do but we must visit the Vali, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page40">[pg 40]</span><a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the civil governor, who was also a pasha of considerable +reputation and influence. +</p> +<a name="ill31" id="ill31"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i054.png" alt="A VILLAGE SCENE." title="A VILLAGE SCENE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A VILLAGE SCENE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We had intended, but not so soon, to pay an official +visit to the Vali to present our letter from the Grand +Vizir, and to ask his permission to proceed to Bayazid, +whence we had planned to attempt the ascent of Mount +Ararat, an experience which will be described in the next +chapter. A few days before, we heard, a similar application +had been made by an English traveler from Bagdad, +but owing to certain suspicions the permission was refused. +It was with no little concern, therefore, that we +approached the Vali’s private office in company with his +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page41">[pg 41]</span><a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>French interpreter. Circumstances augured ill at the +very start. The Vali was evidently in a bad humor, for +we overheard him storming in a high key at some one in +the room with him. As we passed under the heavy matted +curtains the two attendants who were holding them up +cast a rather horrified glance at our dusty shoes and unconventional +costume. The Vali was sitting in a large +arm-chair in front of a very small desk, placed at the far +end of a vacant-looking room. After the usual salaams, +he motioned to a seat on the divan, and proceeded at once +to examine our credentials while we sipped at our coffee, +and whiffed the small cigarettes which were immediately +served. This furnished the Vali an opportunity to regain +his usual composure. He was evidently an autocrat of +the severest type; if we pleased him, it would be all right; +if we did not, it would be all wrong. We showed him +everything we had, from our Chinese passport to the little +photographic camera, and related some of the most amusing +incidents of our journey through his country. From +the numerous questions he asked we felt certain of his +genuine interest, and were more than pleased to see an +occasional broad smile on his countenance. <span class="tei tei-q">“Well,”</span> said +he, as we rose to take leave, <span class="tei tei-q">“your passports will be ready +any time after to-morrow; in the mean time I shall be +pleased to have your horses quartered and fed at government +expense.”</span> This was a big joke for a Turk, and +assured us of his good-will. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A bicycle exhibition which the Vali had requested was +given the morning of our departure for Bayazid, on a +level stretch of road just outside the city. Several missionaries +and members of the consulates had gone out in +carriages, and formed a little group by themselves. We +rode up with the <span class="tei tei-q">“stars and stripes”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“star and crescent”</span> +fluttering side by side from the handle-bars. It +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page42">[pg 42]</span><a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was always our custom, especially on diplomatic occasions, +to have a little flag of the country associated with +that of our own. This little arrangement evoked a smile +from the Vali, who, when the exhibition was finished, +stepped forward and said, <span class="tei tei-q">“I am satisfied, I am pleased.”</span> +His richly caparisoned white charger was now brought +up. Leaping into the saddle, he waved us good-by, and +moved away with his suite toward the city. We ourselves +remained for a few moments to bid good-by to our +hospitable friends, and then, once more, continued our +journey toward the east. +</p> +<a name="ill32" id="ill32"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i056.jpg" alt="[Illustration]" /></div> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page43">[pg 43]</span><a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc33" id="toc33"></a><a name="pdf34" id="pdf34"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">II</span></h2> + +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.40em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%">THE ASCENT OF MOUNT ARARAT</span></h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +According to tradition, Mount Ararat is the scene +of two of the most important events in the history +of the human race. In the sacred land of Eden, which +Armenian legend places at its base, the first of human +life was born; and on its solitary peak the last of human +life was saved from an all-destroying flood. The remarkable +geographical position of this mountain seems to justify +the Armenian view that it is the center of the world. +It is on the longest line drawn through the Old World +from the Cape of Good Hope to Bering Strait; it is also +on the line of the great deserts and inland seas stretching +from Gibraltar to Lake Baikal in Siberia—a line of +continuous depressions; it is equidistant from the Black +and Caspian Seas and the Mesopotamian plain, which three +depressions are now watered by three distinct river-systems +emanating from Ararat’s immediate vicinity. No +other region has seen or heard so much of the story of +mankind. In its grim presence empires have come and +gone; cities have risen and fallen; human life has soared +up on the wings of hope, and dashed against the rocks +of despair. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To the eye Ararat presents a gently inclined slope of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page44">[pg 44]</span><a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>sand and ashes rising into a belt of green, another zone +of black volcanic rocks streaked with snow-beds, and then +a glittering crest of silver. From the burning desert at +its base to the icy pinnacle above, it rises through a vertical +distance of 13,000 feet. There are but few peaks in +the world that rise so high (17,250 feet above sea-level) +from so low a plain (2000 feet on the Russian, and 4000 +feet on the Turkish, side), and which, therefore, present +so grand a spectacle. Unlike many of the world’s mountains, +it stands alone. Little Ararat (12,840 feet above +sea-level), and the other still smaller heights that dot the +plain, only serve as a standard by which to measure Ararat’s +immensity and grandeur. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Little Ararat is the meeting-point, or corner-stone, of +three great empires. On its conical peak converge the +dominions of the Czar, the Sultan, and the Shah. The +Russian border-line runs from Little Ararat along the +high ridge which separates it from Great Ararat, through +the peak of the latter, and onward a short distance to the +northwest, then turns sharply to the west. On the Sardarbulakh +pass, between Great and Little Ararat, is stationed +a handful of Russian Cossacks to remind lawless +tribes of the guardianship of the <span class="tei tei-q">“White Sultan.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The two Ararats together form an elliptical mass, about +twenty-five miles in length, running northwest and southeast, +and about half that in width. Out of this massive +base rise the two Ararat peaks, their bases being contiguous +up to 8800 feet and their tops about seven miles +apart. Little Ararat is an almost perfect truncated cone, +while Great Ararat is more of a broad-shouldered dome +supported by strong, rough-ribbed buttresses. The isolated +position of Ararat, its structure of igneous rocks, +the presence of small craters and immense volcanic fissures +on its slopes, and the scoriæ and ashes on the +sur<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page45">[pg 45]</span><a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>rounding plain, establish beyond a doubt its volcanic +origin. But according to the upheaval theory of the +eminent geologist, Hermann Abich, who was among the +few to make the ascent of the mountain, there never was +a great central crater in either Great or Little Ararat. +Certain it is that no craters or signs of craters now exist +on the summit of either mountain. But Mr. James +Bryce, who made the last ascent, in 1876, seems to think +that there is no sufficient reason why craters could not +have previously existed, and been filled up by their own +irruptions. There is no record of any irruption in historical +times. The only thing approaching it was the earthquake +which shook the mountain in 1840, accompanied by +subterranean rumblings, and destructive blasts of wind. +The Tatar village of Arghuri and a Kurdish encampment +on the northeast slope were entirely destroyed by the +precipitated rocks. Not a man was left to tell the story. +Mr. Bryce and others have spoken of the astonishing +height of the snow-line on Mount Ararat, which is placed +at 14,000 feet; while in the Alps it is only about 9000 +feet, and in the Caucasus on an average 11,000 feet, although +they lie in a very little higher latitude. They +assign, as a reason for this, the exceptionally dry region +in which Ararat is situated. Mr. Bryce ascended the +mountain on September 12, when the snow-line was at its +very highest, the first large snow-bed he encountered being +at 12,000 feet. Our own ascent being made as early +as July 4,—in fact, the earliest ever recorded,—we found +some snow as low as 8000 feet, and large beds at 10,500 +feet. The top of Little Ararat was still at that time +streaked with snow, but not covered. With so many +extensive snow-beds, one would naturally expect to find +copious brooks and streams flowing down the mountain +into the plain; but owing to the porous and dry nature +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page46">[pg 46]</span><a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of the soil, the water is entirely lost before reaching the +base of the mountain. Even as early as July we saw no +stream below 6000 feet, and even above this height the +mountain freshets frequently flowed far beneath the surface +under the loosely packed rocks, bidding defiance to +our efforts to reach them. Notwithstanding the scarcity +of snow-freshets, there is a middle zone on Mount Ararat, +extending from about 5000 feet to 9000 feet elevation, +which is covered with good pasturage, kept green by +heavy dews and frequent showers. The hot air begins +to rise from the desert plain as the morning sun peeps +over the horizon, and continues through the day; this +warm current, striking against the snow-covered summit, +is condensed into clouds and moisture. In consequence, +the top of Ararat is usually—during the summer months, +at least—obscured by clouds from some time after dawn +until sunset. On the last day of our ascent, however, we +were particularly fortunate in having a clear summit until +1:15 in the afternoon. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Among the crags of the upper slope are found only a +few specimens of the wild goat and sheep, and, lower +down, the fox, wolf, and lynx. The bird and insect life +is very scanty, but lizards and scorpions, especially on the +lowest slopes, are abundant. The rich pasturage of Ararat’s +middle zone attracts pastoral Kurdish tribes. These +nomadic shepherds, a few Tatars at New Arghuri, and a +camp of Russian Cossacks at the well of Sardarbulakh, +are the only human beings to disturb the quiet solitude +of this grandest of nature’s sanctuaries. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The first recorded ascent of Mount Ararat was in 1829, +by Dr. Frederick Parrot, a Russo-German professor in +the University of Dorpat. He reached the summit with +a party of three Armenians and two Russian soldiers, +after two unsuccessful attempts. His ascent, however, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page47">[pg 47]</span><a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was doubted, not only by the people in the neighborhood, +but by many men of science and position in the Russian +empire, notwithstanding his clear account, which has been +confirmed by subsequent observers, and in spite of the +testimony of the two Russian soldiers who had gone with +him.<a id="noteref_1" name="noteref_1" href="#note_1"><span class="tei tei-noteref"><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">1</span></span></a> Two of the Armenians who reached the summit +with him declared that they had gone to a great height, +but at the point where they had left off had seen much +higher tops rising around them. This, thereupon, became +the opinion of the whole country. After Antonomoff, in +1834, Herr Abich, the geologist, made his valuable ascent +in 1845. He reached the eastern summit, which is only a +few feet lower than the western, and only a few minutes’ +walk from it, but was obliged to return at once on account +of the threatening weather. When he produced his companions +as witnesses before the authorities at Erivan, +they turned against him, and solemnly swore that at the +point which they had reached a higher peak stood between +them and the western horizon. This strengthened +the Armenian belief in the inaccessibility of Ararat, which +was not dissipated when the Russian military engineer, +General Chodzko, and an English party made the ascent +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page48">[pg 48]</span><a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in 1856. Nor were their prejudiced minds convinced by +the ascent of Mr. Bryce twenty years later, in 1876. Two +days after his ascent, that gentleman paid a visit to the +Armenian monastery at Echmiadzin, and was presented +to the archimandrite as the Englishman who had just +ascended to the top of <span class="tei tei-q">“Masis.”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> said the ecclesiastical +dignitary; <span class="tei tei-q">“that cannot be. No one has ever +been there. It is impossible.”</span> Mr. Bryce himself says: +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am persuaded that there is not a person living within +sight of Ararat, unless it be some exceptionally educated +Russian official at Erivan, who believes that any human +foot, since Father Noah’s, has trodden that sacred summit. +So much stronger is faith than sight; or rather so +much stronger is prejudice than evidence.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We had expected, on our arrival in Bayazid, to find in +waiting for us a Mr. Richardson, an American missionary +from Erzerum. Two years later, on our arrival home, we +received a letter explaining that on his way from Van +he had been captured by Kurdish brigands, and held a +prisoner until released through the intervention of the +British consul at Erzerum. It was some such fate as this +that was predicted for us, should we ever attempt the +ascent of Mount Ararat through the lawless Kurdish +tribes upon its slopes. Our first duty, therefore, was to +see the mutessarif of Bayazid, to whom we bore a letter +from the Grand Vizir of Turkey, in order to ascertain +what protection and assistance he would be willing to +give us. We found with him a Circassian who belonged +to the Russian camp at Sardarbulakh, on the Ararat pass, +and who had accompanied General Chodzko on his ascent +of the mountain in 1856. Both he and the mutessarif +thought an ascent so early in the year was impossible; +that we ought not to think of such a thing until two +months later. It was now six weeks earlier than the time +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page49">[pg 49]</span><a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of General Chodzko’s ascent (August 11 to 18), then the +earliest on record. They both strongly recommended +the northwestern slope as being more gradual. This is +the one that Parrot ascended in 1829, and where Abich +was repulsed on his third attempt. Though entirely inexperienced +in mountain-climbing, we ourselves thought +that the southeast slope, the one taken by General Chodzko, +the English party, and Mr. Bryce, was far more feasible +for a small party. One thing, however, the mutessarif +was determined upon: we must not approach the mountain +without an escort of Turkish zaptiehs, as an emblem +of government protection. Besides, he would send for +the chief of the Ararat Kurds, and endeavor to arrange +with him for our safety and guidance up the mountain. +As we emerged into the streets an Armenian professor +gravely shook his head. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ah,”</span> said he, <span class="tei tei-q">“you will never +do it.”</span> Then dropping his voice, he told us that those +other ascents were all fictitious; that the summit of <span class="tei tei-q">“Masis”</span> +had never yet been reached except by Noah; and +that we were about to attempt what was an utter impossibility. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In Bayazid we could not procure even proper wood for +alpenstocks. Willow branches, two inches thick, very dry +and brittle, were the best we could obtain. Light as this +wood is, the alpenstocks weighed at least seven pounds +apiece when the iron hooks and points were riveted on at +the ends by the native blacksmith, for whom we cut paper +patterns, of the exact size, for everything we wanted. We +next had large nails driven into the souls of our shoes by +a local shoemaker, who made them for us by hand out of +an old English file, and who wanted to pull them all out +again because we would not pay him the exorbitant price +he demanded. In buying provisions for the expedition, +we spent three hours among the half dilapidated bazaars +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page51">[pg 51]</span><a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of the town, which have never been repaired since the +disastrous Russian bombardment. The most difficult task, +perhaps, in our work of preparation was to strike a bargain +with an Armenian muleteer to carry our food and +baggage up the mountain on his two little donkeys. +</p> + <a name="ill35" id="ill35"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i064.jpg" alt="WHERE THE 'ZAPTIEHS' WERE NOT A NUISANCE." title="WHERE THE “ZAPTIEHS” WERE NOT A NUISANCE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">WHERE THE </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">ZAPTIEHS</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> WERE NOT A NUISANCE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Evening came, and no word from either the mutessarif +or the Kurdish chief. Although we were extremely anxious +to set off on the expedition before bad weather set in, +we must not be in a hurry, for the military governor of +Karakillissa was now the guest of the mutessarif, and it +would be an interference with his social duties to try to +see him until after his guest had departed. On the morrow +we were sitting in our small dingy room after dinner, +when a cavalcade hastened up to our inn, and a few minutes +later we were surprised to hear ourselves addressed +in our native tongue. Before us stood a dark-complexioned +young man, and at his side a small wiry old gentleman, +who proved to be a native Austrian Tyrolese, who +followed the profession of an artist in Paris. He was +now making his way to Erivan, in Russia, on a sight-seeing +tour from Trebizond. His companion was a Greek +from Salonica, who had lived for several years in London, +whence he had departed not many weeks before, for Teheran, +Persia. These two travelers had met in Constantinople, +and the young Greek, who could speak English, +Greek, and Turkish, had been acting as interpreter for +the artist. They had heard of the <span class="tei tei-q">“devil’s carts”</span> when +in Van, and had made straight for our quarters on their +arrival in Bayazid. At this point they were to separate. +When we learned that the old gentleman (Ignaz Raffl by +name) was a member of an Alpine club and an experienced +mountain-climber, we urged him to join in the ascent. +Though his shoulders were bent by the cares and troubles +of sixty-three years, we finally induced him to accompany +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page52">[pg 52]</span><a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>our party. Kantsa, the Greek, reluctantly agreed to do +likewise, and proved to be an excellent interpreter, but a +poor climber. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The following morning we paid the mutessarif a second +visit, with Kantsa as interpreter. Inasmuch as the Kurdish +chief had not arrived, the mutessarif said he would +make us bearers of a letter to him. Two zaptiehs were to +accompany us in the morning, while others were to go +ahead and announce our approach. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At ten minutes of eleven, on the morning of the second +of July, our small cavalcade, with the two exasperating +donkeys at the head laden with mats, bags of provisions, +extra clothing, alpenstocks, spiked shoes, and coils of +stout rope, filed down the streets of Bayazid, followed by +a curious rabble. As Bayazid lies hidden behind a projecting +spur of the mountains we could obtain no view of +the peak itself until we had tramped some distance out +on the plain. Its huge giant mass broke upon us all at +once. We stopped and looked—and looked again. No +mountain-peak we have seen, though several have been +higher, has ever inspired the feeling which filled us when +we looked for the first time upon towering Ararat. We +had not proceeded far before we descried a party of Kurdish +horsemen approaching from the mountain. Our zaptiehs +advanced rather cautiously to meet them, with rifles +thrown across the pommels of their saddles. After a +rather mysterious parley, our zaptiehs signaled that all +was well. On coming up, they reported that these horsemen +belonged to the party that was friendly to the Turkish +government. The Kurds, they said, were at this time +divided among themselves, a portion of them having +adopted conciliatory measures with the government, and +the rest holding aloof. But we rather considered their +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page54">[pg 54]</span><a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>little performance as a scheme to extort a little more baksheesh +for their necessary presence. +</p> + <a name="ill36" id="ill36"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i067.jpg" alt="READY FOR THE START." title="READY FOR THE START." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">READY FOR THE START.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The plain we were now on was drained by a tributary +of the Aras River, a small stream reached after two +hours’ steady tramping. From the bordering hillocks +we emerged in a short time upon another vast plateau, +which stretched far away in a gentle rise to the base of +the mountain itself. Near by we discovered a lone willow-tree, +the only one in the whole sweep of our vision, under +the gracious foliage of which sat a band of Kurds, retired +from the heat of the afternoon sun, their horses feeding +on some swamp grass near at hand. Attracted by this +sign of water, we drew near, and found a copious spring. +A few words from the zaptiehs, who had advanced among +them, seemed to put the Kurds at their ease, though they +did not by any means appease their curiosity. They invited +us to partake of their frugal lunch of ekmek and +goat’s-milk cheese. Our clothes and baggage were discussed +piece by piece, with loud expressions of merriment, +until one of us arose, and, stealing behind the group, +snapped the camera. <span class="tei tei-q">“What was that?”</span> said a burly +member of the group, as he looked round with scowling +face at his companions. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; what was that?”</span> they +echoed, and then made a rush for the manipulator of the +black box, which they evidently took for some instrument +of the black art. The photographer stood serenely innocent, +and winked at the zaptieh to give the proper explanation. +He was equal to the occasion. <span class="tei tei-q">“That,”</span> said he, +<span class="tei tei-q">“is an instrument for taking time by the sun.”</span> At this +the box went the round, each one gazing intently into the +lens, then scratching his head, and casting a bewildered +look at his nearest neighbor. We noticed that every one +about us was armed with knife, revolver, and Martini +rifle, a belt of cartridges surrounding his waist. It +oc<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page55">[pg 55]</span><a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>curred to us that Turkey was adopting a rather poor +method of clipping the wings of these mountain birds, by +selling them the very best equipments for war. Legally, +none but government guards are permitted to carry +arms, and yet both guns and ammunition are sold in the +bazaars of almost every city of the Turkish dominions. +The existence of these people, in their wild, semi-independent +state, shows not so much the power of the Kurds as +the weakness of the Turkish government, which desires +to use a people of so fierce a reputation for the suppression +of its other subjects. After half an hour’s rest, we +prepared to decamp, and so did our Kurdish companions. +They were soon in their saddles, and galloping away in +front of us, with their arms clanking, and glittering in +the afternoon sunlight. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the spring we had turned off the trail that led over +the Sardarbulakh pass into Russia, and were now following +a horse-path which winds up to the Kurdish encampments +on the southern slope of the mountain. The plain +was strewn with sand and rocks, with here and there a +bunch of tough, wiry grass about a foot and a half high, +which, though early in the year, was partly dry. It would +have been hot work except for the rain of the day before +and a strong southeast wind. As it was, our feet were +blistered and bruised, the thin leather sandals worn at +the outset offering very poor protection. The atmosphere +being dry, though not excessively hot, we soon began to +suffer from thirst. Although we searched diligently for +water, we did not find it till after two hours more of constant +marching, when at a height of about 6000 feet, fifty +yards from the path, we discerned a picturesque cascade +of sparkling, cold mountain water. Even the old gentleman, +Raffl, joined heartily in the gaiety induced by this +clear, cold water from Ararat’s melting snows. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page56">[pg 56]</span><a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill37" id="ill37"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i070.jpg" alt="PARLEYING WITH THE KURDISH PARTY AT THE SPRING." title="PARLEYING WITH THE KURDISH PARTY AT THE SPRING." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">PARLEYING WITH THE KURDISH PARTY AT THE SPRING.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page57">[pg 57]</span><a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our ascent for two and a half hours longer was through +a luxuriant vegetation of flowers, grasses, and weeds, which +grew more and more scanty as we advanced. Prominent +among the specimens were the wild pink, poppy, and rose. +One small fragrant herb, that was the most abundant of +all, we were told was used by the Kurds for making tea. +All these filled the evening air with perfume as we trudged +along, passing now and then a Kurdish lad, with his flock +of sheep and goats feeding on the mountain-grass, which +was here much more luxuriant than below. Looking +backward, we saw that we were higher than the precipitous +cliffs which overtower the town of Bayazid, and +which are perhaps from 1500 to 2000 feet above the lowest +part of the plain. The view over the plateau was now +grand. Though we were all fatigued by the day’s work, +the cool, moisture-laden air of evening revived our flagging +spirits. We forged ahead with nimble step, joking, +and singing a variety of national airs. The French <span class="tei tei-q">“Marseillaise,”</span> +in which the old gentleman heartily joined, +echoed and reëchoed among the rocks, and caused the +shepherd lads and their flocks to crane their heads in +wonderment. Even the Armenian muleteer so far overcame +his fear of the Kurdish robbers as to indulge in one +of his accustomed funeral dirges; but it stopped short, +never to go again, when we came in sight of the Kurdish +encampment. The poor fellow instinctively grabbed his +donkeys about their necks, as though they were about to +plunge over a precipice. The zaptiehs dashed ahead with +the mutessarif’s letter to the Kurdish chief. We followed +slowly on foot, while the Armenian and his two pets kept +at a respectful distance in the rear. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The disk of the sun had already touched the western +horizon when we came to the black tents of the Kurdish +encampment, which at this time of the day presented a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page58">[pg 58]</span><a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>rather busy scene. The women seemed to be doing all +the work, while their lords sat round on their haunches. +Some of the women were engaged in milking the sheep +and goats in an inclosure. Others were busy making +butter in a churn which was nothing more than a skin +vessel three feet long, of the shape of a Brazil-nut, suspended +from a rude tripod; this they swung to and fro to +the tune of a weird Kurdish song. Behind one of the +tents, on a primitive weaving-machine, some of them were +making tent-roofing and matting. Others still were walking +about with a ball of wool in one hand and a distaff in +the other, spinning yarn. The flocks stood round about, +bleating and lowing, or chewing their cud in quiet contentment. +All seemed very domestic and peaceful except +the Kurdish dogs, which set upon us with loud, fierce +growls and gnashing teeth. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Not so was it with the Kurdish chief, who by this time +had finished reading the mutessarif’s message, and who +now advanced from his tent with salaams of welcome. +As he stood before us in the glowing sunset, he was a +rather tall, but well-proportioned man, with black eyes +and dark mustache, contrasting well with his brown-tanned +complexion. Upon his face was the stamp of a +rather wild and retiring character, although treachery +and deceit were by no means wanting. He wore a headgear +that was something between a hat and a turban, and +over his baggy Turkish trousers hung a long Persian +coat of bright-colored, large-figured cloth, bound at the +waist by a belt of cartridges. Across the shoulders was +slung a breech-loading Martini rifle, and from his neck +dangled a heavy gold chain, which was probably the spoil +of some predatory expedition. A quiet dignity sat on +Ismail Deverish’s stalwart form. +</p> + <a name="ill38" id="ill38"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i073.jpg" alt="THE KURDISH ENCAMPMENT." title="THE KURDISH ENCAMPMENT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em">THE KURDISH ENCAMPMENT.</div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was with no little pleasure that we accepted his +invi<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page60">[pg 60]</span><a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tation to a cup of tea. After our walk of nineteen miles, +in which we had ascended from 3000 to 7000 feet, we were +in fit condition to appreciate a rest. That Kurdish tent, +as far as we were concerned, was a veritable palace, although +we were almost blinded by the smoke from the +green pine-branches on the smoldering fire. We said +that the chief invited us to a cup of tea: so he did—but +we provided the tea; and that, too, not only for our own +party, but for half a dozen of the chief’s personal friends. +There being only two glasses in the camp, we of course +had to wait until our Kurdish acquaintances had quenched +their burning thirst. In thoughtful mood we gazed +around through the evening twilight. Far away on the +western slope we could see some Kurdish women plodding +along under heavy burdens of pine-branches like +those that were now fumigating our eyes and nostrils. +Across the hills the Kurdish shepherds were driving home +their herds and flocks to the tinkling of bells. All this, +to us, was deeply impressive. Such peaceful scenes, we +thought, could never be the haunt of warlike robbers. +The flocks at last came home; the shouts of the shepherds +ceased; darkness fell; and all was quiet. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +One by one the lights in the tents broke out, like the +stars above. As the darkness deepened, they shone more +and more brightly across the amphitheater of the encampment. +The tent in which we were now sitting was oblong +in shape, covered with a mixture of goats’ and sheep’s +wool, carded, spun, and woven by the Kurdish women. +This tenting was all of a dark brown or black color. The +various strips were badly joined together, allowing the +snow and rain, during the stormy night that followed, to +penetrate plentifully. A wickerwork fencing, about three +feet high, made from the reeds gathered in the swamps of +the Aras River, was stretched around the bottom of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page61">[pg 61]</span><a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tent to keep out the cattle as well as to afford some little +protection from the elements. This same material, of the +same width or height, was used to partition off the apartments +of the women. Far from being veiled and shut +up in harems, like their Turkish and Persian sisters, the +Kurdish women come and go among the men, and talk +and laugh as they please. The thinness and lowness of +the partition walls did not disturb their astonishing equanimity. +In their relations with the men the women are +extremely free. During the evening we frequently found +ourselves surrounded by a concourse of these mountain +beauties, who would sit and stare at us with their black +eyes, call attention to our personal oddities, and laugh +among themselves. Now and then their jokes at our expense +would produce hilarious laughter among the men. +The dress of these women consisted of baggy trousers, +better described in this country as <span class="tei tei-q">“divided skirts,”</span> a +bright-colored overskirt and tunic, and a little round cloth +cap encircled with a band of red and black. Through the +right lobe of the nose was hung a peculiar button-shaped +ornament studded with precious stones. This picturesque +costume well set off their rich olive complexions, and black +eyes beneath dark-brown lashes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There were no signs of an approaching evening meal +until we opened our provision-bag, and handed over certain +articles of raw food to be cooked for us. No sooner +were the viands intrusted to the care of our hosts, than +two sets of pots and kettles made their appearance in the +other compartments. In half an hour our host and friends +proceeded to indulge their voracious appetites. When our +own meal was brought to us some time after, we noticed +that the fourteen eggs we had doled out had been reduced +to six; and the other materials suffered a similar reduction, +the whole thing being so patent as to make their +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page62">[pg 62]</span><a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>attempt at innocence absurdly ludicrous. We thought, +however, if Kurdish highway robbery took no worse form +than this, we could well afford to be content. Supper +over, we squatted round a slow-burning fire, on the thick +felt mats which served as carpets, drank tea, and smoked +the usual cigarettes. By the light of the glowing embers +we could watch the faces about us, and catch their horrified +glances when reference was made to our intended +ascent of Ak-Dagh, the mysterious abode of the jinn. Before +turning in for the night, we reconnoitered our situation. +The lights in all the tents, save our own, were now +extinguished. Not a sound was heard, except the heavy +breathing of some of the slumbering animals about us, +or the bark of a dog at some distant encampment. The +huge dome of Ararat, though six to eight miles farther +up the slope, seemed to be towering over us like some +giant monster of another world. We could not see the +summit, so far was it above the enveloping clouds. We +returned to the tent to find that the zaptiehs had been +given the best places and best covers to sleep in, and that +we were expected to accommodate ourselves near the door, +wrapped up in an old Kurdish carpet. Policy was evidently +a better developed trait of Kurdish character than +hospitality. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Although we arose at four, seven o’clock saw us still at +the encampment. Two hours vanished before our gentlemen +zaptiehs condescended to rise from their peaceful +slumbers; then a great deal of time was unnecessarily +consumed in eating their special breakfast. We ourselves +had to be content with ekmek and yaourt (blotting-paper +bread and curdled milk). This over, they concluded not +to go on without sandals to take the place of their heavy +military boots, as at this point their horses would have to +be discarded. After we had employed a Kurd to make +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page63">[pg 63]</span><a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>these for them, they declared they were afraid to proceed +without the company of ten Kurds armed to the teeth. +We knew that this was only a scheme on the part of the +Kurds, with whom the zaptiehs were in league, to extort +money from us. We still kept cool, and only casually +insinuated that we did not have enough money to pay +for so large a party. This announcement worked like +a charm. The interest the Kurds had up to this time +taken in our venture died away at once. Even the three +Kurds who, as requested in the message of the mutessarif, +were to accompany us up the mountain to the snow-line, +refused absolutely to go. The mention of the mutessarif’s +name awakened only a sneer. We had also relied +upon the Kurds for blankets, as we had been advised to +do by our friends in Bayazid. Those we had already +hired they now snatched from the donkeys standing before +the tent. All this time our tall, gaunt, meek-looking +muleteer had stood silent. Now his turn had come. How +far was he to go with his donkeys?—he didn’t think it +possible for him to go much beyond this point. Patience +now ceased to be a virtue. We cut off discussion at once; +told the muleteer he would either go on, or lose what he +had already earned; and informed the zaptiehs that whatever +they did would be reported to the mutessarif on our +return. Under this rather forcible persuasion, they stood +not on the order of their going, but sullenly followed our +little procession out of camp before the crestfallen Kurds. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the absence of guides we were thrown upon our own +resources. Far from being an assistance, our zaptiehs +proved a nuisance. They would carry nothing, not even +the food they were to eat, and were absolutely ignorant +of the country we were to traverse. From our observations +on the previous days, we had decided to strike out +on a northeast course, over the gentle slope, until we +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page64">[pg 64]</span><a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>struck the rocky ridges on the southeast buttress of the +dome. On its projecting rocks, which extended nearer +to the summit than those of any other part of the mountain, +we could avoid the slippery, precipitous snow-beds +that stretched far down the mountain at this time of the +year. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Immediately after leaving the encampment, the ascent +became steeper and more difficult; the small volcanic +stones of yesterday now increased to huge obstructing +boulders, among which the donkeys with difficulty made +their way. They frequently tipped their loads, or got +wedged in between two unyielding walls. In the midst +of our efforts to extricate them, we often wondered how +Noah ever managed with the animals from the ark. Had +these donkeys not been of a philosophical turn of mind, +they might have offered forcible objections to the way we +extricated them from their straightened circumstances. +A remonstrance on our part for carelessness in driving +brought from the muleteer a burst of Turkish profanity +that made the rocks of Ararat resound with indignant +echoes. The spirit of insubordination seemed to be increasing +in direct ratio with the height of our ascent. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We came now to a comparatively smooth, green slope, +which led up to the highest Kurdish encampment met on +the line of our ascent, about 7500 feet. When in sight of +the black tents, the subject of Kurdish guides was again +broached by the zaptiehs, and immediately they sat down +to discuss the question. We ourselves were through with +discussion, and fully determined to have nothing to do +with a people who could do absolutely nothing for us. +We stopped at the tents, and asked for milk. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> +they said; <span class="tei tei-q">“we have some”</span>: but after waiting for ten +minutes, we learned that the milk was still in the goats’ +possession, several hundred yards away among the rocks. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page66">[pg 66]</span><a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>It dawned upon us that this was only another trick of the +zaptiehs to get a rest. +</p> + <a name="ill39" id="ill39"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i079.jpg" alt="OUR GUARDS SIT DOWN TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION." title="OUR GUARDS SIT DOWN TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">OUR GUARDS SIT DOWN TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We pushed on the next 500 feet of the ascent without +much trouble or controversy, the silence broken only by +the muleteer, who took the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">raki</span></span> bottle off the donkey’s +pack, and asked if he could take a drink. As we had +only a limited supply, to be used to dilute the snow-water, +we were obliged to refuse him. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At 8000 feet we struck our first snowdrift, into which +the donkeys sank up to their bodies. It required our +united efforts to lift them out, and half carry them across. +Then on we climbed till ten o’clock, to a point about 9000 +feet, where we stopped for lunch in a quiet mountain +glen, by the side of a rippling mountain rill. This snow-water +we drank with raki. The view in the mean time +had been growing more and more extensive. The plain +before us had lost nearly all its detail and color, and was +merged into one vast whole. Though less picturesque, it +was incomparably grander. Now we could see how, in +ages past, the lava had burst out of the lateral fissures in +the mountain, and flowed in huge streams for miles down +the slope, and out on the plain below. These beds of lava +were gradually broken up by the action of the elements, +and now presented the appearance of ridges of broken +volcanic rocks of the most varied and fantastic shapes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was here that the muleteer showed evident signs of +weakening, which later on developed into a total collapse. +We had come to a broad snow-field where the donkeys +stuck fast and rolled over helpless in the snow. Even +after we had unstrapped their baggage and carried it +over on our shoulders, they could make no headway. The +muleteer gave up in despair, and refused even to help us +carry our loads to the top of an adjoining hill, whither +the zaptiehs had proceeded to wait for us. In +conse<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page68">[pg 68]</span><a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>quence, Raffl and we were compelled to carry two donkey-loads +of baggage for half a mile over the snow-beds and +boulders, followed by the sulking muleteer, who had deserted +his donkeys, rather than be left alone himself. On +reaching the zaptiehs, we sat down to hold a council on +the situation; but the clouds, which, during the day, had +occasionally obscured the top of the mountain, now began +to thicken, and it was not long before a shower compelled +us to beat a hasty retreat to a neighboring ledge of rocks. +The clouds that were rolling between us and the mountain +summit seemed but a token of the storm of circumstances. +One thing was certain, the muleteer could go +no farther up the mountain, and yet he was mortally +afraid to return alone to the Kurdish robbers. He sat +down, and began to cry like a child. This predicament of +their accomplice furnished the zaptiehs with a plausible +excuse. They now absolutely refused to go any farther +without him. Our interpreter, the Greek, again joined the +majority; he was not going to risk the ascent without the +Turkish guards, and besides, he had now come to the conclusion +that we had not sufficient blankets to spend a +night at so high an altitude. Disappointed, but not discouraged, +we gazed at the silent old gentleman at our +side. In his determined countenance we read his answer. +Long shall we remember Ignaz Raffl as one of the pluckiest, +most persevering of old men. +</p> + <a name="ill40" id="ill40"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i081.jpg" alt="HELPING THE DONKEYS OVER A SNOW-FIELD." title="HELPING THE DONKEYS OVER A SNOW-FIELD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">HELPING THE DONKEYS OVER A SNOW-FIELD.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There was now only one plan that could be pursued. +Selecting from our supplies one small blanket, a felt mat, +two long, stout ropes, enough food to last us two days, a +bottle of cold tea, and a can of Turkish raki, we packed +them into two bundles to strap on our backs. We then +instructed the rest of the party to return to the Kurdish +encampment and await our return. The sky was again +clear at 2:30 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">P. M.</span></span>, when we bade good-by to our + worth<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page69">[pg 69]</span><a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>less comrades and resumed the ascent. We were now at +a height of nine thousand feet, and it was our plan to +camp at a point far enough up the mountain to enable us +to complete the ascent on the following day, and return +to the Kurdish encampment by nightfall. Beyond us was +a region of snow and barren rocks, among which we still +saw a small purple flower and bunches of lichens, which +grew more rare as we advanced. Our course continued +in a northeast direction, toward the main southeast ridge +of the mountain. Sometimes we were floundering with +our heavy loads in the deep snow-beds, or scrambling on +hands and knees over the huge boulders of the rocky +seams. Two hours and a half of climbing brought us to +the crest of the main southeast ridge, about one thousand +feet below the base of the precipitous dome. At this point +our course changed from northeast to northwest, and +con<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page70">[pg 70]</span><a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tinued so during the rest of the ascent. Little Ararat +was now in full view. We could even distinguish upon +its northwest side a deep-cut gorge, which was not visible +before. Upon its smooth and perfect slopes remained +only the tatters of its last winter’s garments. We could +also look far out over the Sardarbulakh ridge, which connects +the two Ararats, and on which the Cossacks are encamped. +It was to them that the mutessarif had desired +us to go, but we had subsequently determined to make +the ascent directly from the Turkish side. +</p> + <a name="ill41" id="ill41"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i083.png" alt="LITTLE ARARAT COMES INTO VIEW." title="LITTLE ARARAT COMES INTO VIEW." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">LITTLE ARARAT COMES INTO VIEW.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Following up this southeast ridge we came at 5:45 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">P. M.</span></span> +to a point about eleven thousand feet. Here the thermometer +registered 39° Fahrenheit, and was constantly +falling. If we should continue on, the cold during the +night, especially with our scanty clothing, would become +intolerable; and then, too, we could scarcely find a spot +level enough to sleep on. We therefore determined to +stop here for the night, and to continue the ascent at +dawn. Some high, rugged crags on the ridge above us +attracted our attention as affording a comparatively protected +lodging. Among these we spread our carpet, and +piled stones in the intervening spaces to form a complete +inclosure. Thus busily engaged, we failed for a time to +realize the grandeur of the situation. Over the vast and +misty panorama that spread out before us, the lingering +rays of the setting sun shed a tinge of gold, which was +communicated to the snowy beds around us. Behind the +peak of Little Ararat a brilliant rainbow stretched in one +grand archway above the weeping clouds. But this was +only one turn of nature’s kaleidoscope. The arch soon +faded away, and the shadows lengthened and deepened +across the plain, and mingled, till all was lost to view +behind the falling curtains of the night. The Kurdish +tents far down the slope, and the white curling smoke +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page71">[pg 71]</span><a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>from their evening camp-fires, we could see no more; only +the occasional bark of a dog was borne upward through +the impenetrable darkness. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Colder and colder grew the atmosphere. From 39° the +thermometer gradually fell to 36°, to 33°, and during the +night dropped below freezing-point. The snow, which +fell from the clouds just over our heads, covered our frugal +supper-table, on which were placed a few hard-boiled +eggs, some tough Turkish bread, cheese, and a bottle of +tea mixed with raki. Ice-tea was no doubt a luxury at +this time of the year, but not on Mount Ararat, at the +height of eleven thousand feet, with the temperature at +freezing-point. M. Raffl was as cheerful as could be expected +under the circumstances. He expressed his delight +at our progress thus far; and now that we were free from +our <span class="tei tei-q">“gentlemen”</span> attendants, he considered our chances +for success much brighter. We turned in together under +our single blanket, with the old gentleman between us. +He had put on every article of clothing, including gloves, +hat, hood, cloak, and heavy shoes. For pillows we used +the provision-bags and camera. The bottle of cold tea +we buttoned up in our coats to prevent it from freezing. +On both sides, and above us, lay the pure white snow; below +us a huge abyss, into which the rocky ridge descended +like a darkened stairway to the lower regions. The awful +stillness was unbroken, save by the whistling of the wind +among the rocks. Dark masses of clouds seemed to bear +down upon us every now and then, opening up their trapdoors, +and letting down a heavy fall of snow. The heat +of our bodies melted the ice beneath us, and our clothes +became saturated with ice-water. Although we were surrounded +by snow and ice, we were suffering with a burning +thirst. Since separating from our companions we had +found no water whatever, while the single bottle of cold +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page73">[pg 73]</span><a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tea we had must be preserved for the morrow. Sleep, +under such circumstances, and in our cramped position, +was utterly impossible. At one o’clock the morning star +peeped above the eastern horizon. This we watched hour +after hour, as it rose in unrivaled beauty toward the zenith, +until at last it began to fade away in the first gray +streaks of the morning. +</p> + <a name="ill42" id="ill42"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i086.jpg" alt="THE WALL INCLOSURE FOR OUR BIVOUAC AT ELEVEN THOUSAND FEET." title="THE WALL INCLOSURE FOR OUR BIVOUAC AT ELEVEN THOUSAND FEET." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE WALL INCLOSURE FOR OUR BIVOUAC AT ELEVEN THOUSAND FEET.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +By the light of a flickering candle we ate a hurried +breakfast, fastened on our spiked shoes, and strapped to +our backs a few indispensable articles, leaving the rest of +our baggage at the camp until our return. Just at daybreak, +3:55 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">A. M.</span></span>, on the 4th of July, we started off on +what proved to be the hardest day’s work we had ever +accomplished. We struck out at once across the broad +snow-field to the second rock rib on the right, which +seemed to lead up to the only line of rocks above. The +surface of these large snow-beds had frozen during the +night, so that we had to cut steps with our ice-picks to +keep from slipping down their glassy surface. Up this +ridge we slowly climbed for three weary hours, leaping +from boulder to boulder, or dragging ourselves up their +precipitous sides. The old gentleman halted frequently +to rest, and showed evident signs of weariness. <span class="tei tei-q">“It is +hard; we must take it slowly,”</span> he would say (in German) +whenever our impatience would get the better of our prudence. +At seven o’clock we reached a point about 13,500 +feet, beyond which there seemed to be nothing but the +snow-covered slope, with only a few projecting rocks +along the edge of a tremendous gorge which now broke +upon our astonished gaze. Toward this we directed our +course, and, an hour later, stood upon its very verge. Our +venerable companion now looked up at the precipitous +slope above us, where only some stray, projecting rocks +were left to guide us through the wilderness of snow. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page74">[pg 74]</span><a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“Boys,”</span> said he, despondently, <span class="tei tei-q">“I cannot reach the top; +I have not rested during the night, and I am now falling +asleep on my feet; besides, I am very much fatigued.”</span> +This came almost like a sob from a breaking heart. Although +the old gentleman was opposed to the ascent in +the first instance, his old Alpine spirit arose within him +with all its former vigor when once he had started up the +mountain slope; and now, when almost in sight of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page75">[pg 75]</span><a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>very goal, his strength began to fail him. After much +persuasion and encouragement, he finally said that if he +could get half an hour’s rest and sleep, he thought he +would be able to continue. We then wrapped him up in +his greatcoat, and dug out a comfortable bed in the snow, +while one of us sat down, with back against him, to keep +him from rolling down the mountain-side. +</p> + <a name="ill43" id="ill43"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i088.jpg" alt="NEARING THE HEAD OF THE GREAT CHASM." title="NEARING THE HEAD OF THE GREAT CHASM." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">NEARING THE HEAD OF THE GREAT CHASM.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We were now on the chasm’s brink, looking down into +its unfathomable depths. This gigantic rent, hundreds +of feet in width and thousands in depth, indicates that +northwest-southeast line along which the volcanic forces +of Ararat have acted most powerfully. This fissure is +perhaps the greatest with which the mountain is seamed, +and out of which has undoubtedly been discharged a great +portion of its lava. Starting from the base of the dome, +it seemed to pierce the shifting clouds to a point about +500 feet from the summit. This line is continued out +into the plain in a series of small volcanoes the craters of +which appear to be as perfect as though they had been in +activity only yesterday. The solid red and yellow rocks +which lined the sides of the great chasm projected above +the opposite brink in jagged and appalling cliffs. The +whole was incased in a mass of huge fantastic icicles, +which, glittering in the sunlight, gave it the appearance +of a natural crystal palace. No more fitting place than +this could the fancy of the Kurds depict for the home of +the terrible jinn; no better symbol of nature for the awful +jaws of death. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our companion now awoke considerably refreshed, +and the ascent was continued close to the chasm’s brink. +Here were the only rocks to be seen in the vast snow-bed +around us. Cautiously we proceed, with cat-like tread, +following directly in one another’s footsteps, and holding +on to our alpenstocks like grim death. A loosened rock +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page76">[pg 76]</span><a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would start at first slowly, gain momentum, and fairly +fly. Striking against some projecting ledge, it would +bound a hundred feet or more into the air, and then drop +out of sight among the clouds below. Every few moments +we would stop to rest; our knees were like lead, and the +high altitude made breathing difficult. Now the trail of +rocks led us within two feet of the chasm’s edge; we +approached it cautiously, probing well for a rock foundation, +and gazing with dizzy heads into the abyss. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The slope became steeper and steeper, until it abutted +in an almost precipitous cliff coated with snow and glistening +ice. There was no escape from it, for all around the +snow-beds were too steep and slippery to venture an ascent +upon them. Cutting steps with our ice-picks, and +half-crawling, half-dragging ourselves, with the alpenstocks +hooked into the rocks above, we scaled its height, +and advanced to the next abutment. Now a cloud, as +warm as exhausted steam, enveloped us in the midst of +this ice and snow. When it cleared away, the sun was +reflected with intenser brightness. Our faces were already +smarting with blisters, and our dark glasses afforded but +little protection to our aching eyes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At 11 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">A. M.</span></span> we sat down on the snow to eat our last +morsel of food. The cold chicken and bread tasted like +sawdust, for we had no saliva with which to masticate +them. Our single bottle of tea had given out, and we +suffered with thirst for several hours. Again the word +to start was given. We rose at once, but our stiffened +legs quivered beneath us, and we leaned on our alpenstocks +for support. Still we plodded on for two more +weary hours, cutting our steps in the icy cliffs, or sinking +to our thighs in the treacherous snow-beds. We could +see that we were nearing the top of the great chasm, for +the clouds, now entirely cleared away, left our view +un<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page77">[pg 77]</span><a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>obstructed. We could even descry the black Kurdish +tents upon the northeast slope, and, far below, the Aras +River, like a streak of silver, threading its way into the +purple distance. The atmosphere about us grew colder, +and we buttoned up our now too scanty garments. We +must be nearing the top, we thought, and yet we were not +certain, for a huge, precipitous cliff, just in front of us, +cut off the view. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Slowly, slowly,”</span> feebly shouted the old gentleman, as +we began the attack on its precipitous sides, now stopping +to brush away the treacherous snow, or to cut some +steps in the solid ice. We pushed and pulled one another +almost to the top, and then, with one more desperate +effort, we stood upon a vast and gradually sloping snow-bed. +Down we plunged above our knees through the +yielding surface, and staggered and fell with failing +strength; then rose once more and plodded on, until at +last we sank exhausted upon the top of Ararat. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +For a moment only we lay gasping for breath; then +a full realization of our situation dawned upon us, and +fanned the few faint sparks of enthusiasm that remained +in our exhausted bodies. We unfurled upon an alpenstock +the small silk American flag that we had brought +from home, and for the first time the <span class="tei tei-q">“stars and stripes”</span> +was given to the breeze on the Mountain of the Ark. +Four shots fired from our revolvers in commemoration +of Independence Day broke the stillness of the gorges. +Far above the clouds, which were rolling below us over +three of the most absolute monarchies in the world, was +celebrated in our simple way a great event of republicanism. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mount Ararat, it will be observed from the accompanying +sketch, has two tops, a few hundred yards apart, sloping, +on the eastern and western extremities, into rather +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page78">[pg 78]</span><a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>prominent abutments, and separated by a snow valley, or +depression, from 50 to 100 feet in depth. The eastern +top, on which we were standing, was quite extensive, and +30 to 40 feet lower than its western neighbor. Both tops +are hummocks on the huge dome of Ararat, like the +humps on the back of a camel, on neither one of which +is there a vestige of anything but snow. +</p> +<a name="ill44" id="ill44"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i092.jpg" alt="ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ARARAT-FIRING THE FOURTH OF JULY SALUTE." title="ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ARARAT—FIRING THE FOURTH OF JULY SALUTE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ARARAT—FIRING THE FOURTH OF JULY SALUTE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There remained just as little trace of the crosses left by +Parrot and Chodzko, as of the ark itself. We remembered +the pictures we had seen in our nursery-books, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page79">[pg 79]</span><a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>which represented this mountain-top covered with green +grass, and Noah stepping out of the ark, in the bright, +warm sunshine, before the receding waves; and now we +looked around and saw this very spot covered with perpetual +snow. Nor did we see any evidence whatever of +a former existing crater, except perhaps the snow-filled +depression we have just mentioned. There was nothing +about this perpetual snow-field, and the freezing atmosphere +that was chilling us to the bone, to remind us that +we were on the top of an extinct volcano that once trembled +with the convulsions of subterranean heat. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The view from this towering height was immeasurably +extensive, and almost too grand. All detail was lost—all +color, all outline; even the surrounding mountains +seemed to be but excrescent ridges of the plain. Then, +too, we could catch only occasional glimpses, as the clouds +shifted to and fro. At one time they opened up beneath +us, and revealed the Aras valley with its glittering ribbon +of silver at an abysmal depth below. Now and then we +could descry the black volcanic peaks of Ali Ghez forty +miles away to the northwest, and on the southwest the +low mountains that obscured the town of Bayazid. Of +the Caucasus, the mountains about Erzerum on the west, +and Lake Van on the south, and even of the Caspian Sea, +all of which are said to be in Ararat’s horizon, we could +see absolutely nothing. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Had it been a clear day we could have seen not only +the rival peaks of the Caucasus, which for so many years +formed the northern wall of the civilized world, but, far +to the south, we might have descried the mountains of +Quardu land, where Chaldean legend has placed the landing +of the ark. We might have gazed, in philosophic +mood, over the whole of the Aras valley, which for 3000 +years or more has been the scene of so much misery and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page80">[pg 80]</span><a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>conflict. As monuments of two extreme events in this +historic period, two spots might have attracted our attention—one +right below us, the ruins of Artaxata, which, +according to tradition, was built, as the story goes, after +the plans of the roving conqueror Hannibal, and stormed +by the Roman legions, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">A. D.</span></span> 58; and farther away to the +north, the modern fortress of Kars, which so recently reverberated +with the thunders of the Turkish war. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We were suddenly aroused by the rumbling of thunder +below us. A storm was rolling rapidly up the southeast +slope of the mountain. The atmosphere seemed to be +boiling over the heated plain below. Higher and higher +came the clouds, rolling and seething among the grim +crags along the chasm; and soon we were caught in its +embrace. The thermometer dropped at once below freezing-point, +and the dense mists, driven against us by the +hurricane, formed icicles on our blistered faces, and froze +the ink in our fountain-pens. Our summer clothing was +wholly inadequate for such an unexpected experience; we +were chilled to the bone. To have remained where we +were would have been jeopardizing our health, if not our +lives. Although we could scarcely see far enough ahead +to follow back on the track by which we had ascended, +yet we were obliged to attempt it at once, for the storm +around us was increasing every moment; we could even +feel the charges of electricity whenever we touched the +iron points of our alpenstocks. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Carefully peering through the clouds, we managed to +follow the trail we had made along the gradually sloping +summit, to the head of the great chasm, which now appeared +more terrible than ever. We here saw that it +would be extremely perilous, if not actually impossible, +to attempt a descent on the rocks along its treacherous +edge in such a hurricane. The only alternative was to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page81">[pg 81]</span><a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>take the precipitous snow-covered slope. Planting our +ice-hooks deep in the snow behind us, we started. At +first the strong head wind, which on the top almost took +us off our feet, somewhat checked our downward career, +but it was not long before we attained a velocity that +made our hair stand on end. It was a thrilling experience; +we seemed to be sailing through the air itself, for +the clouds obscured the slope even twenty feet below. +Finally we emerged beneath them into the glare of the +afternoon sunlight; but on we dashed for 6000 feet, leaning +heavily on the trailing-stocks, which threw up an icy +spray in our wake. We never once stopped until we +reached the bottom of the dome, at our last night’s camp +among the rocks. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In less than an hour we had dashed down, through a +distance which it had taken us nine and a half hours to +ascend. The camp was reached at 4 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">P. M.</span></span>, just twelve +hours from the time we left it. Gathering up the remaining +baggage, we hurried away to continue the descent. +We must make desperate efforts to reach the Kurdish encampment +by nightfall; for during the last twenty-seven +hours we had had nothing to drink but half a pint of tea, +and our thirst by this time became almost intolerable. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The large snow-bed down which we had been sliding +now began to show signs of treachery. The snow, at this +low altitude, had melted out from below, to supply the +subterranean streams, leaving only a thin crust at the +surface. It was not long before one of our party fell into +one of these pitfalls up to his shoulders, and floundered +about for some time before he could extricate himself +from his unexpected snow-bath. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Over the rocks and boulders the descent was much +slower and more tedious. For two hours we were thus +busily engaged, when all at once a shout rang out in the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page82">[pg 82]</span><a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>clear evening air. Looking up we saw, sure enough, our +two zaptiehs and muleteer on the very spot where we had +left them the evening before. Even the two donkeys were +on hand to give us a welcoming bray. They had come +up from the encampment early in the morning, and had +been scanning the mountain all day long to get some clue +to our whereabouts. They reported that they had seen +us at one time during the morning, and had then lost +sight of us among the clouds. This solicitude on their +part was no doubt prompted by the fact that they were +to be held by the mutessarif of Bayazid as personally responsible +for our safe return, and perhaps, too, by the +hope that they might thus retrieve the good graces they +had lost the day before, and thereby increase the amount +of the forthcoming baksheesh. Nothing, now, was too +heavy for the donkeys, and even the zaptiehs themselves +condescended to relieve us of our alpenstocks. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +That night we sat again around the Kurdish camp-fire, +surrounded by the same group of curious faces. It was +interesting and even amusing to watch the bewildered +astonishment that overspread their countenances as we +related our experiences along the slope, and then upon +the very top, of Ak-Dagh. They listened throughout with +profound attention, then looked at one another in silence, +and gravely shook their heads. They could not believe +it. It was impossible. Old Ararat stood above us grim +and terrible beneath the twinkling stars. To them it <a name="corr082" id="corr082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">was,</span> +as it always will be, the same mysterious, untrodden height—the +palace of the jinn. +</p> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page83">[pg 83]</span><a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc45" id="toc45"></a><a name="pdf46" id="pdf46"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">III</span></h2> + +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.40em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%">THROUGH PERSIA TO SAMARKAND</span></h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is all bosh,”</span> was the all but universal opinion of +Bayazid in regard to our alleged ascent of Ararat. +None but the Persian consul and the mutessarif himself +deigned to profess a belief in it, and the gift of several +letters to Persian officials, and a sumptuous dinner on +the eve of our departure, went far toward proving their +sincerity. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the morning of July 8, in company with a body-guard +of zaptiehs, which the mutessarif forced upon us, +we wheeled down from the ruined embattlements of Bayazid. +The assembled rabble raised a lusty cheer at parting. +An hour later we had surmounted the Kazlee Gool, +and the <span class="tei tei-q">“land of Iran”</span> was before us. At our feet lay +the Turco-Persian battle-plains of Chaldiran, spreading +like a desert expanse to the parched barren hills beyond, +and dotted here and there with clumps of trees in the +village oases. And this, then, was the land where, as the +poets say, <span class="tei tei-q">“the nightingale sings, and the rose-tree blossoms,”</span> +and where <span class="tei tei-q">“a flower is crushed at every step!”</span> +More truth, we thought, in the Scotch traveler’s description, +which divides Persia into two portions—<span class="tei tei-q">“One desert +with salt, and the other desert without salt.”</span> In time we +came to McGregor’s opinion as expressed in his +descrip<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page84">[pg 84]</span><a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tion of Khorassan. <span class="tei tei-q">“We should fancy,”</span> said he, <span class="tei tei-q">“a small +green circle round every village indicated on the map, and +shade all the rest in brown.”</span> The mighty hosts whose +onward sweep from the Indus westward was checked only +by the Grecian phalanx upon the field of Marathon must +have come from the scattered ruins around, which reminded +us that <span class="tei tei-q">“Iran was; she is no more.”</span> Those +myriad ranks of Yenghiz Khan and Tamerlane brought +death and desolation from Turan to Iran, which so often +met to act and react upon one another that both are now +only landmarks in the sea of oblivion. +</p> +<a name="ill47" id="ill47"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i098.jpg" alt="HARVEST SCENE NEAR KHOI." title="HARVEST SCENE NEAR KHOI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">HARVEST SCENE NEAR KHOI.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our honorary escort accompanied us several miles over +the border to the Persian village of Killissakend, and there +committed us to the hospitality of the district khan, with +whom we managed to converse in the Turkish language, +which, strange to say, we found available in all the +coun<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page85">[pg 85]</span><a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tries that lay in our transcontinental pathway as far as +the great wall of China. Toward evening we rode in the +garden of the harem of the khan, and at daybreak the +next morning were again in the saddle. By a very early +start we hoped to escape the burden of excessive hospitality; +in other words, to get rid of an escort that was +an expensive nuisance. At the next village we were confronted +by what appeared to be a shouting, gesticulating +maniac. On dismounting, we learned that a harbinger +had been sent by the khan, the evening before, to have a +guard ready to join us as we passed through. In fact, +two armed <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">ferashes</span></span> were galloping toward us, armed, as +we afterward learned, with American rifles, and the usual +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kamma</span></span>, or huge dagger, swinging from a belt of cartridges. +These fellows, like the zaptiehs, were fond of +ostentation. They frequently led us a roundabout way +to show us off to their relatives or friends in a neighboring +village. Nature at last came to our deliverance. As +we stood on a prominent ridge taking a last look at Mount +Ararat, now more than fifty miles away, a storm came +upon us, showering hailstones as large as walnuts. The +ferashes with frantic steeds dashed ahead to seek a place +of shelter, and we saw them no more. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Five days in Persia brought us to the shores of Lake +Ooroomeeyah, the saltest body of water in the world. +Early the next morning we were wading the chilly waters +of the Hadji Chai, and a few hours later found us in the +English consulate at Tabreez, where we were received by +the Persian secretary. The English government, it seemed, +had become embroiled in a local love-affair just at a time +when Colonel Stewart was off on <span class="tei tei-q">“diplomatic duty”</span> on +the Russian Transcaspian border. An exceptionally bright +Armenian beauty, a graduate of the American missionary +schools at this place, had been abducted, it was claimed, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page86">[pg 86]</span><a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>by a young Kurdish cavalier, and carried away to his +mountain home. Her father, who happened to be a naturalized +English subject, had applied for the assistance of +his adopted country in obtaining her release. Negotiations +were at once set on foot between London and Teheran, +which finally led to a formal demand upon the Kurds by +the Shah himself. Upon their repeated refusal, seven +thousand Persian troops, it was said, were ordered to +Soak Boulak, under the command of the vice-consul, Mr. +Patton. The matter at length assumed such an importance +as to give rise, in the House of Commons, to the +question, <span class="tei tei-q">“Who is Katty Greenfield?”</span> This, in time, +was answered by that lady herself, who declared under +oath that she had become a Mohammedan, and was in +love with the man with whom she had eloped. More +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page87">[pg 87]</span><a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>than this, it was learned that she had not a drop of English +blood in her veins, her father being an Austrian, and +her mother a native Armenian. Whereupon the Persian +troopers, with their much disgusted leader, beat an inglorious +retreat, leaving <span class="tei tei-q">“Katty Greenfield”</span> mistress of +the situation, and of a Kurdish heart. +</p> + <a name="ill48" id="ill48"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i100.jpg" alt="LEAVING KHOI." title="LEAVING KHOI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">LEAVING KHOI.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In Tabreez there is one object sure to attract attention. +This is the <span class="tei tei-q">“Ark,”</span> or ancient fortified castle of the Persian +rulers. High on one of the sides, which a recent +earthquake has rent from top to bottom, there is a little +porch whence these Persian <span class="tei tei-q">“Bluebeards,”</span> or rather Redbeards, +were wont to hurl unruly members of the harem. +Under the shadow of these gloomy walls was enacted a +tragedy of this century. Babism is by no means the only +heresy that has sprung from the speculative genius of +Persia; but it is the one that has most deeply moved the +society of the present age, and the one which still obtains, +though in secret and without a leader. Its founder, Seyd +Mohammed Ali, better known as Bab, or <span class="tei tei-q">“Gate,”</span> promulgated +the doctrine of anarchy to the extent of <span class="tei tei-q">“sparing +the rod and spoiling the child,”</span> and still worse, perhaps, +of refusing to the ladies no finery that might be at all +becoming to their person. While not a communist, as +he has sometimes been wrongly classed, he exhorted the +wealthy to regard themselves as only trustees of the poor. +With no thought at first of acquiring civil power, he and +his rapidly increasing following were driven to revolt by +the persecuting mollas, and the sanguinary struggle of +1848 followed. Bab himself was captured, and carried +to this <span class="tei tei-q">“most fanatical city of Persia,”</span> the burial-place +of the sons of Ali. On this very spot a company was +ordered to despatch him with a volley; but when the +smoke cleared away, Bab was not to be seen. None of +the bullets had gone to the mark, and the bird had +flown<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page89">[pg 89]</span><a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>—but not to the safest refuge. Had he finally escaped, +the miracle thus performed would have made Babism invincible. +But he was recaptured and despatched, and his +body thrown to the canine scavengers. +</p> + <a name="ill49" id="ill49"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i102a.jpg" alt="YARD OF CARAVANSARY AT TABREEZ." title="YARD OF CARAVANSARY AT TABREEZ." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">YARD OF CARAVANSARY AT TABREEZ.</span></div></div> + +<a name="ill50" id="ill50"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i102b.jpg" alt="LUMBER-YARD AT TABREEZ." title="LUMBER-YARD AT TABREEZ." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">LUMBER-YARD AT TABREEZ.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Tabreez</span></span> (fever-dispelling) was a misnomer in our case. +Our sojourn here was prolonged for more than a month +by a slight attack of typhoid fever, which this time seized +Sachtleben, and again the kind nursing of the missionary +ladies hastened recovery. Our mail, in the mean time, +having been ordered to Teheran, we were granted the +privilege of intercepting it. For this purpose we were +permitted to overhaul the various piles of letters strewn +over the dirty floor of the distributing-office. Both the +Turkish and Persian mail is carried in saddle-bags on the +backs of reinless horses driven at a rapid gallop before +the mounted mail-carrier or herdsman. Owing to the +carelessness of the postal officials, legations and consulates +employ special couriers. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The proximity of Tabreez to the Russian border makes +it politically, as well as commercially, one of the most +important cities in Persia. For this reason it is the place +of residence of the Emir-e-Nizam (leader of the army), or +prime minister, as well as the Vali-Ahd, or Prince Imperial. +This prince is the Russian candidate, as opposed +to the English candidate, for the prospective vacancy on +the throne. Both of these dignitaries invited us to visit +them, and showed much interest in our <span class="tei tei-q">“wonderful wind +horses,”</span> of the speed of which exaggerated reports had +circulated through the country. We were also favored +with a special letter for the journey to the capital. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On this stage we started August 15, stopping the first +night at Turkmanchai, the little village where was signed +the famous treaty of 1828 by virtue of which the Caspian +Sea became a Russian lake. The next morning we were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page90">[pg 90]</span><a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>on the road soon after daybreak, and on approaching the +next village overtook a curious cavalcade, just concluding +a long night’s journey. This consisted of a Persian +palanquin, with its long pole-shafts saddled upon the +back of a mule at each end; with servants on foot, and a +body-guard of mounted soldiers. The occupant of this +peculiar conveyance remained concealed throughout the +stampede which our sudden appearance occasioned among +his hearse-bearing mules, for as such they will appear in +the sequel. In our first article we mentioned an interview +in London with Malcolm Khan, the representative of the +Shah at the court of St. James. Since then, it seemed, he +had fallen into disfavor. During the late visit of the Shah +to England certain members of his retinue were so young, +both in appearance and conduct, as to be a source of mortification +to the Europeanized minister. This reached the +ears of the Shah some time after his return home; and a +summons was sent for the accused to repair to Teheran. +Malcolm Khan, however, was too well versed in Oriental +craft to fall into such a trap, and announced his purpose +to devote his future leisure to airing his knowledge of +Persian politics in the London press. The Persian Minister +of Foreign Affairs, Musht-a-Shar-el-Dowlet, then residing +at Tabreez, who was accused of carrying on a seditious +correspondence with Malcolm Khan, was differently +situated, unfortunately. It was during our sojourn in +that city that his palatial household was raided by a party +of soldiers, and he was carried to prison as a common +felon. Being unable to pay the high price of pardon that +was demanded, he was forced away, a few days before +our departure, on that dreaded journey to the capital, +which few, if any, ever complete. For on the way they +are usually met by a messenger, who proffers them a cup +of coffee, a sword, and a rope, from which they are to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page91">[pg 91]</span><a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>choose the method of their doom. This, then, was the +occupant of the mysterious palanquin, which now was +opened as we drew up before the village caravansary. +Out stepped a man, tall and portly, with beard and hair +of venerable gray. His keen eye, clear-cut features, and +dignified bearing, bespoke for him respect even in his +downfall, while his stooped shoulders and haggard countenance +betrayed the weight of sorrow and sleepless nights +with which he was going to his tomb. +</p> +<a name="ill51" id="ill51"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i105.png" alt="THE CONVEYANCE OF A PERSIAN OFFICIAL TRAVELING IN DISGRACE TO TEHERAN AT THE CALL OF THE SHAH." title="THE CONVEYANCE OF A PERSIAN OFFICIAL TRAVELING IN DISGRACE TO TEHERAN AT THE CALL OF THE SHAH." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE CONVEYANCE OF A PERSIAN OFFICIAL TRAVELING IN DISGRACE TO TEHERAN AT +THE CALL OF THE SHAH.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At Miana, that town made infamous by its venomous +insect, is located one of the storage-stations of the Indo-European +Telegraph Company. Its straight lines of iron +poles, which we followed very closely from Tabreez to +Teheran, form only a link in that great wire and cable +chain which connects Melbourne with London. We spent +the following night in the German operator’s room. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The weakness of the Persian for mendacity is proverbial. +One instance of this national weakness was attended +with considerable inconvenience to us. By some mischance +we had run by the village where we intended to +stop for the night, which was situated some distance off +the road. Meeting a Persian lad, we inquired the +dis<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page92">[pg 92]</span><a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tance. He was ready at once with a cheerful falsehood. +<span class="tei tei-q">“One farsak”</span> (four miles), he replied, although he must +have known at the time that the village was already behind +us. On we pedaled at an increased rate, in order +to precede, if possible, the approaching darkness; for although +traditionally the land of a double dawn, Persia has +only one twilight, and that closely merged into sunset and +darkness. One, two farsaks were placed behind us, and +still there was no sign of a human habitation. At length +darkness fell; we were obliged to dismount to feel our +way. By the gradually rising ground, and the rocks, we +knew we were off the road. Dropping our wheels, we +groped round on hands and knees, to find, if possible, +some trace of water. With a burning thirst, a chilling +atmosphere, and swarms of mosquitos biting through our +clothing, we could not sleep. A slight drizzle began to +descend. During our gloomy vigil we were glad to hear +the sounds of a caravan, toward which we groped our +way, discerning, at length, a long line of camels marching +to the music of their lantern-bearing leader. When +our nickel-plated bars and white helmets flashed in the +lantern-light, there was a shriek, and the lantern fell to +the ground. The rear-guard rushed to the front with +drawn weapons; but even they started back at the sound +of our voices, as we attempted in broken Turkish to reassure +them. Explanations were made, and the camels soon +quieted. Thereupon we were surrounded with lanterns +and firebrands, while the remainder of the caravan party +was called to the front. Finally we moved on, walking +side by side with the lantern-bearing leader, who ran +ahead now and then to make sure of the road. The +night was the blackest we had ever seen. Suddenly one +of the camels disappeared in a ditch, and rolled over with +a groan. Fortunately, no bones were broken, and the load +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page93">[pg 93]</span><a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was replaced. But we were off the road, and a search +was begun with lights to find the beaten path. Footsore +and hungry, with an almost intolerable thirst, we trudged +along till morning, to the ding-dong, ding-dong of the +deep-toned camel-bells. Finally we reached a sluggish +river, but did not dare to satisfy our thirst, except by +washing out our mouths, and by taking occasional swallows, +with long intervals of rest, in one of which we fell +asleep from sheer exhaustion. When we awoke the midday +sun was shining, and a party of Persian travelers was +bending over us. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the high lands of Azerbeidjan, where, strange to +say, nearly all Persian pestilences arise, we dropped suddenly +into the Kasveen plain, a portion of that triangular, +dried-up basin of the Persian Mediterranean, now for the +most part a sandy, saline desert. The argillaceous dust +accumulated on the Kasveen plain by the weathering of +the surrounding uplands resembles in appearance the +<span class="tei tei-q">“yellow earth”</span> of the Hoang Ho district in China, but +remains sterile for the lack of water. Even the little +moisture that obtains beneath the surface is sapped by +the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kanots</span></span>, or underground canals, which bring to the +fevered lips of the desert oases the fresh, cool springs of +the Elburz. These are dug with unerring instinct, and +preserved with jealous care by means of shafts or slanting +wells dug at regular intervals across the plain. Into +these we would occasionally descend to relieve our reflection-burned—or, +as a Persian would say, <span class="tei tei-q">“snow-burned”</span>—faces, +while the thermometer above stood at 120° in the +shade. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Over the level ninety-mile stretch between Kasveen and +the capital a so-called carriage-road has recently been constructed +close to the base of the mountain. A sudden +turn round a mountain-spur, and before us was presented +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page94">[pg 94]</span><a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to view Mount Demavend and Teheran. Soon the paved +streets, sidewalks, lamp-posts, street-railways, and even +steam-tramway, of the half modern capital were as much +of a surprise to us as our <span class="tei tei-q">“wind horses”</span> were to the curious +crowds that escorted us to the French Hotel. +</p> +<a name="ill52" id="ill52"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i108.jpg" alt="A PERSIAN REPAIRING THE WHEELS OF HIS WAGON." title="A PERSIAN REPAIRING THE WHEELS OF HIS WAGON." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A PERSIAN REPAIRING THE WHEELS OF HIS WAGON.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From Persia it was our plan to enter Russian central +Asia, and thence to proceed to China or Siberia. To enter +the Transcaspian territory, the border-province of the +Russian possessions, the sanction of its governor, General +Kuropatkine, would be quite sufficient; but for the rest +of the journey through Turkestan the Russian minister +in Teheran said we would have to await a general permission +from St. Petersburg. Six weeks were spent with +our English and American acquaintances, and still no +answer was received. Winter was coming on, and +some<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page95">[pg 95]</span><a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>thing had to be done at once. If we were to be debarred +from a northern route, we would have to attempt a passage +into India either through Afghanistan, which we were +assured by all was quite impossible, or across the deserts +of southern Persia and Baluchistan. For this latter we +had already obtained a possible route from the noted +traveler, Colonel Stewart, whom we met on his way back +to his consular post at Tabreez. But just at this juncture +the Russian minister advised another plan. In order to +save time, he said, we might proceed to Meshed at once, +and if our permission was not telegraphed to us at that +point, we could then turn south to Baluchistan as a last +resort. This, our friends unanimously declared, was a +Muscovite trick to evade an absolute refusal. The Russians, +they assured us, would never permit a foreign inspection +of their doings on the Afghan border; and +furthermore, we would never be able to cross the uninhabited +deserts of Baluchistan. Against all protest, we +waved <span class="tei tei-q">“farewell”</span> to the foreign and native throng which +had assembled to see us off, and on October 5 wheeled out +of the fortified square on the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pilgrim Road to Meshed.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Before us now lay six hundred miles of barren hills, +swampy <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kevirs</span></span>, brier-covered wastes, and salty deserts, +with here and there some kanot-fed oases. To the south +lay the lifeless desert of Luth, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Persian Sahara,”</span> the +humidity of which is the lowest yet recorded on the face +of the globe, and compared with which <span class="tei tei-q">“the Gobi of China +and the Kizil-Kum of central Asia are fertile regions.”</span> It +is our extended and rather unique experience on the former +of these two that prompts us to refrain from further description +of desert travel here, where the hardships were +in a measure ameliorated by frequent stations, and by +the use of cucumbers and pomegranates, both of which +we carried with us on the long desert stretches. Melons, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page97">[pg 97]</span><a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>too, the finest we have ever seen in any land, frequently +obviated the necessity of drinking the strongly brackish +water. +</p> + <a name="ill53" id="ill53"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i110.jpg" alt="LEAVING TEHERAN FOR MESHED." title="LEAVING TEHERAN FOR MESHED." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">LEAVING TEHERAN FOR MESHED.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Yet this experience was sufficient to impress us with the +fact that the national poets, Hafiz and Sadi, like Thomas +Moore, have sought in fancy what the land of Iran denied +them. Those <span class="tei tei-q">“spicy groves, echoing with the nightingale’s +song,”</span> those <span class="tei tei-q">“rosy bowers and purling brooks,”</span> on +the whole exist, so far as our experience goes, only in the +poet’s dream. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Leaving on the right the sand-swept ruins of Veramin, +that capital of Persia before Teheran was even thought +of, we traversed the pass of Sir-Dara, identified by some +as the famous <span class="tei tei-q">“Caspian Gate,”</span> and early in the evening +entered the village of Aradan. The usual crowd hemmed +us in on all sides, yelling, <span class="tei tei-q">“Min, min!”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Ride, ride!”</span>), +which took the place of the Turkish refrain of <span class="tei tei-q">“Bin, bin!”</span> +As we rode toward the caravansary they shouted, <span class="tei tei-q">“Faster, +faster!”</span> and when we began to distance them, they caught +at the rear wheels, and sent a shower of stones after us, +denting our helmets, and bruising our coatless backs. +This was too much; we dismounted and exhibited the +ability to defend ourselves, whereupon they tumbled over +one another in their haste to get away. But they were +at our wheels again before we reached the caravansary. +Here they surged through the narrow gangway, and +knocked over the fruit-stands of the bazaars. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We were shown to a room, or windowless cell, in the +honeycomb structure that surrounded an open quadrangular +court, at the time filled with a caravan of pilgrims, +carrying triangular white and black flags, with the Persian +coat of arms, the same we have seen over many doorways +in Persia as warnings of the danger of trespassing +upon the religious services held within. The cadaverous +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page98">[pg 98]</span><a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stench revealed the presence of half-dried human bones +being carried by relatives and friends for interment in the +sacred <span class="tei tei-q">“City of the Silent.”</span> Thus dead bodies, in loosely +nailed boxes, are always traveling from one end of Persia +to the other. Among the pilgrims were blue and green +turbaned Saids, direct descendants of the Prophet, as well +as white-turbaned mollas. All were sitting about on the +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sakoo</span></span>, or raised platform, just finishing the evening meal. +But presently one of the mollas ascended the mound in +the middle of the stable-yard, and in the manner of the +muezzin called to prayer. All kneeled, and bowed their +heads toward Mecca. Then the horses were saddled, the +long, narrow boxes attached upright to the pack-mules, +and the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kajacas</span></span>, or double boxes, adjusted on the backs +of the horses of the ladies. Into these the veiled creatures +entered, and drew the curtains, while the men leaped into +the saddle at a signal, and, with the tri-cornered flag at +their head, the cavalcade moved out on its long night pilgrimage. +We now learned that the village contained a +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">chappar khan</span></span>, one of those places of rest which have + re<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page99">[pg 99]</span><a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>cently been provided for the use of foreigners and others, +who travel <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">chappar</span></span>, or by relays of post-horses. These +structures are usually distinguished by a single room built +on the roof, and projecting some distance over the eaves. +</p> + <a name="ill54" id="ill54"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i112.jpg" alt="IN A PERSIAN GRAVEYARD." title="IN A PERSIAN GRAVEYARD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">IN A PERSIAN GRAVEYARD.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To this we repaired at once. Its keeper evinced unusual +pride in the cleanliness of his apartments, for we were +asked to take off our shoes before entering. But while +our boastful host was kicking up the mats to convince us +of the truth of his assertions, he suddenly retired behind +the scenes to rid himself of some of the pests. +</p> +<a name="ill55" id="ill55"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i113.jpg" alt="PILGRIMS IN THE CARAVANSARY." title="PILGRIMS IN THE CARAVANSARY." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">PILGRIMS IN THE CARAVANSARY.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Throughout our Asiatic tour eggs were our chief means +of subsistence, but <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">pillao</span></span>, or boiled rice flavored with +grease, we found more particularly used in Persia, like +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yaourt</span></span> in Turkey. This was prepared with chicken whenever +it was possible to purchase a fowl, and then we would +usually make the discovery that a Persian fowl was either +wingless, legless, or otherwise defective after being +pre<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span><a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>pared by a Persian <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">fuzul</span></span>, or foreigner’s servant, who, it is +said, <span class="tei tei-q">“shrinks from no baseness in order to eat.”</span> Though +minus these particular appendages, it would invariably +have a head; for the fanatical Shiah frequently snatched +a chicken out of our hands to prevent us from wringing +or chopping its head off. Even after our meal was served, +we would keep a sharp lookout upon the unblushing pilferers +around us, who had called to pay their respects, +and to fill the room with clouds of smoke from their chibouks +and gurgling kalians. For a fanatical Shiah will +sometimes stick his dirty fingers into the dishes of an +<span class="tei tei-q">“unbeliever,”</span> even though he may subsequently throw +away the contaminated vessel. And this extreme fanaticism +is to be found in a country noted for its extensive +latitude in the profession of religious beliefs. +</p> +<a name="ill56" id="ill56"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i114.jpg" alt="A PERSIAN WINE-PRESS." title="A PERSIAN WINE-PRESS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A PERSIAN WINE-PRESS.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span><a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A present from the village khan was announced. In +stepped two men bearing a huge tray filled with melons, +apricots, sugar, rock-candy, nuts, pistachios, etc., all of +which we must, of course, turn over to the khan-keeper +and his servants, and pay double their value to the bearers, +as a present. This polite method of extortion was +followed the next morning by one of a bolder and more +peremptory nature. Notwithstanding the feast of the +night before at our expense, and in addition to furnishing +us with bedclothes which we really ought to have been +paid to sleep in, our oily host now insisted upon three or +four prices for his lodgings. We refused to pay him +more than a certain sum, and started to vacate the premises. +Thereupon he and his grown son caught hold of our +bicycles. Remonstrances proving of no avail, and being +unable to force our passage through the narrow doorway +with the bicycles in our hands, we dropped them, and +grappled with our antagonists. A noisy scuffle, and then +a heavy fall ensued, but luckily we were both on the upper +side. This unusual disturbance now brought out the inmates +of the adjoining <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">anderoon</span></span>. In a moment there was +a din of feminine screams, and a flutter of garments, and +then—a crashing of our pith helmets beneath the blows +of pokers and andirons. The villagers, thus aroused, came +at last to our rescue, and at once proceeded to patch up a +compromise. This, in view of the Amazonian reinforcements, +who were standing by in readiness for a second +onset, we were more than pleased to accept. From this +inglorious combat we came off without serious injury; +but with those gentle poker taps were knocked out forever +all the sweet delusions of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Light of the Harem.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The great antiquity of this Teheran-Meshed road, which +is undoubtedly a section of that former commercial highway +between two of the most ancient capitals in +history<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span><a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>—Nineveh and Balk, is very graphically shown by the +caravan ruts at Lasgird. These have been worn in many +places to a depth of four feet in the solid rock. It was +not far beyond this point that we began to feel the force +of that famous <span class="tei tei-q">“Damghan wind,”</span> so called from the city +of that name. Of course this wind was against us. In +fact, throughout our Asiatic tour easterly winds prevailed; +and should we ever attempt another transcontinental spin +we would have a care to travel in the opposite direction. +</p> +<a name="ill57" id="ill57"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i116.jpg" alt="CASTLE STRONGHOLD AT LASGIRD." title="CASTLE STRONGHOLD AT LASGIRD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">CASTLE STRONGHOLD AT LASGIRD.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our peculiar mode of travel subjected us to great extremes +in our mode of living. Sometimes, indeed, it was +a change almost from the sublime to the ridiculous, and +vice versa—from a stable or sheepfold, with a diet of figs +and bread, and an irrigating-ditch for a lavatory, to a +palace itself, an Oriental palace, with all the delicacies of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span><a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the East, and a host of servants to attend to our slightest +wish. So it was at Bostam, the residence of one of Persia’s +most influential <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">hakims</span></span>, or governors, literally, <span class="tei tei-q">“pillars of +state,”</span> who was also a cousin to the Shah himself. This +potentate we visited in company with an English engineer +whom we met in transit at Sharoud. It was on the evening +before, when at supper with this gentleman in his +tent, that a special messenger arrived from the governor, +requesting us, as the invitation ran, <span class="tei tei-q">“to take our brightness +into his presence.”</span> As we entered, the governor rose +from his seat on the floor, a courtesy never shown us by +a Turkish official. Even the politest of them would, just +at this particular moment, be conveniently engrossed in +the examination of some book or paper. His courtesy +was further extended by locking up our <span class="tei tei-q">“horses,”</span> and +making us his <span class="tei tei-q">“prisoners”</span> until the following morning. +At the dinner which Mr. Evans and we were invited to +eat with his excellency, benches had to be especially prepared, +as there was nothing like a chair to be found on +the premises. The governor himself took his accustomed +position on the floor, with his own private dishes around +him. From these he would occasionally fish out with his +fingers some choice lamb <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kebabh</span></span> or cabbage <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">dolmah</span></span>, and +have it passed over to his guests—an act which is considered +one of the highest forms of Persian hospitality. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With a shifting of the scenes of travel, we stood at +sunset on the summit of the Binalud mountains, overlooking +the valley of the Kashafrud. Our two weeks’ journey +was almost ended, for the city of Meshed was now in view, +ten miles away. Around us were piles of little stones, to +which each pious pilgrim adds his quota when first he sees +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Holy Shrine,”</span> which we beheld shining like a ball of +fire in the glow of the setting sun. +</p> + <a name="ill58" id="ill58"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i118.jpg" alt="PILGRIM STONE HEAPS OVERLOOKING MESHED." title="PILGRIM STONE HEAPS OVERLOOKING MESHED." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">PILGRIM STONE HEAPS OVERLOOKING MESHED.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +While we were building our pyramid a party of +return<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span><a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ing pilgrims greeted us with <span class="tei tei-q">“Meshedi at last.”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“Not yet,”</span> +we answered, for we knew that the gates of the Holy City +closed promptly at twilight. Yet we determined to make +the attempt. On we sped, but not with the speed of the +falling night. Dusk overtook us as we reached the plain. +A moving form was revealed to us on the bank of the +irrigating-canal which skirted the edge of the road. Backward +it fell as we dashed by, and then the sound of a +splash and splutter reached us as we disappeared in the +darkness. On the morrow we learned that the spirits of +Hassan and Hussein were seen skimming the earth in their +flight toward the Holy City. We reached the bridge, and +crossed the moat, but the gates were closed. We knocked +and pounded, but a hollow echo was our only response. +At last the light of a lantern illumined the crevices in the +weather-beaten doors, and a weird-looking face appeared +through the midway opening. <span class="tei tei-q">“Who’s there?”</span> said a +voice, whose sepulchral tones might have belonged to the +sexton of the Holy Tomb. <span class="tei tei-q">“We are <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Ferenghis</span></span>,”</span> we said, +<span class="tei tei-q">“and must get into the city to-night.”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“That is +impossi<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span><a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ble,”</span> he answered, <span class="tei tei-q">“for the gates are locked, and the keys +have been sent away to the governor’s palace.”</span> With this +the night air grew more chill. But another thought struck +us at once. We would send a note to General McLean, +the English consul-general, who was already expecting +us. This our interlocutor, for a certain <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">inam</span></span>, or Persian +bakshish, at length agreed to deliver. The general, as we +afterward learned, sent a servant with a special request +to the governor’s palace. Here, without delay, a squad of +horsemen was detailed, and ordered with the keys to the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Herat Gate.”</span> The crowds in the streets, attracted by +this unusual turnout at this unusual hour, followed in +their wake to the scene of disturbance. There was a click +of locks, the clanking of chains, and the creaking of rusty +hinges. The great doors swung open, and a crowd of expectant +faces received us in the Holy City. +</p> +<a name="ill59" id="ill59"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i119.jpg" alt="RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR AT MESHED." title="RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR AT MESHED." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR AT MESHED.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Meshed claims our attention chiefly for its famous dead. +In its sacred dust lie buried our old hero Haroun al Raschid, +Firdousi, Persia’s greatest epic poet, and the holy Imaum +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span><a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Riza, within whose shrine every criminal may take refuge +from even the Shah himself until the payment of a blood-tax, +or a debtor until the giving of a guarantee for debt. +No infidel can enter there. +</p> +<a name="ill60" id="ill60"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i120.jpg" alt="FEMALE PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO MESHED." title="FEMALE PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO MESHED." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">FEMALE PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO MESHED.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Meshed was the pivotal point upon which our wheel of +fortune was to turn. We were filled with no little anxiety, +therefore, when, on the day after our arrival, we received +an invitation to call at the Russian consulate-general. +With great ceremony we were ushered into a suite of elegantly +furnished rooms, and received by the consul-general +and his English wife in full dress. Madame de Vlassow +was radiant with smiles as she served us tea by the side +of her steaming silver samovar. She could not wait for +the circumlocution of diplomacy, but said: <span class="tei tei-q">“It is all right, +gentlemen. General Kuropatkine has just telegraphed +permission for you to proceed to Askabad.”</span> This precipitate +remark evidently disconcerted the consul, who could +only nod his head and say, <span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Oui, oui</span></span>,”</span> in affirmation. +This news lifted a heavy load from our minds; our desert +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span><a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>journey of six hundred miles, therefore, had not been made +in vain, and the prospect brightened for a trip through +the heart of Asia. +</p> +<a name="ill61" id="ill61"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i121.png" alt="IN THE GARDEN OF THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE AT MESHED." title="IN THE GARDEN OF THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE AT MESHED." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">IN THE GARDEN OF THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE AT MESHED.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Between the rival hospitality of the Russian and English +consulates our health was now in jeopardy from excess +of kindness. Among other social attentions, we received +an invitation from Sahib Devan, the governor of +Khoras<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span><a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>san, who next to the Shah is the richest man in Persia. +Although seventy-six years of age, on the day of our visit +to his palace he was literally covered with diamonds and +precious stones. With the photographer to the Shah as +German interpreter, we spent half an hour in an interesting +conversation. Among other topics he mentioned the +receipt, a few days before, of a peculiar telegram from +the Shah: <span class="tei tei-q">“Cut off the head of any one who attempts opposition +to the Tobacco Regie”</span>; and this was followed a +few days after by the inquiry, <span class="tei tei-q">“How many heads have +you taken?”</span> A retinue of about three hundred courtiers +followed the governor as he walked out with feeble steps +to the parade-ground. Here a company of Persian cavalry +was detailed to clear the field for the <span class="tei tei-q">“wonderful steel +horses,”</span> which, as was said, had come from the capital in +two days, a distance of six hundred miles. The governors +extreme pleasure was afterward expressed in a special +letter for our journey to the frontier. +</p> +<a name="ill62" id="ill62"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i122.jpg" alt="WATCH-TOWER ON THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY." title="WATCH-TOWER ON THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">WATCH-TOWER ON THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span><a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill63" id="ill63"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i123.jpg" alt="GIVING A 'SILENT PILGRIM' A ROLL TOWARD MESHED." title="GIVING A “SILENT PILGRIM” A ROLL TOWARD MESHED." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">GIVING A </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">SILENT PILGRIM</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> A ROLL TOWARD MESHED.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The military road now completed between Askabad and +Meshed reveals the extreme weakness of Persia’s defense +against Russian aggression. Elated by her recent successes +in the matter of a Russian consul at Meshed, Russia +has very forcibly invited Persia to construct more than +half of a road which, in connection with the Transcaspian +railway, makes Khorassan almost an exclusive Russian +market, and opens Persia’s richest province to Russia’s +troops and cannon on the prospective march to Herat. +At this very writing, if the telegraph speaks the truth, the +Persian border-province of Dereguez is another cession by +what the Russians are pleased to call their Persian vassal. +In addition to its increasing commercial traffic, this road +is patronized by many Shiah devotees from the north, +among whom are what the natives term the <span class="tei tei-q">“silent pilgrims.”</span> +These are large stones, or boulders, rolled along +a few feet at a time by the passers-by toward the Holy +City. We ourselves were employed in this pious work at +the close of our first day’s journey from Meshed when we +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span><a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>were suddenly aroused by a bantering voice behind us. +Looking up, we were hailed by Stagno Navarro, the inspector +of the Persian telegraph, who was employed with +his men on a neighboring line. With this gentleman we +spent the following night in a telegraph station, and +passed a pleasant evening chatting over the wires with +friends in Meshed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Kuchan, our next stopping-place, lies on the almost imperceptible +watershed which separates the Herat valley +from the Caspian Sea. This city, only a few months ago, +was entirely destroyed by a severe earthquake. Under +date of January 28, 1894, the American press reported: +<span class="tei tei-q">“The bodies of ten thousand victims of the awful disaster +have already been recovered. Fifty thousand cattle were +destroyed at the same time. The once important and beautiful +city of twenty thousand people is now only a scene +of death, desolation, and terror.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From this point to Askabad the construction of the +military highway speaks well for Russia’s engineering +skill. It crosses the Kopet Dagh mountains over seven +distinct passes in a distance of eighty miles. This we +determined to cover, if possible, in one day, inasmuch as +there was no intermediate stopping-place, and as we were +not a little delighted by the idea of at last emerging from +semi-barbarism into semi-civilization. At sunset we were +scaling the fifth ridge since leaving Kuchan at daybreak, +and a few minutes later rolled up before the Persian custom-house +in the valley below. There was no evidence +of the proximity of a Russian frontier, except the extraordinary +size of the tea-glasses, from which we slaked our +intolerable thirst. During the day we had had a surfeit +of cavernous gorges and commanding pinnacles, but very +little water. The only copious spring we were able to +find was filled at the time with the unwashed linen of a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span><a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Persian traveler, who sat by, smiling in derision, as we +upbraided him for his disregard of the traveling public. +</p> +<a name="ill64" id="ill64"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i125.jpg" alt="AN INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL KUROPATKINE AT THE RACES NEAR ASKABAD." title="AN INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL KUROPATKINE AT THE RACES NEAR ASKABAD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">AN INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL KUROPATKINE AT THE RACES NEAR ASKABAD.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was already dusk when we came in sight of the Russian +custom-house, a tin-roofed, stone structure, contrasting +strongly with the Persian mud hovels we had left behind. +A Russian official hailed us as we shot by, but we +could not stop on the down-grade, and, besides, darkness +was too rapidly approaching to brook any delay. Askabad +was twenty-eight miles away, and although wearied +by an extremely hard day’s work, we must sleep that night, +if possible, in a Russian hotel. Our pace increased with +the growing darkness until at length we were going at +the rate of twelve miles per hour down a narrow gorge-like +valley toward the seventh and last ridge that lay between +us and the desert. At 9:30 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-size: 90%">P. M.</span></span> we stood upon its +summit, and before us stretched the sandy wastes of Kara-Kum, +enshrouded in gloom. Thousands of feet below us +the city of Askabad was ablaze with lights, shining like +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span><a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>beacons on the shore of the desert sea. Strains of music +from a Russian band stole faintly up through the darkness +as we dismounted, and contemplated the strange scene, +until the shriek of a locomotive-whistle startled us from +our reveries. Across the desert a train of the Transcaspian +railway was gliding smoothly along toward the city. +</p> +<a name="ill65" id="ill65"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i126.jpg" alt="MOSQUE CONTAINING THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE AT SAMARKAND." title="MOSQUE CONTAINING THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE AT SAMARKAND." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MOSQUE CONTAINING THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE AT SAMARKAND.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A hearty welcome back to civilized life was given us +the next evening by General Kuropatkine himself, the +Governor-General of Transcaspia. During the course of +a dinner with him and his friends, he kindly assured us +that no further recommendation was needed than the fact +that we were American citizens to entitle us to travel from +one end of the Russian empire to the other. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From Askabad to Samarkand there was a break in the +continuity of our bicycle journey. Our Russian friends +persuaded us to take advantage of the Transcaspian railway, +and not to hazard a journey across the dreaded Kara-Kum +sands. Such a journey, made upon the railroad +track, where water and food were obtainable at regular +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span><a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>intervals, would have entailed only a small part of the +hardships incurred on the deserts in China, yet we were +more than anxious to reach, before the advent of winter, +a point whence we could be assured of reaching the Pacific +during the following season. Through the kindness of +the railway authorities at Bokhara station our car was +side-tracked to enable us to visit, ten miles away, that ancient +city of the East. On November 6 we reached Samarkand, +the ancient capital of Tamerlane, and the present +terminus of the Transcaspian railway. +</p> +<a name="ill66" id="ill66"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i127.jpg" alt="CARAVANSARY AT FAKIDAOUD." title="CARAVANSARY AT FAKIDAOUD." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">CARAVANSARY AT FAKIDAOUD.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span><a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="ill67" id="ill67"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i128.jpg" alt="A MARKET-PLACE IN SAMARKAND, AND THE RUINS OF A COLLEGE." title="A MARKET-PLACE IN SAMARKAND, AND THE RUINS OF A COLLEGE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A MARKET-PLACE IN SAMARKAND, AND THE RUINS OF A COLLEGE.</span></div></div> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span><a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc68" id="toc68"></a><a name="pdf69" id="pdf69"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">IV</span></h2> + +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.40em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%">THE JOURNEY FROM SAMARKAND TO KULDJA</span></h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the morning of November 16 we took a last look +at the blue domes and minarets of Samarkand, intermingled +with the ruins of palaces and tombs, and then +wheeled away toward the banks of the Zerafshan. Our +four days’ journey of 180 miles along the regular Russian +post-road was attended with only the usual vicissitudes +of ordinary travel. Wading in our Russian top-boots +through the treacherous fords of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Snake”</span> defile, we +passed the pyramidal slate rock known as the <span class="tei tei-q">“Gate of +Tamerlane,”</span> and emerged upon a strip of the Kizil-Kum +steppe, stretching hence in painful monotony to the bank +of the Sir Daria river. This we crossed by a rude rope-ferry, +filled at the time with a passing caravan, and then +began at once to ascend the valley of the Tchirtchick toward +Tashkend. The blackened cotton which the natives +were gathering from the fields, the lowering snow-line on +the mountains, the muddy roads, the chilling atmosphere, +and the falling leaves of the giant poplars—all warned +us of the approach of winter. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We had hoped at least to reach Vernoye, a provincial +capital near the converging point of the Turkestan, Siberian, +and Chinese boundaries, whence we could continue, +on the opening of the following spring, either through +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span><a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Siberia or across the Chinese empire. But in this we +were doomed to disappointment. The delay on the part +of the Russian authorities in granting us permission to +enter Transcaspia had postponed at least a month our +arrival in Tashkend, and now, owing to the early advent +of the rainy season, the roads leading north were almost +impassable even for the native carts. This fact, together +with the reports of heavy snowfalls beyond the Alexandrovski +mountains, on the road to Vernoye, lent a rather +cogent influence to the persuasions of our friends to spend +the winter among them. +</p> +<a name="ill70" id="ill70"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i130.jpg" alt="A RELIGIOUS DRAMA IN SAMARKAND." title="A RELIGIOUS DRAMA IN SAMARKAND." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A RELIGIOUS DRAMA IN SAMARKAND.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then, too, such a plan, we thought, might not be unproductive +of future advantages. Thus far we had been +journeying through Russian territory without a passport. +We had no authorization except the telegram to <span class="tei tei-q">“come +on,”</span> received from General Kuropatkine at Askabad, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span><a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the verbal permission of Count Rosterzsoff at Samarkand +to proceed to Tashkend. Furthermore, the passport +for which we had just applied to Baron Wrevsky, the Governor-General +of Turkestan, would be available only as +far as the border of Siberia, where we should have to +apply to the various governors-general along our course +to the Pacific, in case we should find the route across the +Chinese empire impracticable. A general permission to +travel from Tashkend to the Pacific coast, through southern +Siberia, could be obtained from St. Petersburg only, +and that only through the chief executive of the province +through which we were passing. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Permission to enter Turkestan is by no means easily +obtained, as is well understood by the student of Russian +policy in central Asia. We were not a little surprised, +therefore, when our request to spend the winter in its +capital was graciously granted by Baron Wrevsky, as well +as the privilege for one of us to return in the mean time +to London. This we had determined on, in order to secure +some much-needed bicycle supplies, and to complete +other arrangements for the success of our enterprise. By +lot the return trip fell to Sachtleben. Proceeding by the +Transcaspian and Transcaucasus railroads, the Caspian +and Black seas, to Constantinople, and thence by the <span class="tei tei-q">“overland +express”</span> to Belgrade, Vienna, Frankfort, and Calais, +he was able to reach London in sixteen days. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Tashkend, though nearly in the same latitude as New +York, is so protected by the Alexandrovski mountains +from the Siberian blizzards and the scorching winds of +the Kara-Kum desert as to have an even more moderate +climate. A tributary of the Tchirtchick river forms the +line of demarcation between the native and the European +portions of the city, although the population of the latter +is by no means devoid of a native element. Both together +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span><a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>cover an area as extensive as Paris, though the population +is only 120,000, of which 100,000 are congregated in the +native, or Sart, quarter. There is a floating element of +Kashgarians, Bokhariots, Persians, and Afghans, and a +resident majority of Kirghiz, Tatars, Jews, Hindus, gypsies, +and Sarts, the latter being a generic title for the urban, +as distinguished from the nomad, people. +</p> +<a name="ill71" id="ill71"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i132.jpg" alt="OUR FERRY OVER THE ZERAFSHAN." title="OUR FERRY OVER THE ZERAFSHAN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">OUR FERRY OVER THE ZERAFSHAN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our winter quarters were obtained at the home of a +typical Russian family, in company with a young reserve +officer. He, having finished his university career and time +of military service, was engaged in Tashkend in the interest +of his father, a wholesale merchant in Moscow. With +him we were able to converse either in French or German, +both of which languages he could speak more purely than +his native Russian. Our good-natured, corpulent host had +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span><a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>emigrated, in the pioneer days, from the steppes of southern +Russia, and had grown wealthy through the <span class="tei tei-q">“unearned +increment.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Russian samovar is the characteristic feature of the +Russian household. Besides a big bowl of cabbage soup +at every meal, our Russian host would start in with a half-tumbler +of vodka, dispose of a bottle of beer in the intervals, +and then top off with two or three glasses of tea. +The mistress of the household, being limited in her beverages +to tea and soup, would usually make up in quantity +what was lacking in variety. In fact, one day she informed +us that she had not imbibed a drop of water for +over six years. For this, however, there is a very plausible +excuse. With the water at Tashkend, as with that +from the Zerafshan at Bokhara, a dangerous worm called +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">reshta</span></span> is absorbed into the system. Nowhere have we +drunk better tea than around the steaming samovar of +our Tashkend host. No peasant is too poor, either in +money or in sentiment, to buy and feel the cheering influence +of tea. Even the Cossack, in his forays into the wilds +of central Asia, is sustained by it. Unlike the Chinese, +the Russians consider sugar a necessary concomitant of +tea-drinking. There are three methods of sweetening tea: +to put the sugar in the glass; to place a lump of sugar in +the mouth, and suck the tea through it; to hang a lump +in the midst of a tea-drinking circle, to be swung around +for each in turn to touch with his tongue, and then to +take a swallow of tea. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The meaning of the name Tashkend is <span class="tei tei-q">“city of stone,”</span> +but a majority of the houses are one-story mud structures, +built low, so as to prevent any disastrous effects from +earthquakes. The roofs are so flat and poorly constructed +that during the rainy season a dry ceiling is rather the +exception than the rule. Every building is covered with +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span><a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>whitewash or white paint, and fronts directly on the street. +There are plenty of back and side yards, but none in front. +This is not so bad on the broad streets of a Russian town. +In Tashkend they are exceptionally wide, with ditches on +each side through which the water from the Tchirtchick +ripples along beneath the double, and even quadruple, +rows of poplars, acacias, and willows. These trees grow +here with remarkable luxuriance, from a mere twig stuck +into the ground. Although twenty years of Russian irrigation +has given Nature a chance to rear thousands of +trees on former barren wastes, yet wood is still comparatively +scarce and dear. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The administration buildings of the city are for the +most part exceedingly plain and unpretentious. In striking +contrast is the new Russian cathedral, the recently +erected school, and a large retail store built by a resident +Greek, all of which are fine specimens of Russian architecture. +Among its institutions are an observatory, a +museum containing an embryo collection of Turkestan +products and antiquities, and a medical dispensary for the +natives, where vaccination is performed by graduates of +medicine in the Tashkend school. The rather extensive +library was originally collected for the chancellery of the +governor-general, and contains the best collection of works +on central Asia that is to be found in the world, including +in its scope not only books and pamphlets, but even magazines +and newspaper articles. For amusements, the city +has a theater, a small imitation of the opera-house at +Paris; and the Military Club, which, with its billiards and +gambling, and weekly reunions, balls, and concerts, though +a regular feature of a Russian garrison town, is especially +pretentious in Tashkend. In size, architecture, and appointments, +the club-house has no equal, we were told, outside +the capital and Moscow. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span><a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill72" id="ill72"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i135.jpg" alt="PALACE OF THE CZAR'S NEPHEW, TASHKEND." title="PALACE OF THE CZAR’S NEPHEW, TASHKEND." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">PALACE OF THE CZAR’S NEPHEW, TASHKEND.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Tashkend has long been known as a refuge for damaged +reputations and shattered fortunes, or <span class="tei tei-q">“the official purgatory +following upon the emperor’s displeasure.”</span> One of +the finest houses of the city is occupied by the Grand +Duke Nicholai Constantinovitch Romanoff, son of the late +general admiral of the Russian navy, and first cousin to +the Czar, who seems to be cheerfully resigned to his life +in exile. Most of his time is occupied with the business +of his silk-factory on the outskirts of Tashkend, and at +his farm near Hodjent, which a certain firm in Chicago, +at the time of our sojourn, was stocking with irrigating +machinery. All of his bills are paid with checks drawn +on his St. Petersburg trustees. His private life is rather +unconventional and even democratic. Visitors to his +household are particularly impressed with the beauty of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span><a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his wife and the size of his liquor glasses. The example +of the grand duke illustrates the sentiment in favor of +industrial pursuits which is growing among the military +classes, and even among the nobility, of Russia. The government +itself, thanks to the severe lesson of the Crimean +war, has learned that a great nation must stand upon a +foundation of something more than aristocracy and nobility. +To this influence is largely due the present growing +prosperity of Tashkend, which, in military importance, is +rapidly giving way to Askabad, <span class="tei tei-q">“the key to Herat.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +That spirit of equality and fraternity which characterizes +the government of a Russian <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">mir</span></span>, or village, has been carried +even into central Asia. We have frequently seen +Russian peasants and natives occupying adjoining apartments +in the same household, while in the process of trade +all classes seem to fraternize in an easy and even cordial +manner. The same is true of the children, who play together +indiscriminately in the street. Many a one of +these heterogeneous groups we have watched <span class="tei tei-q">“playing +marbles”</span> with the ankle-bones of sheep, and listened, with +some amusement, to their half Russian, half native jargon. +Schools are now being established to educate the native +children in the Russian language and methods, and native +apprentices are being taken in by Russian merchants for +the same purpose. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In Tashkend, as in every European city of the Orient, +drunkenness, and gambling, and social laxity have followed +upon the introduction of Western morals and culture. +Jealousy and intrigue among the officers and functionaries +are also not strange, perhaps, at so great a distance +from headquarters, where the only avenue to distinction +seems to lie through the public service. At the various +dinner-parties and sociables given throughout the winter, +the topic of war always met with general welcome. On +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span><a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>one occasion a report was circulated that Abdurrahman +Khan, the Ameer of Afghanistan, was lying at the point +of death. Great preparations, it was said, were being made +for an expedition over the Pamir, to establish on the throne +the Russian candidate, Is-shah Khan from Samarkand, +before Ayub Khan, the rival British protégé, could be +brought from India. The young officers at once began +to discuss their chances for promotion, and the number +of decorations to be forthcoming from St. Petersburg. +The social gatherings at Tashkend were more convivial +than sociable. Acquaintances can eat and drink together +with the greatest of good cheer, but there is very little +sympathy in conversation. It was difficult for them to +understand why we had come so far to see a country which +to many of them was a place of exile. +</p> +<a name="ill73" id="ill73"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i137.jpg" alt="A SART RESCUING HIS CHILDREN FROM THE CAMERA OF THE 'FOREIGN DEVILS.'" title="A SART RESCUING HIS CHILDREN FROM THE CAMERA OF THE “FOREIGN DEVILS.”" /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A + SART RESCUING HIS CHILDREN FROM THE CAMERA OF THE </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">FOREIGN DEVILS.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span><a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +An early spring did not mean an early departure from +winter quarters. Impassable roads kept us anxious prisoners +for a month and a half after the necessary papers +had been secured. These included, in addition to the local +passports, a carte-blanche permission to travel from Tashkend +to Vladivostock through Turkestan and Siberia, a +document obtained from St. Petersburg through the United +States minister, the Hon. Charles Emory Smith. Of this +route to the Pacific we were therefore certain, and yet, +despite the universal opinion that a bicycle journey across +the Celestial empire was impracticable, we had determined +to continue on to the border line, and there to seek better +information. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t go into China”</span> were the last words +of our many kind friends as we wheeled out of Tashkend +on the seventh of May. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At Chimkend our course turned abruptly from what +was once the main route between Russia’s European and +Asiatic capitals, and along which De Lesseps, in his letter +to the Czar, proposed a line of railroad to connect Orenburg +with Samarkand, a distance about equal to that between +St. Petersburg and Odessa, 1483 miles. This is also +the keystone in that wall of forts which Russia gradually +raised around her unruly nomads of the steppes, and where, +according to Gortchakoff’s circular of 1864, <span class="tei tei-q">“both interest +and reason”</span> required her to stop; and yet at that very +time General Tchernaieff was advancing his forces upon +the present capital, Tashkend. Here, too, we began that +journey of 1500 miles along the Celestial mountain range +which terminated only when we scaled its summit beyond +Barkul to descend again into the burning sands of the +Desert of Gobi. Here runs the great historical highway +between China and the West. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From Auli-eta eastward we had before us about 200 +miles of a vast steppe region. Near the mountains is a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span><a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>wilderness of lakes, swamps, and streams, which run dry in +summer. This is the country of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Thousand Springs”</span> +mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Huen T’sang, and where +was established the kingdom of Black China, supposed +by many to have been one of the kingdoms of <span class="tei tei-q">“Prester +John.”</span> But far away to our left were the white sands of +the Ak-Kum, over which the cloudless atmosphere quivers +incessantly, like the blasts of a furnace. Of all these deserts, +occupying probably one half of the whole Turkestan +steppe, none is more terrible than that of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Golodnaya +Steppe,”</span> or Steppe of Hunger, to the north of the <span class="tei tei-q">“White +Sands”</span> now before us. Even in the cool of evening, it is +said that the soles of the wayfarer’s feet become scorched, +and the dog accompanying him finds no repose till he has +burrowed below the burning surface. The monotonous +appearance of the steppe itself is only intensified in winter, +when the snow smooths over the broken surface, and even +necessitates the placing of mud posts at regular intervals +to mark the roadway for the Kirghiz post-drivers. But +in the spring and autumn its arid surface is clothed, as if +by enchantment, with verdure and prairie flowers. Both +flowers and birds are gorgeously colored. One variety, +about half the size of the jackdaw which infests the houses +of Tashkend and Samarkand, has a bright blue body and +red wings; another, resembling our field-lark in size and +habits, combines a pink breast with black head and wings. +But already this springtide splendor was beginning to disappear +beneath the glare of approaching summer. The +long wagon-trains of lumber, and the occasional traveler’s +tarantass rumbling along to the discord of its <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">duga</span></span> bells, +were enveloped in a cloud of suffocating dust. +</p> + <a name="ill74" id="ill74"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i139.jpg" alt="VIEW OF CHIMKEND FROM THE CITADEL." title="VIEW OF CHIMKEND FROM THE CITADEL." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">VIEW OF CHIMKEND FROM THE CITADEL.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Now and then we would overtake a party of Russian +peasants migrating from the famine-stricken districts of +European Russia to the pioneer colonies along this +Tur<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span><a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>kestan highway. The peculiarity of these villages is their +extreme length, all the houses facing on the one wide +street. Most of them are merely mud huts, others make +pretensions to doors and windows, and a coat of whitewash. +Near-by usually stands the old battered telega +which served as a home during many months of travel +over the Orenburg highway. It speaks well for the colonizing +capacity of the Russians that they can be induced to +come so many hundreds of miles from their native land, +to settle in such a primitive way among the half-wild +tribes of the steppes. As yet they do very little farming, +but live, like the Kirghiz, by raising horses, cows, sheep, +and goats, and, in addition, the Russian hog, the last resembling +very much the wild swine of the jungles. Instead +of the former military colonies of plundering Cossacks, +who really become more assimilated to the Kirghiz +than these to their conquerors, the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">mir</span></span>, or communal system, +is now penetrating these fertile districts, and systematically +replacing the Mongolian culture. But the ignorance +of this lower class of Russians is almost as noticeable +as that of the natives themselves. As soon as we +entered a village, the blacksmith left his anvil, the carpenter +his bench, the storekeeper his counter, and the milkmaid +her task. After our parade of the principal street, the +crowd would gather round us at the station-house. All +sorts of queries and ejaculations would pass among them. +One would ask: <span class="tei tei-q">“Are these gentlemen baptized? Are +they really Christians?”</span> On account of their extreme +ignorance these Russian colonists are by no means able +to cope with their German colleagues, who are given the +poorest land, and yet make a better living. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The steppe is a good place for learning patience. With +the absence of landmarks, you seem never to be getting +anywhere. It presents the appearance of a boundless +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span><a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>level expanse, the very undulations of which are so uniform +as to conceal the intervening troughs. Into these, +horsemen, and sometimes whole caravans, mysteriously +disappear. In this way we were often enabled to surprise +a herd of gazelles grazing by the roadside. They would +stand for a moment with necks extended, and then scamper +away like a shot, springing on their pipe-stem limbs +three or four feet into the air. Our average rate was +about seven miles an hour, although the roads were sometimes +so soft with dust or sand as to necessitate the laying +of straw for a foundation. There was scarcely an +hour in the day when we were not accompanied by from +one to twenty Kirghiz horsemen, galloping behind us with +cries of <span class="tei tei-q">“Yakshee!”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“Good!”</span>) They were especially +curious to see how we crossed the roadside streams. +Standing on the bank, they would watch intently every +move as we stripped and waded through with bicycles and +clothing on our shoulders. Then they would challenge us +to a race, and, if the road permitted, we would endeavor +to reveal some of the possibilities of the <span class="tei tei-q">“devil’s carts.”</span> +On an occasion like this occurred one of our few mishaps. +The road was lined by the occupants of a neighboring +tent village, who had run out to see the race. One of the +Kirghiz turned suddenly back in the opposite direction +from which he had started. The wheel struck him at a +rate of fifteen miles per hour, lifting him off his feet, and +hurling over the handle-bars the rider, who fell upon his +left arm, and twisted it out of place. With the assistance +of the bystanders it was pulled back into the socket, and +bandaged up till we reached the nearest Russian village. +Here the only physician was an old blind woman of the +faith-cure persuasion. Her massage treatment to replace +the muscles was really effective, and was accompanied by +prayers and by signs of the cross, a common method of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span><a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>treatment among the lower class of Russians. In one instance +a cure was supposed to be effected by writing a +prayer on a piece of buttered bread to be eaten by the +patient. +</p> + <a name="ill75" id="ill75"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i143.jpg" alt="ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CHIMKEND AND VERNOYE." title="ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CHIMKEND AND VERNOYE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CHIMKEND AND VERNOYE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Being users but not patrons of the Russian post-roads, +we were not legally entitled to the conveniences of the +post-stations. Tipping alone, as we found on our journey +from Samarkand, was not always sufficient to preclude a +request during the night to vacate the best quarters for +the post-traveler, especially if he happened to wear the +regulation brass button. To secure us against this inconvenience, +and to gain some special attention, a letter was +obtained from the overseer of the Turkestan post and +telegraph district. This proved advantageous on many +occasions, and once, at Auli-eta, was even necessary. We +were surveyed with suspicious glances as soon as we entered +the station-house, and when we asked for water to +lave our hands and face, we were directed to the irrigating +ditch in the street. Our request for a better room +was answered by the question, if the one we had was not +good enough, and how long we intended to occupy that. +Evidently our English conversation had gained for us the +covert reputation of being English spies, and this was +verified in the minds of our hosts when we began to ask +questions about the city prisons we had passed on our +way. To every interrogation they replied, <span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know.”</span> +But presto, change, on the presentation of documents! +Apologies were now profuse, and besides tea, bread, and +eggs, the usual rations of a Russian post-station, we were +exceptionally favored with chicken soup and <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">verainyik</span></span>, the +latter consisting of cheese wrapped and boiled in dough, +and then served in butter. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It has been the custom for travelers in Russia to decry +the Russian post-station, but the fact is that an +appre<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span><a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ciation of this rather primitive form of accommodation +depends entirely upon whether you approach it from a +European hotel or from a Persian khan. Some are clean, +while others are dirty. Nevertheless, it was always a welcome +sight to see a small white building looming up in +the dim horizon at the close of a long day’s ride, and, on +near approach, to observe the black and white striped post +in front, and idle tarantasses around it. At the door +would be found the usual crowd of Kirghiz post-drivers. +After the presentation of documents to the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">starosta</span></span>, who +would hesitate at first about quartering our horses in the +travelers’ room, we would proceed at once to place our +dust-covered heads beneath the spindle of the washing-tank. +Although by this dripping-pan arrangement we +would usually succeed in getting as much water down our +backs as on our faces, yet we were consoled by the thought +that too much was better than not enough, as had been +the case in Turkey and Persia. Then we would settle +down before the steaming samovar to meditate in solitude +and quiet, while the rays of the declining sun shone on +the gilded eikon in the corner of the room, and on the +chromo-covered walls. When darkness fell, and the simmering +music of the samovar had gradually died away; +when the flitting swallows in the room had ceased their +chirp, and settled down upon the rafters overhead, we +ourselves would turn in under our fur-lined coats upon +the leather-covered benches. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In consequence of the first of a series of accidents to +our wheels, we were for several days the guests of the +director of the botanical gardens at Pishpek. As a branch +of the Crown botanical gardens at St. Petersburg, some +valuable experiments were being made here with foreign +seeds and plants. Peaches, we were told, do not thrive, +but apples, pears, cherries, and the various kinds of +ber<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span><a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ries, grow as well as they do at home. Rye, however, +takes three years to reach the height of one year in America. +Through the Russians, these people have obtained +high-flown ideas of America and Americans. We saw +many chromos of American celebrities in the various station-houses, +and the most numerous was that of Thomas +A. Edison. His phonograph, we were told, had already +made its appearance in Pishpek, but the natives did not +seem to realize what it was. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why,”</span> they said, <span class="tei tei-q">“we have +often heard better music than that.”</span> Dr. Tanner was not +without his share of fame in this far-away country. During +his fast in America, a similar, though not voluntary, +feat was being performed here. A Kirghiz messenger +who had been despatched into the mountains during the +winter was lost in the snow, and remained for +twenty-<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span><a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>eight days without food. He was found at last, crazed +by hunger. When asked what he would have to eat, he +replied, <span class="tei tei-q">“Everything.”</span> They foolishly gave him <span class="tei tei-q">“everything,”</span> +and in two days he was dead. For a long time +he was called the <span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor Tanner of Turkestan.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill76" id="ill76"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i146.jpg" alt="UPPER VALLEY OF THE CHU RIVER." title="UPPER VALLEY OF THE CHU RIVER." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">UPPER VALLEY OF THE CHU RIVER.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A divergence of seventy-five miles from the regular post-route +was made in order to visit Lake Issik Kul, which is +probably the largest lake for its elevation in the world, +being about ten times larger than Lake Geneva, and at a +height of 5300 feet. Its slightly brackish water, which +never freezes, teems with several varieties of fish, many +of which we helped to unhook from a Russian fisherman’s +line, and then helped to eat in his primitive hut near the +shore. A Russian Cossack, who had just come over the +snow-capped Ala Tau, <span class="tei tei-q">“of the Shade,”</span> from Fort Narin, +was also present, and from the frequent glances cast at +the fisherman’s daughter we soon discovered the object of +his visit. The ascent to this lake, through the famous +Buam Defile, or Happy Pass, afforded some of the grandest +scenery on our route through Asia. Its seething, foaming, +irresistible torrent needs only a large volume to make +it the equal of the rapids at Niagara. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our return to the post-road was made by an unbeaten +track over the Ala Tau mountains. From the Chu valley, +dotted here and there with Kirghiz tent villages and their +grazing flocks and herds, we pushed our wheels up the +broken path, which wound like a mythical stairway far +up into the low-hanging clouds. We trudged up one of +the steepest ascents we have ever made with a wheel. The +scenery was grand, but lonely. The wild tulips, pinks, +and verbenas dotting the green slopes furnished the only +pleasant diversion from our arduous labor. Just as we +turned the highest summit, the clouds shifted for a moment, +and revealed before us two Kirghiz horsemen. They +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span><a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>started back in astonishment, and gazed at us as though +we were demons of the air, until we disappeared again +down the opposite and more gradual slope. Late in the +afternoon we emerged upon the plain, but no post-road or +station-house was in sight, as we expected; nothing but +a few Kirghiz kibitkas among the straggling rocks, like +the tents of the Egyptian Arabs among the fallen stones +of the pyramids. +</p> +<a name="ill77" id="ill77"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i148.jpg" alt="KIRGHIZ ERECTING KIBITKAS BY THE CHU RIVER." title="KIRGHIZ ERECTING KIBITKAS BY THE CHU RIVER." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">KIRGHIZ ERECTING KIBITKAS BY THE CHU RIVER.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Toward these we now directed our course, and, in view +of a rapidly approaching storm, asked to purchase a night’s +lodging. This was only too willingly granted in anticipation +of the coming <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tomasha</span></span>, or exhibition. The milkmaids +as they went out to the rows of sheep and goats tied to +the lines of woolen rope, and the horsemen with reinless +horses to drive in the ranging herds, spread the news from +tent to tent. By the time darkness fell the kibitka was +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span><a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>filled to overflowing. We were given the seat of honor +opposite the doorway, bolstered up with blankets and pillows. +By the light of the fire curling its smoke upward +through the central opening in the roof, it was interesting +to note the faces of our hosts. We had never met a people +of a more peaceful temperament, and, on the other +hand, none more easily frightened. A dread of the evil +eye is one of their characteristics. We had not been settled +long before the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">ishan</span></span>, or itinerant dervish, was called +in to drive away the evil spirits, which the <span class="tei tei-q">“devil’s carts”</span> +might possibly have brought. Immediately on entering, +he began to shrug his shoulders, and to shiver as though +passing into a state of trance. Our dervish acquaintance +was a man of more than average intelligence. He had +traveled in India, and had even heard some one speak of +America. This fact alone was sufficient to warrant him +in posing as instructor for the rest of the assembly. While +we were drinking tea, a habit they have recently adopted +from the Russians, he held forth at great length to his +audience about the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Amerikón</span></span>. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The rain now began to descend in torrents. The felt +covering was drawn over the central opening, and propped +up at one end with a pole to emit the clouds of smoke +from the smoldering fire. This was shifted with the veering +wind. Although a mere circular rib framework covered +with white or brown felt, according as the occupant +is rich or poor, the Kirghiz kibitka, or more properly <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yurt</span></span>, +is not as a house builded upon the sand, even in the fiercest +storm. Its stanchness and comfort are surprising +when we consider the rapidity with which it may be taken +down and transported. In half an hour a whole village +may vanish, emigrating northward in summer, and southward +in winter. Many a Kirghiz cavalcade was overtaken +on the road, with long tent-ribs and felts tied upon the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span><a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>backs of two-humped camels, for the Bactrian dromedary +has not been able to endure the severities of these Northern +climates. The men would always be mounted on the +camels’ or horses’ backs, while the women would be perched +on the oxen and bullocks, trained for the saddle and as +beasts of burden. The men never walk; if there is any +leading to be done it falls to the women. The constant +use of the saddle has made many of the men bandy-legged, +which, in connection with their usual obesity,—with them +a mark of dignity,—gives them a comical appearance. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +After their curiosity regarding us had been partly satisfied, +it was suggested that a sheep should be slaughtered +in our honor. Neither meat nor bread is ever eaten by +any but the rich Kirghiz. Their universal kumiss, corresponding +to the Turkish yaourt, or coagulated milk, and +other forms of lacteal dishes, sometimes mixed with meal, +form the chief diet of the poor. The wife of our host, a +buxom woman, who, as we had seen, could leap upon a +horse’s back as readily as a man, now entered the doorway, +carrying a full-grown sheep by its woolly coat. This +she twirled over on its back, and held down with her knee +while the butcher artist drew a dagger from his belt, and +held it aloft until the assembly stroked their scant beards, +and uttered the solemn bismillah. Tired out by the day’s +ride, we fell asleep before the arrangements for the feast +had been completed. When awakened near midnight, we +found that the savory odor from the huge caldron on the +fire had only increased the attraction and the crowd. The +choicest bits were now selected for the guests. These +consisted of pieces of liver, served with lumps of fat from +the tail of their peculiarly fat-tailed sheep. As an act of +the highest hospitality, our host dipped these into some +liquid grease, and then, reaching over, placed them in our +mouths with his fingers. It required considerable effort +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span><a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>on this occasion to subject our feelings of nausea to a +sense of Kirghiz politeness. In keeping with their characteristic +generosity, every one in the kibitka must partake +in some measure of the feast, although the women, +who had done all the work, must be content with remnants +and bones already picked over by the host. But this disposition +to share everything was not without its other +aspect; we also were expected to share everything with +them. We were asked to bestow any little trinket or nick-nack +exposed to view. Any extra nut on the machine, a +handkerchief, a packet of tea, or a lump of sugar, excited +their cupidity at once. The latter was considered a bonbon +by the women and younger portion of the spectators. +The attractive daughter of our host, <span class="tei tei-q">“Kumiss John,”</span> +amused herself by stealing lumps of sugar from our pockets. +When the feast was ended, the beards were again +stroked, the name of Allah solemnly uttered by way of +thanks for the bounty of heaven, and then each gave +utterance to his appreciation of the meal. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Before retiring for the night, the dervish led the +prayers, just as he had done at sunset. The praying-mats +were spread, and all heads bowed toward Mecca. The +only preparation for retiring was the spreading of blankets +from the pile in one of the kibitkas. The Kirghiz are +not in the habit of removing many garments for this purpose, +and under the circumstances we found this custom +a rather convenient one. Six of us turned in on the floor +together, forming a semicircle, with our feet toward the +fire. <span class="tei tei-q">“Kumiss John,”</span> who was evidently the pet of the +household, had a rudely constructed cot at the far end of +the kibitka. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Vernoye, the old Almati, with its broad streets, low wood +and brick houses, and Russian sign-boards, presented a +Siberian aspect. The ruins of its many disastrous +earth<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span><a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>quakes lying low on every hand told us at once the cause +of its deserted thoroughfares. The terrible shocks of the +year before our visit killed several hundred people, and a +whole mountain in the vicinity sank. The only hope of +its persistent residents is a branch from the Transsiberian +or Transcaspian railroad, or the reannexation by Russia +of the fertile province of Ili, to make it an indispensable +depot. Despite these periodical calamities, Vernoye has +had, and is now constructing, under the genius of the +French architect, Paul L. Gourdet, some of the finest edifices +to be found in central Asia. The orphan asylum, a +magnificent three-story structure, is now being built on +experimental lines, to test its strength against earthquake +shocks. +</p> + <a name="ill78" id="ill78"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i152.jpg" alt="FANTASTIC RIDING AT THE SUMMER ENCAMPMENT OF THE COSSACKS." title="FANTASTIC RIDING AT THE SUMMER ENCAMPMENT OF THE COSSACKS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">FANTASTIC RIDING AT THE SUMMER ENCAMPMENT OF THE COSSACKS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +One of the chief incidents of our pleasant sojourn was +afforded by Governor Ivanoff. We were invited to head +the procession of the Cossacks on their annual departure +for their summer encampment in the mountains. After +the usual religious ceremony, they filed out from the city +parade-ground. Being unavoidably detained for a few +moments, we did not come up until some time after the +column had started. As we dashed by to the front with +the American and Russian flags fluttering side by side +from the handle-bars, cheer after cheer arose from the +ranks, and even the governor and his party doffed their +caps in acknowledgment. At the camp we were favored +with a special exhibition of horsemanship. By a single +twist of the rein the steeds would fall to the ground, and +their riders crouch down behind them as a bulwark in +battle. Then dashing forward at full speed, they would +spring to the ground, and leap back again into the saddle, +or, hanging by their legs, would reach over and pick up +a handkerchief, cap, or a soldier supposed to be wounded. +All these movements we photographed with our camera. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page140">[pg 140]</span><a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Of the endurance of these Cossacks and their Kirghiz +horses we had a practical test. Overtaking a Cossack +courier in the early part of a day’s journey, he became so +interested in the velocipede, as the Russians call the bicycle, +that he determined to see as much of it as possible. +He stayed with us the whole day, over a distance of fifty-five +miles. His chief compensation was in witnessing the +surprise of the natives to whom he would shout across the +fields to come and see the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tomasha</span></span>, adding in explanation +that we were the American gentlemen who had ridden +all the way from America. Our speed was not slow, and +frequently the poor fellow would have to resort to the +whip, or shout, <span class="tei tei-q">“Slowly, gentlemen, my horse is tired; +the town is not far away, it is not necessary to hurry so.”</span> +The fact is that in all our experience we found no horse +of even the famed Kirghiz or Turkoman breed that could +travel with the same ease and rapidity as ourselves even +over the most ordinary road. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At Vernoye we began to glean practical information +about China, but all except our genial host, M. Gourdet, +counseled us against our proposed journey. He alone, as +a traveler of experience, advised a divergence from the +<a name="corr140" id="corr140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">Siberian</span> route at Altin Imell, in order to visit the Chinese +city of Kuldja, where, as he said, with the assistance of +the resident Russian consul we could test the validity of +the Chinese passport received, as before mentioned, from +the Chinese minister at London. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A few days later we were rolling up the valley of the +Ili, having crossed that river by the well-constructed Russian +bridge at Fort Iliysk, the head of navigation for the +boats from Lake Balkash. New faces here met our curious +gaze. As an ethnological transition between the inhabitants +of central Asia and the Chinese, we were now +among two distinctly agricultural races—the Dungans +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span><a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and Taranchis. As the invited guests of these people on +several occasions, we were struck with their extreme cleanliness, +economy, and industry; but their deep-set eyes +seem to express reckless cruelty. +</p> + <a name="ill79" id="ill79"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i155.jpg" alt="STROLLING MUSICIANS." title="STROLLING MUSICIANS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">STROLLING MUSICIANS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Mohammedan mosques of this people are like the +Chinese pagodas in outward appearance, while they seem +to be Chinese in half-Kirghiz garments. Their women, +too, do not veil themselves, although they are much more +shy than their rugged sisters of the steppes. Tenacious +of their word, these people were also scrupulous about +returning favors. Our exhibitions were usually rewarded +by a spread of sweets and yellow Dungan tea. Of this +we would partake beneath the shade of their well-trained +grape-arbors, while listening to the music, or rather discord, +of a peculiar stringed instrument played by the boys. +Its bow of two parts was so interlaced with the strings of +the instrument as to play upon two at every draw. Another +musician usually accompanied by beating little sticks +on a saucer. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +These are the people who were introduced by the Manchus +to replace the Kalmucks in the Kuldja district, and +who in 1869 so terribly avenged upon their masters the +blood they previously caused to flow. The fertile province +of Kuldja, with a population of 2,500,000, was reduced by +their massacres to one vast necropolis. On all sides are +canals that have become swamps, abandoned fields, wasted +forests, and towns and villages in ruins, in some of which +the ground is still strewn with the bleached bones of the +murdered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As we ascended the Ili valley piles of stones marked in +succession the sites of the towns of Turgen, Jarkend, Akkend, +and Khorgos, names which the Russians are already +reviving in their pioneer settlements. The largest of these, +Jarkend, is the coming frontier town, to take the place of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span><a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>evacuated Kuldja. About twenty-two miles east of this +point the large white Russian fort of Khorgos stands +bristling on the bank of the river of that name, which, by +the treaty of 1881, is now the boundary-line of the Celestial +empire. On a ledge of rocks overlooking the ford a +Russian sentinel was walking his beat in the solitude of +a dreary outpost. He stopped to watch us as we plunged +into the flood, with our Russian telega for a ferry-boat. +<span class="tei tei-q">“All’s well,”</span> we heard him cry, as, bumping over the +rocky bottom, we passed from Russia into China. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ah, +yes,”</span> we thought; <span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘All’s well that ends well,’</span> but this is +only the beginning.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill80" id="ill80"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i157.jpg" alt="THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT KULDJA." title="THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT KULDJA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT KULDJA.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A few minutes later we dashed through the arched +driveway of the Chinese custom-house, and were several +yards away before the lounging officials realized what it +was that flitted across their vision. <span class="tei tei-q">“Stop! Come back!”</span> +they shouted in broken Russian. Amid a confusion of +chattering voices, rustling gowns, clattering shoes, swinging +pigtails, and clouds of opium and tobacco smoke, we +were brought into the presence of the head official. Putting +on his huge spectacles, he read aloud the visé written +upon our American passports by the Chinese minister in +London. His wonderment was increased when he further +read that such a journey was being made on the <span class="tei tei-q">“foot-moved +carriages,”</span> which were being curiously fingered by +the attendants. Our garments were minutely scrutinized, +especially the buttons, while our caps and dark-colored +spectacles were taken from our heads, and passed round +for each to try on in turn, amid much laughter. +</p> + <a name="ill81" id="ill81"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i159.jpg" alt="THE CHINESE MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA." title="THE CHINESE MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE CHINESE MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Owing to the predominant influence of Russia in these +northwestern confines, our Russian papers would have been +quite sufficient to cross the border into Kuldja. It was +only beyond this point that our Chinese passport would +be found necessary, and possibly invalid. After the usual +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span><a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>visés had been stamped and written over, we were off on +what proved to be our six months’ experience in the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Middle Kingdom or Central Empire,”</span> as the natives call +it, for to Chinamen there is a fifth point to the compass—the +center, which is China. Not far on the road we heard +the clatter of hoofs behind us. A Kalmuck was dashing +toward us with a portentous look on his features. We +dismounted in apprehension. He stopped short some +twenty feet away, leaped to the ground, and, crawling up +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span><a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>on hands and knees, began to <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">chin-chin</span></span> or knock his head +on the ground before us. This he continued for some +moments, and then without a word gazed at us in wild +astonishment. Our perplexity over this performance was +increased when, at a neighboring village, a bewildered +Chinaman sprang out from the speechless crowd, and +threw himself in the road before us. By a dexterous turn +we missed his head, and passed over his extended queue. +</p> +<a name="ill82" id="ill82"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i160.jpg" alt="TWO CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN THE YARD OF OUR KULDJA INN." title="TWO CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN THE YARD OF OUR KULDJA INN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">TWO CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN THE YARD OF OUR KULDJA INN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Kuldja, with its Russian consul and Cossack station, +still maintains a Russian telegraph and postal service. +The mail is carried from the border in a train of three or +four telegas, which rattle along over the primitive roads +in a cloud of dust, with armed Cossacks galloping before +and after, and a Russian flag carried by the herald in +front. Even in the Kuldja post-office a heavily armed +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span><a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>picket stands guard over the money-chest. This postal +caravan we now overtook encamped by a small stream, +during the glaring heat of the afternoon. We found that +we had been expected several days before, and that quarters +had been prepared for us in the postal station at the +town of Suidun. Here we spent the night, and continued +on to Kuldja the following morning. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Although built by the Chinese, who call it Nin-yuan, +Kuldja, with its houses of beaten earth, strongly resembles +the towns of Russian Turkestan. Since the evacuation +by the Russians the Chinese have built around the city +the usual quadrangular wall, thirty feet in height and +twenty feet in width, with parapets still in the course of +construction. But the rows of poplars, the whitewash, +and the telegas were still left to remind us of the temporary +Russian occupation. For several days we were objects +of excited interest to the mixed population. The doors +and windows of our Russian quarters were besieged by +crowds. In defense of our host, we gave a public exhibition, +and with the consent of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Tootai</span></span> made the circuit +on the top of the city walls. Fully 3000 people lined the +streets and housetops to witness the race to which we had +been challenged by four Dungan horsemen, riding below +on the encircling roadway. The distance around was two +miles. The horsemen started with a rush, and at the end +of the first mile were ahead. At the third turning we +overtook them, and came to the finish two hundred yards +ahead, amid great excitement. Even the commander of +the Kuldja forces was brushed aside by the chasing rabble. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span><a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill83" id="ill83"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i162.jpg" alt="A MORNING PROMENADE ON THE WALLS OF KULDJA." title="A MORNING PROMENADE ON THE WALLS OF KULDJA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A MORNING PROMENADE ON THE WALLS OF KULDJA.</span></div></div> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span><a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc84" id="toc84"></a><a name="pdf85" id="pdf85"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">V</span></h2> + +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.40em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%">OVER THE GOBI DESERT AND THROUGH THE WESTERN GATE OF THE GREAT WALL</span></h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Russian influence, which even now predominates at +Kuldja, was forcibly indicated, the day after our arrival, +during our investigations as to the validity of our +Chinese passports for the journey to Peking. The Russian +consul, whose favor we had secured in advance through +letters from Governor Ivanoff at Vernoye, had pronounced +them not only good, but by far the best that had been +presented by any traveler entering China at this point. +After endeavoring to dissuade us from what he called a +foolhardy undertaking, even with the most valuable papers, +he sent us, with his interpreter, to the Kuldja Tootai for +the proper visé. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +That dignitary, although deeply interested, was almost +amused at the boldness of our enterprise. He said that +no passport would insure success by the method we proposed +to pursue; that, before he could allow us to make +the venture, we must wait for an order from Peking. +This, he said, would subject us to considerable delay and +expense, even if the telegraph and post were utilized +through Siberia and Kiakhta. This was discouraging indeed. +But when we discovered, a few minutes later, that +his highness had to call in the learned secretary to trace +our proposed route for him on the map of China, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span><a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>even to locate the capital, Peking, we began to question +his knowledge of Chinese diplomacy. The matter was +again referred to the consul, who reported back the following +day that his previous assurances were reliable, +that the Tootai would make the necessary visés, and send +away at once, by the regular relay post across the empire, +an open letter that could be read by the officials along the +route, and be delivered long before our arrival at Peking. +Such easy success we had not anticipated. The difficulty, +as well as necessity, of obtaining the proper credentials +for traveling in China was impressed upon us by the arrest +the previous day of three Afghan visitors, and by the fact +that a German traveler had been refused, just a few weeks +before, permission even to cross the Mozart pass into +Kashgar. So much, we thought, for Russian friendship. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Upon this assurance of at least official consent to hazard +the journey to Peking, a telegram was sent to the chief +of police at Tomsk, to whose care we had directed our +letters, photographic material, and bicycle supplies to be +sent from London in the expectation of being forced to +take the Siberian route. These last could not have been +dispensed with much longer, as our cushion-tires, ball-bearings, +and axles were badly worn, while the rim of one +of the rear wheels was broken in eight places for the lack +of spokes. These supplies, however, did not reach us till +six weeks after the date of our telegram, to which a prepaid +reply was received, after a week’s delay, asking in +advance for the extra postage. This, with that prepaid +from London, amounted to just fifty dollars. The warm +weather, after the extreme cold of a Siberian winter, had +caused the tires to stretch so much beyond their intended +size that, on their arrival, they were almost unfit for use. +Some of our photographic material also had been spoiled +through the useless inspection of postal officials. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span><a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill86" id="ill86"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i165.jpg" alt="THE FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA AND HIS FAMILY." title="THE FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA AND HIS FAMILY." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER OF KULDJA AND HIS FAMILY.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span><a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The delay thus caused was well utilized in familiarizing +ourselves as much as possible with the language and characteristics +of the Chinese, for, as we were without guides, +interpreters, or servants, and in some places lacked even +official assistance, no travelers, perhaps, were ever more +dependent upon the people than ourselves. The Chinese +language, the most primitive in the world, is, for this very +reason perhaps, the hardest to learn. Its poverty of words +reduces its grammar almost to a question of syntax and +intonation. Many a time our expressions, by a wrong inflection, +would convey a meaning different from the one +intended. Even when told the difference, our ears could +not detect it. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our work of preparation was principally a process of +elimination. We now had to prepare for a forced march +in case of necessity. Handle-bars and seat-posts were +shortened to save weight, and even the leather baggage-carriers, +fitting in the frames of the machines, which we +ourselves had patented before leaving England, were replaced +by a couple of sleeping-bags made for us out of +woolen shawls and Chinese oiled-canvas. The cutting off +of buttons and extra parts of our clothing, as well as the +shaving of our heads and faces, was also included by our +friends in the list of curtailments. For the same reason +one of our cameras, which we always carried on our backs, +and refilled at night under the bedclothes, we sold to a +Chinese photographer at Suidun, to make room for an +extra provision-bag. The surplus film, with our extra +baggage, was shipped by post, via Siberia and Kiakhta, +to meet us on our arrival in Peking. +</p> + <a name="ill87" id="ill87"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i167.jpg" alt="VIEW OF A STREET IN KULDJA FROM THE WESTERN GATE." title="VIEW OF A STREET IN KULDJA FROM THE WESTERN GATE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">VIEW OF A STREET IN KULDJA FROM THE WESTERN GATE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And now the money problem was the most perplexing +of all. <span class="tei tei-q">“This alone,”</span> said the Russian consul, <span class="tei tei-q">“if nothing +else, will defeat your plans.”</span> Those Western bankers who +advertise to furnish <span class="tei tei-q">“letters of credit to any part of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span><a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>world”</span> are, to say the least, rather sweeping in their assertions. +At any rate, our own London letter was of no +use beyond the Bosporus, except with the Persian imperial +banks run by an English syndicate. At the American +Bible House at Constantinople we were allowed, as a personal +favor, to buy drafts on the various missionaries along +the route through Asiatic Turkey. But in central Asia +we found that the Russian bankers and merchants would +not handle English paper, and we were therefore compelled +to send our letter of credit by mail to Moscow. Thither +we had recently sent it on leaving Tashkend, with instructions +to remit in currency to Irkutsk, Siberia. We now +had to telegraph to that point to re-forward over the +Kiakhta post-route to Peking. With the cash on hand, +and the proceeds of the camera, sold for more than half +its weight in silver, four and one third pounds, we thought +we had sufficient money to carry us, or, rather, as much +as we could carry, to that point; for the weight of the +Chinese money necessary for a journey of over three thousand +miles was, as the Russian consul thought, one of the +greatest of our almost insurmountable obstacles. In the +interior of China there is no coin except the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">chen</span></span>, or <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sapeks</span></span>, +an alloy of copper and tin, in the form of a disk, having +a hole in the center by which the coins may be strung together. +The very recently coined <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">liang</span></span>, or <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tael</span></span>, the Mexican +piaster specially minted for the Chinese market, and +the other foreign coins, have not yet penetrated from the +coast. For six hundred miles over the border, however, +we found both the Russian money and language serviceable +among the Tatar merchants, while the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tenga</span></span>, or Kashgar +silver-piece, was preferred by the natives even beyond +the Gobi, being much handier than the larger or smaller +bits of silver broken from the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yamba</span></span> bricks. All, however, +would have to be weighed in the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tinza</span></span>, or small + Chi<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span><a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>nese scales we carried with us, and on which were marked +the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">fün</span></span>, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tchan</span></span>, and <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">liang</span></span> of the monetary scale. But the +value of these terms is reckoned in <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">chen</span></span>, and changes with +almost every district. This necessity for vigilance, together +with the frequency of bad silver and loaded <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yambas</span></span>, and +the propensity of the Chinese to <span class="tei tei-q">“knock down”</span> on even +the smallest purchase, tends to convert a traveler in China +into a veritable Shylock. There being no banks or exchanges +in the interior, we were obliged to purchase at +Kuldja all the silver we would need for the entire journey +of over three thousand miles. <span class="tei tei-q">“How much would it +take?”</span> was the question that our past experience in Asiatic +travel now aided us to answer. That our calculations +were close is proved by the fact that we reached Peking +with silver in our pockets to the value of half a dollar. +Our money now constituted the principal part of our luggage, +which, with camera and film, weighed just twenty-five +pounds apiece. Most of the silver was chopped up +into small bits, and placed in the hollow tubing of the +machines to conceal it from Chinese inquisitiveness, if not +something worse. We are glad to say, however, that no +attempt at robbery was ever discovered, although efforts +at extortion were frequent, and sometimes, as will appear, +of a serious nature. +</p> + <a name="ill88" id="ill88"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i169.jpg" alt="OUR RUSSIAN FRIEND AND MR. SACHTLEBEN LOADED WITH ENOUGH CHINESE 'CASH' TO PAY FOR A MEAL AT A KULDJA RESTAURANT." title="OUR RUSSIAN FRIEND AND MR. SACHTLEBEN LOADED WITH ENOUGH CHINESE “CASH” TO PAY FOR A MEAL AT A KULDJA RESTAURANT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">OUR + RUSSIAN FRIEND AND MR. SACHTLEBEN LOADED WITH ENOUGH CHINESE </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">CASH</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> TO PAY FOR A MEAL AT A KULDJA + RESTAURANT.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The blowing of the long horns and boom of the mortar +cannon at the fort awoke us at daylight on the morning +of July 13. Farewells had been said the night before. +Only our good-hearted Russian host was up to put an extra +morsel in our provision-bag, for, as he said, we could +get no food until we reached the Kirghiz aouls on the +high plateau of the Talki pass, by which we were to cut +across over unbeaten paths to the regular so-called imperial +highway, running from Suidun. From the Catholic +missionaries at Kuldja we had obtained very accurate +in<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span><a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>formation about this route as far as the Gobi desert. The +expression Tian Shan Pe-lu, or northern Tian Shan route, +in opposition to the Tian Shan Nan-lu, or southern Tian +Shan route, shows that the Chinese had fully appreciated +the importance of this historic highway, which continues +the road running from the extreme western gate of the +Great Wall obliquely across Mongolian Kan-su, through +Hami and Barkul, to Urumtsi. From here the two natural +highways lead, one to the head-waters of the Black +Irtish, the other to the passes leading into the Ili valley, +and other routes of the Arolo-Caspian depression. The +latter route, which is now commanded at intervals by Chinese +forts and military settlements, was recently relinquished +by Russia only when she had obtained a more +permanent footing on the former in the trading-posts of +Chuguchak and Kobdo, for she very early recognized the +importance of this most natural entry to the only feasible +route across the Chinese empire. In a glowing sunset, at +the end of a hot day’s climb, we looked for the last time +over the Ili valley, and at dusk, an hour later, rolled into +one of the Kirghiz aouls that are here scattered among +the rich pasturage of the plateau. +</p> + <a name="ill89" id="ill89"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i172.jpg" alt="A STREET IN THE TARANTCHI QUARTER OF KULDJA." title="A STREET IN THE TARANTCHI QUARTER OF KULDJA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A STREET IN THE TARANTCHI QUARTER OF KULDJA.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Even here we found that our reputation had extended +from Kuldja. The chief advanced with <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">amans</span></span> of welcome, +and the heavy-matted curtains in the kibitka doorway +were raised, as we passed, in token of honor. When the +refreshing kumiss was served around the evening camp-fire, +the dangers of the journey through China were discussed +among our hosts with frequent looks of misgiving. +Thus, from first to last, every judgment was against us, +and every prediction was of failure, if not of something +worse; and now, as we stole out from the tent by the light +of the rising moon, even the specter-like mountain-peaks +around us, like symbols of coming events, were casting +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span><a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>their shadows before. There was something so illusive in +the scene as to make it very impressive. In the morning, +early, a score of horsemen were ready to escort us on the +road. At parting they all dismounted and uttered a prayer +to Allah for our safety; and then as we rode away, drew +their fingers across their throats in silence, and waved a +solemn good-by. Such was the almost superstitious fear +of these western nomads for the land which once sent +forth a Yengiz Khan along this very highway. +</p> +<a name="ill90" id="ill90"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i174.jpg" alt="PRACTISING OUR CHINESE ON A KULDJA CULPRIT." title="PRACTISING OUR CHINESE ON A KULDJA CULPRIT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">PRACTISING OUR CHINESE ON A KULDJA CULPRIT.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Down the narrow valley of the Kuitun, which flows into +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span><a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the Ebi-nor, startling the mountain deer from the brink +of the tree-arched rivulet, we reached a spot which once +was the haunt of a band of those border-robbers about +whom we had heard so much from our apprehensive +friends. At the base of a volcano-shaped mountain lay +the ruins of their former dens, from which only a year +ago they were wont to sally forth on the passing caravans. +When they were exterminated by the government, the +head of their chief, with its dangling queue, was mounted +on a pole near-by, and preserved in a cage from birds of +prey, as a warning to all others who might aspire to the +same notoriety. In this lonely spot we were forced to +spend the night, as here occurred, through the carelessness +of the Kuldja Russian blacksmith, a very serious break in +one of our gear wheels. It was too late in the day to +walk back the sixteen miles to the Kirghiz encampment, +and there obtain horses for the remaining fifty-eight miles +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span><a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to Kuldja, for nowhere else, we concluded, could such a +break be mended. Our sleeping-bags were now put to a +severe test between the damp ground and the heavy mountain +dew. The penetrating cold, and the occasional panther-like +cry of some prowling animal, kept us awake the +greater part of the night, awaiting with revolvers in hand +some expected attack. +</p> + <a name="ill91" id="ill91"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i175.jpg" alt="THE HEAD OF A BRIGAND EXPOSED ON THE HIGHWAY." title="THE HEAD OF A BRIGAND EXPOSED ON THE HIGHWAY." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE HEAD OF A BRIGAND EXPOSED ON THE HIGHWAY.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Five days later we had repassed this spot and were toiling +over the sand and saline-covered depression of the +great <span class="tei tei-q">“Han-Hai,”</span> or Dried-up Sea. The mountain freshets, +dissolving the salt from their sandy channels, carry it +down in solution and deposit it with evaporation in massive +layers, forming a comparatively hard roadway in the +midst of the shifting sand-dunes. Over these latter our +progress was extremely slow. One stretch of fifteen miles, +which it took us six hours to cover, was as formidable as +any part of the Turkoman desert along the Transcaspian +railway. At an altitude of only six hundred feet above +the sea, according to our aneroid barometer, and beneath +the rays of a July sun against which even our felt caps +were not much protection, we were half-dragging, half-pushing, +our wheels through a foot of sand, and slapping +at the mosquitos swarming upon our necks and faces. +These pests, which throughout this low country are the +largest and most numerous we have ever met, are bred in +the intermediate swamps, which exist only through the +negligence of the neighboring villagers. At night smoldering +fires, which half suffocate the human inmates, are +built before the doors and windows to keep out the intruding +insects. All travelers wear gloves, and a huge hood +covering the head and face up to the eyes, and in their +hands carry a horse-tail switch to lash back and forth +over their shoulders. Being without such protection we +suffered both day and night. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span><a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill92" id="ill92"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i177.jpg" alt="A CHINESE GRAVEYARD ON THE EASTERN OUTSKIRTS OF KULDJA." title="A CHINESE GRAVEYARD ON THE EASTERN OUTSKIRTS OF KULDJA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CHINESE GRAVEYARD ON THE EASTERN OUTSKIRTS OF KULDJA.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span><a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The mountain freshets all along the road to Urumtsi +were more frequent and dangerous than any we had yet +encountered. Toward evening the melting snows, and +the condensing currents from the plain heated during the +day, fill and overflow the channels that in the morning +are almost dry. One stream, with its ten branches, swept +the stones and boulders over a shifting channel one mile +in width. It was when wading through such streams as +this, where every effort was required to balance ourselves +and our luggage, that the mosquitos would make up for +lost time with impunity. The river, before reaching Manas, +was so swift and deep as to necessitate the use of regular +government carts. A team of three horses, on making +a misstep, were shifted away from the ford into deep +water and carried far down the stream. A caravan of +Chinese traveling-vans, loaded with goods from India, were +crossing at the time, on their way to the outlying provinces +and the Russian border. General Bauman at Vernoye +had informed us that in this way English goods were +swung clear around the circle and brought into Russia +through the unguarded back door. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With constant wading and tramping, our Russian shoes +and stockings, one of which was almost torn off by the +sly grab of a Chinese spaniel, were no longer fit for use. +In their place we were now obliged to purchase the short, +white cloth Chinese socks and string sandals, which for +mere cycling purposes and wading streams proved an excellent +substitute, being light and soft on the feet and +very quickly dried. The calves of our legs, however, being +left bare, we were obliged, for state occasions at least, to +retain and utilize the upper portion of our old stockings. +It was owing to this scantiness of wardrobe that we were +obliged when taking a bath by the roadside streams to +make a quick wash of our linen, and put it on wet to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span><a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>dry, or allow it to flutter from the handle-bars as we rode +along. It was astonishing even to ourselves how little a +man required when once beyond the pale of Western conventionalities. +</p> + <a name="ill93" id="ill93"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i179.jpg" alt="SPLITTING POPPY-HEADS TO START THE OPIUM JUICE." title="SPLITTING POPPY-HEADS TO START THE OPIUM JUICE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">SPLITTING POPPY-HEADS TO START THE OPIUM JUICE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From Manas to Urumtsi we began to strike more tillage +and fertility. Maize, wheat, and rice were growing, +but rather low and thin. The last is by no means the +staple food of China, as is commonly supposed, except in +the southern portion. In the northern, and especially the +outlying, provinces it is considered more a luxury for the +wealthy. Millet and coarse flour, from which the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">mien</span></span> or +dough-strings are made, is the foundation, at least, for +more than half the subsistence of the common classes. +Nor is there much truth, we think, in the assertion that +Chinamen eat rats, although we sometimes regretted that +they did not. After a month or more without meat a dish +of rats would have been relished, had we been able to get +it. On the other hand we have learned that there is a +society of Chinamen who are vegetarians from choice, and +still another that will eat the meat of no animal, such as +the ass, horse, dog, etc., which can serve man in a better +way. +</p> + <a name="ill94" id="ill94"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i181.jpg" alt="THE CHIEF OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE GIVES A LESSON IN OPIUM SMOKING." title="THE CHIEF OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE GIVES A LESSON IN OPIUM SMOKING." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">THE CHIEF OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE GIVES A LESSON IN OPIUM SMOKING.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Urumtsi, or Hun-miao (red temple) of the Chinese, still +retains its ancient prestige in being the seat of government +for the viceroyalty of Sin-tsiang, which includes all +that portion of western China lying without the limit of +Mongolia and Tibet. Thanks to its happy position, it has +always rapidly recovered after every fresh disaster. It +now does considerable trade with Russia through the town +of Chuguchak, and with China through the great gap which +here occurs in the Tian Shan range. It lies in a picturesque +amphitheater behind the solitary <span class="tei tei-q">“Holy Mount,”</span> +which towers above a well-constructed bridge across its +swiftly flowing river. This city was one of our principal +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span><a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>landmarks across the empire; a long stage of the journey +was here completed. +</p> +<a name="ill95" id="ill95"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i182.jpg" alt="RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR OF MANAS." title="RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR OF MANAS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">RIDING BEFORE THE GOVERNOR OF MANAS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On entering a Chinese city we always made it a rule to +run rapidly through until we came to an inn, and then lock +up our wheels before the crowd could collect. Urumtsi, +however, was too large and intricate for such a manœuver. +We were obliged to dismount in the principal thoroughfare. +The excited throng pressed in upon us. Among +them was a Chinaman who could talk a little Russian, and +who undertook to direct us to a comfortable inn at the +far end of the city. This street parade gathered to the +inn yard an overwhelming mob, and announced to the +whole community that <span class="tei tei-q">“the foreign horses”</span> had come. +It had been posted, we were told, a month before, that +<span class="tei tei-q">“two people of the new world”</span> were coming through on +<span class="tei tei-q">“strange iron horses,”</span> and every one was requested not +to molest them. By this, public curiosity was raised to +the highest pitch. When we returned from supper at a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span><a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>neighboring restaurant, we were treated to a novel scene. +The doors and windows of our apartments had been +blocked with boxes, bales of cotton, and huge cart-wheels +to keep out the irrepressible throng. Our host was agitated +to tears; he came out wringing his hands, and urging +upon us that any attempt on our part to enter would +cause a rush that would break his house down. We listened +to his entreaties on the condition that we should be +allowed to mount to the roof with a ladder, to get away +from the annoying curiosity of the crowd. There we sat +through the evening twilight, while the crowd below, somewhat +balked, but not discouraged, stood taking in every +move. Nightfall and a drizzling rain came at last to our +relief. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The next morning a squad of soldiers was despatched +to raise the siege, and at the same time presents began to +arrive from the various officials, from the Tsongtu, or viceroy, +down to the superintendent of the local prisons. The +matter of how much to accept of a Chinese present, and +how much to pay for it, in the way of a tip to the bearer, +is one of the finest points of that finest of fine arts, Chinese +etiquette; and yet in the midst of such an abundance +and variety we were hopelessly at sea. Fruits and teas +were brought, together with meats and chickens, and even +a live sheep. Our Chinese visiting-cards—with the Chinese +the great insignia of rank—were now returned for +those sent with the presents, and the hour appointed for +the exhibition of our bicycles as requested. +</p> + <a name="ill96" id="ill96"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i184.jpg" alt="MONUMENT TO A PRIEST AT URUMTSI." title="MONUMENT TO A PRIEST AT URUMTSI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MONUMENT TO A PRIEST AT URUMTSI.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Long before the time, the streets and housetops leading +from the inn to the viceroy’s palace at the far end of the +city began to fill with people, and soldiers were detailed +at our request to make an opening for us to ride through +abreast. This, however, did not prevent the crowd from +pushing us against each other, or sticking sticks in the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span><a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>wheels, or throwing their hats and shoes in front of us, as +we rode by. When in sight of the viceroy’s palace, they +closed in on us entirely. It was the worst jam we had +ever been in. By no possibility could we mount our machines, +although the mob was growing more and more +impatient. They kept shouting for us to ride, but would +give us no room. Those on the outside pushed the inner +ones against us. With the greatest difficulty could we +preserve our equilibrium, and prevent the wheels from +being crushed, as we surged along toward the palace gate; +while all the time our Russian interpreter, Mafoo, on horseback +in front, continued to shout and gesticulate in the +wildest manner above their heads. Twenty soldiers had +been stationed at the palace gate to keep back the mob +with cudgels. When we reached them, they pulled us +and our wheels quickly through into the inclosure, and +then tried to stem the tide by belaboring the heads and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span><a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>shoulders in reach, including those of our unfortunate +interpreter, Mafoo. But it was no use. Everything was +swept away before this surging wave of humanity. The +viceroy himself, who now came out to receive us, was +powerless. All he could do was to request them to make +room around the palace courtyard for the coming exhibition. +Thousands of thumbs were uplifted that afternoon, +in praise of the wonderful <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">twee-tah-cheh</span></span>, or two-wheeled +carts, as they witnessed our modest attempt at trick riding +and special manœuvering. After refreshments in the +palace, to which we were invited by the viceroy, we were +counseled to leave by a rear door, and return by a roundabout +way to the inn, leaving the mob to wait till dark +for our exit from the front. +</p> +<a name="ill97" id="ill97"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i185.jpg" alt="A BANK IN URUMTSI." title="A BANK IN URUMTSI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A BANK IN URUMTSI.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The restaurant or tea-house in China takes the place of +the Western club-room. All the current news and gossip +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span><a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>is here circulated and discussed over their eating or gambling. +One of their games of chance, which we have frequently +noticed, seems to consist in throwing their fingers +at one another, and shouting at the top of their voices. +It is really a matching of numbers, for which the Chinamen +make signs on their fingers, up to the numeral ten. +Our entry into a crowded <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">dungan</span></span>, or native Mohammedan +restaurant, the next morning, was the signal for exciting +accounts of the events of the previous day. We were +immediately invited to take tea with this one, a morning +dish of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tung-posas</span></span>, or nut and sugar dumplings, with another, +while a third came over with his can of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sojeu</span></span>, or +Chinese gin, with an invitation <span class="tei tei-q">“to join him.”</span> The Chinese +of all nations seem to live in order to eat, and from +this race of epicures has developed a nation of excellent +cooks. Our fare in China, outside the Gobi district, was +far better than in Turkey or Persia, and, for this reason, +we were better able to endure the increased hardships. +A plate of sliced meat stewed with vegetables, and served +with a piquant sauce, sliced radishes and onions with +vinegar, two loaves of Chinese <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">mo-mo</span></span>, or steamed bread, +and a pot of tea, would usually cost us about three and +one quarter cents apiece. Everything in China is sliced +so that it can be eaten with the chop-sticks. These we at +length learned to manipulate with sufficient dexterity to +pick up a dove’s egg—the highest attainment in the chop-stick +art. The Chinese have rather a sour than a sweet +tooth. Sugar is rarely used in anything, and never in +tea. The steeped tea-flowers, which the higher classes +use, are really more tasty without it. In many of the +smaller towns, our visits to the restaurant would sometimes +result in considerable damage to its keepers, for +the crowd would swarm in after us, knocking over the +table, stools, and crockery as they went, and collect in a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span><a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>circle around us to watch the <span class="tei tei-q">“foreigners”</span> eat, and to +add their opium and tobacco smoke to the suffocating +atmosphere. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A visit to the local mint in Urumtsi revealed to us the +primitive method of making the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">chen</span></span>, or money-disks +before mentioned. Each is molded instead of cut and +stamped as in the West. By its superintendent we were +invited to a special breakfast on the morning of our +departure. +</p> +<a name="ill98" id="ill98"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i187.jpg" alt="A MAID OF WESTERN CHINA." title="A MAID OF WESTERN CHINA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A MAID OF WESTERN CHINA.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Chinese are the only people in the Orient, and, so +far as we know, in the European and Asiatic continents, +who resemble the Americans in their love for a good, substantial +morning meal. This was much better adapted +to our purpose than the Russian custom, which compelled +us to do the greater part of our day’s work on merely +bread and weak tea. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page174">[pg 174]</span><a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="ill99" id="ill99"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i188.jpg" alt="STYLISH CART OF A CHINESE MANDARIN." title="STYLISH CART OF A CHINESE MANDARIN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">STYLISH CART OF A CHINESE MANDARIN.</span></div></div> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span><a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From Urumtsi we had decided to take the northern +route to Hami, via Gutchen and Barkul, in order to avoid +as much as possible the sands of the Tarim basin on the +southern slope of the Tian Shan mountains. Two guards +were commissioned by the viceroy to take us in charge, +and hand us over to the next relay station. Papers were +given them to be signed by the succeeding authorities on +our safe arrival. This plan had been adopted by every +chief mandarin along the route, in order, not only to follow +out the request of the London minister as written +on the passport, but principally to do us honor in return +for the favor of a bicycle exhibition; but many times +we would leave our discomfited guards to return with unsigned +papers. Had we been traveling in the ordinary +way, not only these favors might not have been shown us, +but our project entirely defeated by local obstructions, as +was the case with many who attempted the same journey +by caravan. To the good-will of the mandarins, as well +as the people, an indispensable concomitant of a journey +through China, our bicycles were after all our best passports. +They everywhere overcame the antipathy for the +foreigner, and made us cordially welcome. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The costumes of our soldiers were strikingly picturesque. +Over the front and back of the scarlet waistcoats +were worked in black silk letters their military credentials. +Over their full baggy trousers were drawn their riding +overalls, which cover only the front and sides of the legs, +the back being cut out just above the cloth top of their +Chinese boots. Instead of a cap, they wear a piece of +printed cloth wrapped tightly around the head, like the +American washerwomen. Their well-cushioned saddles +did not save them from the constant jolting to which our +high speed subjected them. At every stopping-place they +would hold forth at length to the curious crowd about +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span><a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>their roadside experiences. It was amusing to hear their +graphic descriptions of the mysterious <span class="tei tei-q">“ding,”</span> by which +they referred to the ring of the cyclometer at every mile. +But the phrase <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">quai-ti-henn</span></span> (very fast), which concluded +almost every sentence, showed what feature impressed +them most. Then, too, they disliked very much to travel +in the heat of the day, for all summer traveling in China +is done at night. They would wake us up many hours +before daylight to make a start, despite our previous request +to be left alone. Our week’s run to Barkul was +made, with a good natural road and favoring conditions, +at the rate of fifty-three miles per day, eight miles more +than our general average across the empire. From Kuldja +to the Great Wall, where our cyclometer broke, we took +accurate measurements of the distances. In this way, we +soon discovered that the length of a Chinese <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">li</span></span> was even +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span><a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>more changeable than the value of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tael</span></span>. According to +time and place, from 185 to 250 were variously reckoned +to a degree, while even a difference in direction would +very often make a considerable difference in the distance. +It is needless to say that, at this rate, the guards did not +stay with us. Official courtesy was now confined to despatches +sent in advance. Through this exceptionally wild +district were encountered several herds of antelope and +wild asses, which the natives were hunting with their +long, heavy, fork-resting rifles. Through the exceptional +tameness of the jack-rabbits along the road, we were sometimes +enabled to procure with a revolver the luxury of a +meat supper. +</p> + <a name="ill100" id="ill100"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i190.jpg" alt="A CHINESE PEDDLER FROM BARKUL." title="A CHINESE PEDDLER FROM BARKUL." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CHINESE PEDDLER FROM BARKUL.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At Barkul (Tatar) the first evidence of English influence +began to appear in the place of the fading Russian, +although the traces of Russian manufacture were by no +means wanting far beyond the Great Wall. English pulverized +sugar now began to take the place of Russian +lump. India rubber, instead of the Russianized French +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">elastique</span></span>, was the native name for our rubber tires. English +letters, too, could be recognized on the second-hand +paper and bagging appropriated to the natives’ use, and +even the gilded buttons worn by the soldiers bore the +stamp of <span class="tei tei-q">“treble gilt.”</span> From here the road to Hami +turns abruptly south, and by a pass of over nine thousand +feet crosses the declining spurs of the Tian Shan mountains, +which stand like a barrier between the two great +historic highways, deflecting the westward waves of migration, +some to Kashgaria and others to Zungaria. On the +southern slope of the pass we met with many large caravans +of donkeys, dragging down pine-logs to serve as +poles in the proposed extension of the telegraph-line from +Su-Chou to Urumtsi. In June of this year the following +item appeared in the newspapers: +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span><a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Within a few months Peking will be united by wire +with St. Petersburg; and, in consequence, with the telegraph +system of the entire civilized world. According +to the latest issue of the Turkestan <span class="tei tei-q">‘Gazette,’</span> the telegraph-line +from Peking has been brought as far west as +the city of Kashgar. The European end of the line is at +Osh, and a small stretch of about 140 miles now alone +breaks the direct telegraph communication from the Atlantic +to the Pacific.”</span> +</p> +<a name="ill101" id="ill101"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i192.jpg" alt="CHINESE GRAVES ON THE ROAD TO HAMI." title="CHINESE GRAVES ON THE ROAD TO HAMI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">CHINESE GRAVES ON THE ROAD TO HAMI.</span></div></div> + +<div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + <a name="ill102" id="ill102"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i193.jpg" alt="SCENE IN A TOWN OF WESTERN CHINA." title="SCENE IN A TOWN OF WESTERN CHINA." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">SCENE IN A TOWN OF WESTERN CHINA.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Hami is one of those cities which may be regarded as +indispensable. At the edge of the Great Gobi and the +converging point of the Nan-lu and Pe-lu—that is, the +southern and northern routes to the western world—this +oasis is a necessary resting-place. During our stop of +two days, to make necessary repairs and recuperate our +strength for the hardships of the desert, the usual calls +were exchanged with the leading officials. In the matter +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span><a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of social politeness the Chinese, especially the <span class="tei tei-q">“literati,”</span> +have reason to look down upon the barbarians of the +West. Politeness has been likened generally to an air-cushion. +There is nothing in it, but it eases the jolts +wonderfully. As a mere ritual of technicalities it has perhaps +reached its highest point in China. The multitude +of honorific titles, so bewildering and even maddening to +the Occidental, are here used simply to keep in view the +fixed relations of graduated superiority. When wishing +to be exceptionally courteous to <span class="tei tei-q">“the foreigners,”</span> the more +experienced mandarins would lay their doubled fists in the +palms of our hands, instead of raising them in front of +their foreheads, with the usual salutation <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Homa</span></span>. In shaking +hands with a Chinaman we thus very often had our +hands full. After the exchange of visiting-cards, as an +indication that their visits would be welcome, they would +come on foot, in carts, or palanquins, according to their +rank, and always attended by a larger or smaller retinue. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span><a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Our return visits would always be made by request, on +the wheels, either alone or with our interpreter, if we could +find one, for our Chinese was as yet painfully defective. +Russian had served us in good stead, though not always +directly. In a conversation with the Tootai of Schicho, +for instance, our Russian had to be translated into Turki +and thence interpreted in Chinese. The more intelligent +of these conversations were about our own and other +countries of the world, especially England and Russia, +who, it was rumored, had gone to war on the Afghanistan +border. But the most of them generally consisted of a +series of trivial interrogations beginning usually with: +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span><a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“How old are you?”</span> Owing to our beards, which were +now full grown, and which had gained for us the frequent +title of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yeh renn</span></span>, or wild men, the guesses were far above +the mark. One was even as high as sixty years, for the +reason, as was stated, that no Chinaman could raise such +a beard before that age. We were frequently surprised +at their persistence in calling us brothers when there was +no apparent reason for it, and were finally told that we +must be <span class="tei tei-q">“because we were both named <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Mister</span></span> on our passports.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill103" id="ill103"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i194.jpg" alt="A LESSON IN CHINESE." title="A LESSON IN CHINESE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A LESSON IN CHINESE.</span></div></div> + + <a name="ill104" id="ill104"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i196.jpg" alt="A TRAIL IN THE GOBI DESERT." title="A TRAIL IN THE GOBI DESERT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A TRAIL IN THE GOBI DESERT.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was already dusk on the evening of August 10 when +we drew up to the hamlet of Shang-loo-shwee at the end +of the Hami oasis. The Great Gobi, in its awful loneliness, +stretched out before us, like a vast ocean of endless +space. The growing darkness threw its mantle on the +scene, and left imagination to picture for us the nightmare +of our boyhood days. We seemed, as it were, to be +standing at the end of the world, looking out into the +realm of nowhere. Foreboding thoughts disturbed our +repose, as we contemplated the four hundred miles of this +barren stretch to the Great Wall of China. With an early +morning start, however, we struck out at once over the +eighty-five miles of the Takla Makan sands. This was the +worst we could have, for beyond the caravan station of +Kooshee we would strike the projecting limits of Mongolian +Kan-su. This narrow tract, now lying to our left +between Hami and the Nan Shan mountains, is characterized +by considerable diversity in its surface, soil, and +climate. Traversed by several copious streams from the +Nan Shan mountains, and the moisture-laden currents +from the Bay of Bengal and the Brahmaputra valley, its +<span class="tei tei-q">“desert”</span> stretches are not the dismal solitudes of the Tarim +basin or the <span class="tei tei-q">“Black”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“Red”</span> sands of central +Asia. Water is found almost everywhere near the +sur<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span><a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>face, and springs bubble up in the hollows, often encircled +by exterior oases. Everywhere the ground is traversable +by horses and carts. This comparatively fertile tract, +cutting the Gobi into two great sections, has been, ever +since its conquest two thousand years ago, of vast importance +to China, being the only feasible avenue of communication +with the western provinces, and the more important +link in the only great highway across the empire. +A regular line of caravan stations is maintained by the +constant traffic both in winter and summer. But we were +now on a bit of the genuine Gobi—that is, <span class="tei tei-q">“Sandy Desert”</span>—of +the Mongolian, or <span class="tei tei-q">“Shamo”</span> of the Chinese. +Everywhere was the same interminable picture of vast +undulating plains of shifting reddish sands, interspersed +with quartz pebbles, agates, and carnelians, and relieved +here and there by patches of wiry shrubs, used as fuel at +the desert stations, or lines of hillocks succeeding each +other like waves on the surface of the shoreless deep. The +wind, even more than the natural barrenness of the soil, +prevents the growth of any vegetation except low, pliant +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span><a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>herbage. Withered plants are uprooted and scattered by +the gale like patches of foam on the stormy sea. These +terrible winds, which of course were against us, with the +frequently heavy cart-tracks, would make it quite impossible +to ride. The monotony of many weary hours of +plodding was relieved only by the bones of some abandoned +beast of burden, or the occasional train of Chinese +carts, or rather two-wheeled vans, loaded with merchandise, +and drawn by five to six horses or mules. For miles +away they would see us coming, and crane their necks in +wondering gaze as we approached. The mulish leaders, +with distended ears, would view our strange-looking vehicles +with suspicion, and then lurch far out in their twenty-foot +traces, pulling the heavily loaded vehicles from the +deep-rutted track. But the drivers were too busy with +their eyes to notice any little divergence of this kind. +Dumb with astonishment they continued to watch us till +we disappeared again toward the opposite horizon. Farther +on we would meet a party of Chinese emigrants or +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span><a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>exiles, on their way to the fertile regions that skirt the +northern and southern slopes of the Tian Shan mountains. +By these people even the distant valley of the Ili is being +largely populated. Being on foot, with their extraordinary +loads balanced on flexible shoulder-poles, these poor +fellows could make only one station, or from twelve to +twenty miles a day. In the presence of their patience and +endurance, we were ashamed to think of such a thing as +hardship. +</p> + <a name="ill105" id="ill105"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i197.png" alt="IN THE GOBI DESERT." title="IN THE GOBI DESERT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">IN THE GOBI DESERT.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The station-houses on the desert were nothing more +than a collection of mud huts near a surface well of +strongly brackish water. Here, most of the caravans +would put up during the day, and travel at night. There +was no such thing as a restaurant; each one by turn must +do his own cooking in the inn kitchen, open to all. We, +of course, were expected to carry our own provisions and +do our own culinary work like any other respectable travelers. +This we had frequently done before where restaurants +were not to be found. Many a time we would enter +an inn with our arms filled with provisions, purchased at +the neighboring bazaars, take possession of the oven and +cooking utensils, and proceed to get up an American meal, +while all the time a hundred eyes or more would be staring +at us in blank amazement. But here on the desert +we could buy nothing but very coarse flour. When asked +if they had an egg or a piece of vegetable, they would +shout <span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Ma-you</span></span>”</span> (<span class="tei tei-q">“There is none”</span>) in a tone of rebuke, as +much as to say: <span class="tei tei-q">“My conscience! man, what do you expect +on the Gobi?”</span> We would have to be content with +our own tea made in the iron pot, fitting in the top of the +mud oven, and a kind of sweetened bread made up with +our supply of sugar brought from Hami. This we nicknamed +our <span class="tei tei-q">“Gobi cake,”</span> although it did taste rather +strongly of brackish water and the garlic of previous +con<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span><a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tents of the one common cooking-pot. We would usually +take a large supply for road use on the following day, or, +as sometimes proved, for the midnight meal of the half-starved +inn-dog. The interim between the evening meal +and bedtime was always employed in writing notes by the +feeble, flickering light of a primitive taper-lamp, which +was the best we had throughout the Chinese journey. +</p> +<a name="ill106" id="ill106"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i199.jpg" alt="STATION OF SEB-BOO-TCHAN." title="STATION OF SEB-BOO-TCHAN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">STATION OF SEB-BOO-TCHAN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A description of traveling in China would by no means +be complete without some mention of the vermin which +infest, not only inns and houses, but the persons of nearly +all the lower classes. Lice and fleas seem to be the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sine +qua non</span></span> of Chinese life, and in fact the itching with some +seems to furnish the only occasion for exercise. We have +seen even shopkeepers before their doors on a sunny afternoon, +amusing themselves by picking these insidious +crea<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span><a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tures from their inner garments. They are one of the +necessary evils it seems, and no secret is made of it. The +sleeping <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kangs</span></span> of the Chinese inns, which are made of +beaten earth and heated in winter like an oven, harbor +these pests the year round, not to mention the filthy coverlets +and greasy pillows that were sometimes offered us. +Had we not had our own sleeping-bags, and used the +camera, provision-bag, and coats for pillows, our life would +have been intolerable. As it was there was but little rest +for the weary. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The longest station on the desert was thirty-one miles. +This was the only time that we suffered at all with thirst. +In addition to the high mean elevation of the Gobi, about +four thousand feet, we had cloudy weather for a considerable +portion of the journey, and, in the Kan-su district, +even a heavy thunder-shower. These occasional summer +rains form, here and there, temporary meres and lakes, +which are soon evaporated, leaving nothing behind except +a saline efflorescence. Elsewhere the ground is furrowed +by sudden torrents tearing down the slopes of the occasional +hills or mountains. These dried up river-beds furnished +the only continuously hard surfaces we found on +the Gobi; although even here we were sometimes brought +up with a round turn in a chuck hole, with the sand flying +above our heads. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our aneroid barometer registered approximately six +thousand five hundred feet, when we reached at dusk the +summit of the highest range of hills we encountered on +the desert journey. But instead of the station-hut we expected +to find, we were confronted by an old Mongolian +monastery. These institutions, we had found, were generally +situated as this one, at the top of some difficult +mountain-pass or at the mouth of some cavernous gorge, +where the pious intercessors might, to the best advantage, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span><a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>strive to appease the wrathful forces of nature. In this +line of duty the lama was no doubt engaged when we +walked into his feebly-lighted room, but, like all Orientals, +he would let nothing interfere with the performance of +his religious duties. With his gaze centered upon one +spot, his fingers flew over the string of beads in his lap, +and his tongue over the stereotyped prayers, with a rapidity +that made our head swim. We stood unnoticed till +the end, when we were at once invited to a cup of tea, and +directed to our destination, five <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">li</span></span> beyond. Toward this +we plodded through the growing darkness and rapidly +cooling atmosphere; for in its extremes of temperature +the Gobi is at once both Siberian and Indian, and that, +too, within the short period of a few hours. Some of the +mornings of what proved to be very hot days were cold +enough to make our extremities fairly tingle. +</p> +<a name="ill107" id="ill107"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i201.jpg" alt="A ROCKY PASS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE GOBI." title="A ROCKY PASS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE GOBI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A ROCKY PASS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE GOBI.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A constant diet of bread and tea, together with the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span><a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>hard physical exercise and mental anxiety, caused our +strength at length to fail. +</p> +<a name="ill108" id="ill108"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i202.jpg" alt="A WASTE OF BLACK SAND IN THE GOBI." title="A WASTE OF BLACK SAND IN THE GOBI." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A WASTE OF BLACK SAND IN THE GOBI.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The constant drinking of brackish water made one of +us so ill that he could retain no food. A high fever set +in on the evening of August 15, and as we pulled into +the station of Bay-doon-sah, he was forced to go to bed +at once. The other, with the aid of our small medicine +supply, endeavored to ward off the ominous symptoms. +In his anxiety, however, to do all that was possible he +made a serious blunder. Instead of antipyrin he administered +the poison, sulphate of zinc, which we carried to +relieve our eyes when inflamed by the alkali dust. This +was swallowed before the truth was discovered. It was +an anxious moment for us both when we picked up the +paper from the floor and read the inscription. We could +do nothing but look at each other in silence. Happily it +was an overdose, and the vomiting which immediately +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span><a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>followed relieved both the patient and the anxious doctor. +What to do we did not know. The patient now suggested +that his companion should go on without him, and, if +possible, send back medical aid or proper food; but not +to remain and get worse himself. He, on the other hand, +refused to leave without the other. Then too, the outlying +town of Ngan-si-chou, the first where proper food and +water could be obtained, was only one day’s journey away. +Another effort was decided upon. But when morning +came, a violent hurricane from the southeast swept the +sand in our faces, and fairly blew the sick man over on +his wheel. Famishing with thirst, tired beyond expression, +and burning with fever as well as the withering heat, +we reached at last the bank of the Su-la-ho. Eagerly we +plunged into its sluggish waters, and waded through under +the walls of Ngan-si-chou. +</p> +<a name="ill109" id="ill109"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i203.jpg" alt="A ROAD MARK IN THE GOBI DESERT." title="A ROAD MARK IN THE GOBI DESERT." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A ROAD MARK IN THE GOBI DESERT.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Ngan-si-chou was almost completely destroyed during +the late Dungan rebellion. Little is now to be seen except +heaps of rubbish, ruined temples, and the scattered +fragments of idols. The neglected gardens no longer +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span><a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>check the advancing sands, which in some places were +drifting over the ramparts. Through its abandoned gateway +we almost staggered with weakness, and directed our +course to the miserable bazaar. The only meat we could +find was pork, that shibboleth between Mohammedanism +and Confucianism. The Dungan restaurant-keeper would +not cook it, and only after much persuasion consented to +have it prepared outside and brought back to be eaten +beneath his roof. With better water and more substantial +food we began, from this time on, to recuperate. But before +us still a strong head wind was sweeping over the +many desert stretches that lay between the oases along +the Su-la-ho, and with the constant walking our sandals +and socks were almost worn away. For this reason we +were delayed one evening in reaching the town of Dyou-min-shan. +In the lonely stillness of its twilight a horseman +was approaching across the barren plain, bearing a +huge Chinese lantern in his hand, and singing aloud, as +is a Chinaman’s custom, to drive off the evil spirits of the +night. He started back, as we suddenly appeared, and +then dismounted, hurriedly, to throw his lantern’s glare +upon us. <span class="tei tei-q">“Are you the two Americans?”</span> he asked in an +agitated manner. His question was surprising. Out in +this desert country we were not aware that our identity +was known, or our visit expected. He then explained that +he had been instructed by the magistrate of Dyou-min-shan +to go out and look for us, and escort us into the +town. He also mentioned in this connection the name of +Ling Darin—a name that we had heard spoken of almost +with veneration ever since leaving Urumtsi. Who this +personage was we were unable to find out beyond that he +was an influential mandarin in the city of Su-chou, now +only a day’s journey away. +</p> + <a name="ill110" id="ill110"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i205.jpg" alt="WITHIN THE WESTERN GATE OF THE GREAT WALL." title="WITHIN THE WESTERN GATE OF THE GREAT WALL." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">WITHIN THE WESTERN GATE OF THE GREAT WALL.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Near that same fortieth parallel of latitude on which +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span><a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>our Asiatic journey was begun and ended, we now struck, +at its extreme western limit, the Great Wall of China. +The Kiayu-kuan, or <span class="tei tei-q">“Jade Gate,”</span> by which it is here intersected, +was originally so called from the fact that it +led into the Khotan country, whence the Chinese traders +brought back the precious mineral. This, with the Shanghai-kuan +near the sea, and the Yuamin-kuan, on the Nankow +pass, are the principal gateways in this <span class="tei tei-q">“wall of ten +thousand <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">li</span></span>,”</span> which, until forced by Yengiz Khan, protected +the empire from the Mongolian nomads for a period +of fourteen hundred years. In its present condition the +Great Wall belongs to various epochs. With the sudden +and violent transitions of temperature in the severe Mongolian +climate, it may be doubted whether any portion of +Shi Hoangti’s original work still survives. Nearly all the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span><a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>eastern section, from Ordos to the Yellow Sea, was rebuilt +in the fifth century, and the double rampart along the +northwest frontier of the plains of Peking was twice restored +in the fifteenth and sixteenth. North of Peking, +where this prodigious structure has a mean height of +about twenty-six feet, and width of twenty feet, it is still +in a state of perfect repair, whereas in many western districts +along the Gobi frontier, as here before us, it is little +more than an earthen rampart about fifteen feet in height, +while for considerable distances, as along the road from +Su-chou to Kan-chou, it has entirely disappeared for miles +at a stretch. Both the gate and the wall at this point had +been recently repaired. We could now see it rising and +falling in picturesque undulations as far as the Tibetan +ranges. There it stops altogether, after a westward course +of over fifteen hundred miles. In view of what was before +us, we could not but smile as we thought of that +French abbé who undertook, in an elaborate volume, to +prove that the <span class="tei tei-q">“Great Wall of China”</span> was nothing more +than a myth. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We were now past another long anticipated land-mark, +and before us, far down in the plain, lay the city of Su-chou, +which, as the terminal point of the Chinese telegraph-line, +would bring us again into electric touch with the +civilized world. But between us and our goal lay the +Edzina river, now swollen by a recent freshet. We began +to wade cautiously through with luggage and wheels +balanced on our shoulders. But just at that moment we +perceived, approaching from the distance, what we took +to be a mounted Chinese mandarin, and his servant leading +behind him two richly caparisoned and riderless horses. +At sight of us they spurred ahead, and reached the opposite +bank just as we passed the middle of the stream. The +leader now rose in his stirrups, waved his hat in the air +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span><a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and shouted, in clear though broken English, <span class="tei tei-q">“Well, gentlemen, +you have arrived at last!”</span> To hear our mother +tongue so unexpectedly spoken in this out-of-the-way part +of the world, was startling. This strange individual, although +clad in the regular mandarin garb, was light-complexioned, +and had an auburn instead of a black queue +dangling from his shaven head. He grasped us warmly +by the hand as we came dripping out of the water, while +all the time his benevolent countenance fairly beamed +with joy. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am glad to see you, gentlemen,”</span> he said. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I was afraid you would be taken sick on the road ever +since I heard you had started across China. I just got +the news five minutes ago that you were at Kiayu-kuan, +and immediately came out with these two horses to bring +you across the river, which I feared would be too deep +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span><a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and swift for you. Mount your ponies, and we will ride +into the city together.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill111" id="ill111"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i207.jpg" alt="RIDING BY THE GREAT WALL ON THE ROAD TO SU-CHOU." title="RIDING BY THE GREAT WALL ON THE ROAD TO SU-CHOU." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">RIDING BY THE GREAT WALL ON THE ROAD TO SU-CHOU.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was some time before the idea flashed across our +minds that this might indeed be the mysterious Ling Darin +about whom we had heard so much. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> said he, +<span class="tei tei-q">“that is what I am called here, but my real name is Splingard.”</span> +He then went on to tell us that he was a Belgian +by birth; that he had traveled extensively through China, +as the companion of Baron Richthofen, and had thus become +so thoroughly acquainted with the country and its +people that on his return to the coast he had been offered +by the Chinese government the position of custom mandarin +at Su-chou, a position just then established for the +levying of duty on the Russian goods passing in through +the northwest provinces; that he had adopted the Chinese +dress and mode of living, and had even married, many +years ago, a Chinese girl educated at the Catholic schools +in Tientsin. We were so absorbed in this romantic history +that we scarcely noticed the crowds that lined the +streets leading to the Ling Darin’s palace, until the boom +of a cannon recalled us to our situation. From the smile +on the jolly face beside us, we knew at once whom we +could hold responsible for this reception. The palace +gates were now thrown open by a host of servants, and in +our rags and tatters we rolled at once from the hardships +of the inhospitable desert into the lap of luxury. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A surplus is not always so easily disposed of as a deficit—at +least we were inclined to think so in the case of our +Su-chou diet. The Ling Darin’s table, which, for the exceptional +occasion, was set in the foreign fashion with +knives and forks, fairly teemed with abundance and variety. +There was even butter, made from the milk of the +Tibetan yak, and condensed milk for our coffee, the first +we had tasted since leaving Turkey, more than a year +be<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span><a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fore. The Ling Darin informed us that a can of this +milk, which he once presented to Chinese friends, had been +mistaken for a face cosmetic, and was so used by the ladies +of the family. The lack of butter has led many of the +missionaries in China to substitute lard, while the Chinese +fry their fat cakes in various oils. The Ling Darin’s wife +we found an excellent and even artistic cook, while his +buxom twin daughters could read and write their own +language—a rare accomplishment for a Chinese woman. +Being unaccustomed to foreign manners, they would never +eat at the same table with us, but would come in during +the evening with their mother, to join the family circle +and read aloud to us some of their father’s official despatches. +This they would do with remarkable fluency +and intelligence. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As guests of our highly respected and even venerated +host, we were visited by nearly all the magistrates of the +city. The Ling Darin was never before compelled to answer +so many questions. In self-defense he was at last +forced to get up a stereotyped speech to deliver on each +social occasion. The people, too, besieged the palace gates, +and clamored for an exhibition. Although our own clothes +had been sent away to be boiled, we could not plead this +as an excuse. The flowing Chinese garments which had +been provided from the private wardrobe of the Ling Darin +fluttered wildly in the breeze, as we rode out through +the city at the appointed hour. Our Chinese shoes, also, +were constantly slipping off, and as we raised the foot to +readjust them, a shout went up from the crowd for what +they thought was some fancy touch in the way of riding. +</p> + <a name="ill112" id="ill112"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i210.jpg" alt="A TYPICAL RECEPTION IN A CHINESE TOWN." title="A TYPICAL RECEPTION IN A CHINESE TOWN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A TYPICAL RECEPTION IN A CHINESE TOWN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the barrenness of the Gobi to the rank vegetation +of the Edzina valley, where the grass and grain were actually +falling over from excessive weight, was a most relieving +change. Water was everywhere. Even the roadway +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span><a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>served in many places as a temporary irrigating-canal. +On the journey to Kan-chou we were sometimes compelled +to ride on the narrow mud-wall fences that separated the +flooded fields of wheat, millet, and sorghum, the prevailing +cereals north of the Hoang-ho river. Fields of rice +and the opium poppy were sometimes met with, but of the +silk-worm and tea-plant, which furnish the great staples +of the Chinese export trade, we saw absolutely nothing on +our route through the northern provinces. Apart from +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Yellow Lands”</span> of the Hoang-ho, which need no +manure, the arable regions of China seem to have maintained +their fecundity for over four thousand years, entirely +through the thoughtful care of the peasantry in restoring +to the soil, under another form, all that the crops +have taken from it. The plowing of the Chinese is very +poor. They scarcely do more than scratch the surface +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span><a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of the ground with their bent-stick plows, wooden-tooth +drills, and wicker-work harrows; and instead of straight +lines, so dear to the eye of a Western farmer, the ridges +and furrows are as crooked as serpents. The real secret +of their success seems to lie in the care they take to replenish +the soil. All the sewage of the towns is carried +out every morning at daybreak by special coolies, to be +preserved for manure; while the dried herbs, straw, roots, +and other vegetable refuse, are economized with the greatest +care for fuel. The Chinese peasant offsets the rudeness +of his implements with manual skill. He weeds the +ground so carefully that there is scarcely a leaf above the +ground that does not appertain to the crop. All kinds of +pumps and hydraulic wheels are worked, either by the +hand, animals, or the wind. The system of tillage, therefore, +resembles market-gardening rather than the broad +method of cultivation common in Europe and America. +The land is too valuable to be devoted to pasture, and the +forests nearly everywhere have been sacrificed to tillage +to such an extent that the material for the enormously +thick native coffins has now to be imported from abroad. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Streams and irrigating-ditches were so frequent that +we were continually saturated with water or covered with +mud. Our bare arms and legs were so tanned and coated +that we were once asked by a group of squalid villagers +if <span class="tei tei-q">“foreigners”</span> ever bathed like themselves. On dashing +down into a village, we would produce consternation or +fright, especially among the women and children, but after +the first onset, giggling would generally follow, for our +appearance, especially from the rear, seemed to strike them +as extremely ridiculous. The wheel itself presented various +aspects to their ignorant fancies. It was called the +<span class="tei tei-q">“flying machine”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“foot-going carriage,”</span> while some +even took it for the <span class="tei tei-q">“fire-wheel cart,”</span> or locomotive, about +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page198">[pg 198]</span><a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>which they had heard only the vaguest rumors. Their +ignorance of its source of motive power often prompted +them to name it the <span class="tei tei-q">“self-moving cart,”</span> just as the natives +of Shanghai are wont to call the electric-light <span class="tei tei-q">“the self-coming +moon.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In one out-of-the-way village of northwestern China, we +were evidently taken for some species of centaurs; the +people came up to examine us while on the wheel to see +whether or no rider and wheel were one. We became so +harassed with importunities to ride that we were compelled +at last to seek relief in subterfuge, for an absolute +refusal, we found, was of no avail. We would promise +to ride for a certain sum of money, thinking thus to +throw the burden of refusal on themselves. But, nothing +daunted, they would pass round the hat. On several occasions, +when told that eggs could not be bought in the +community, an offer of an exhibition would bring them +out by the dozen. In the same way we received presents +of tea, and by this means our cash expenses were considerably +curtailed. The interest in the <span class="tei tei-q">“foreign horses”</span> +was sometimes so great as to stop business and even amusements. +A rather notable incident of this kind occurred +on one of the Chinese holidays. The flag-decked streets, +as we rode through, were filled with the neighboring peasantry, +attracted by some traveling theatrical troupe engaged +for the occasion. In fact, a performance was just +then in progress at the open-air theater close at hand. +Before we were aware of it we had rolled into its crowded +auditorium. The women were sitting on improvised +benches, fanning and gossiping, while the men stood about +in listless groups. But suddenly their attention was +aroused by the counter attraction, and a general rush followed, +to the great detriment of the temporary peddlers’ stands +erected for the occasion. Although entirely +de<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span><a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>serted, and no doubt consumed with curiosity, the actors +could not lose what the Chinese call <span class="tei tei-q">“face.”</span> They still +continued their hideous noises, pantomimes, and dialogues +to the empty seats. +</p> +<a name="ill113" id="ill113"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i213.jpg" alt="A CHINAMAN'S WHEELBARROW." title="A CHINAMAN’S WHEELBARROW." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CHINAMAN’S WHEELBARROW.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The last fifty miles into Liang-chou, a city founded by +a Catholic Chinaman over two hundred years ago, we +were compelled to make on foot, owing to an accident +that caused us serious trouble all through the remainder +of our Chinese journey. In a rapid descent by a narrow +pathway, the pedal of one of the machines struck upon a +protuberance, concealed by a tuft of grass, snapping off +the axle, and scattering the ball-bearings over the ground. +For some miles we pushed along on the bare axle inverted +in the pedal-crank. But the wrenching the machine thus +received soon began to tell. With a sudden jolt on a +steep descent, it collapsed entirely, and precipitated the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span><a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>rider over the handle-bars. The lower part of the frame +had broken short off, where it was previously cracked, +and had bent the top bar almost double in the fall. In +this sad plight, we were rejoiced to find in the <span class="tei tei-q">“City +under the Shade”</span> the Scotch missionary, Mr. Laughton, +who had founded here the most remote of the China Inland +Missions. But even with his assistance, and that of +the best native mechanic, our repairs were ineffective. +At several points along the route we were delayed on this +account. At last the front and rear parts of the machine +became entirely separated. There was no such thing as +steel to be found in the country, no tools fit to work with, +and no one who knew the first principles of soldering. +After endeavoring to convince the native blacksmiths that +a delicate bicycle would not stand pounding like a Chinese +cart-wheel, we took the matter into our own hands. An +iron bar was placed in the hollow tubing to hold it in +shape, and a band of telegraph wire passed round from +front to rear, along the upper and lower rods, and then +twisted so as to bring the two parts as tightly together as +possible. With a waddling frame, and patched rear-wheel +describing eccentric revolutions, we must have presented +a rather comical appearance over the remaining thousand +miles to the coast. +</p> + <a name="ill114" id="ill114"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i215.jpg" alt="MONUMENT TO THE BUILDER OF A BRIDGE." title="MONUMENT TO THE BUILDER OF A BRIDGE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MONUMENT TO THE BUILDER OF A BRIDGE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Across the Yellow Hoang-ho, which is the largest river +we encountered in Asia, a pontoon bridge leads into the +city of Lan-chou-foo. Its strategical position at the point +where the Hoang-ho makes its great bend to the north, +and where the gateway of the West begins, as well as its +picturesque location in one of the greatest fruit-bearing +districts of China, makes it one of the most important +cities of the empire. On the commanding heights across +the river, we stopped to photograph the picturesque scene. +As usual, the crowd swarmed in front of the camera to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span><a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>gaze into the mysterious lens. All the missionaries we +had met cautioned us against taking photographs in +China, lest we should do violence to the many popular +superstitions, but the only trouble we ever experienced in +this respect was in arousing popular curiosity. We soon +learned that in order to get something besides Chinese +heads in our pictures it was necessary first to point the +camera in the opposite direction, and then wheel suddenly +round to the scene we wished to take. As we crossed the +river, the bridge of boats so creaked and swayed beneath +the rushing rabble, that we were glad to stand once more +upon the terra firma of the city streets, which were here +paved with granite and marble blocks. As we rode down +the principal thoroughfare, amid the usual din and uproar, +a well-dressed Chinaman rushed out from one of the stores +and grabbed us by the arm. <span class="tei tei-q">“Do you speak English?”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span><a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>he shouted, with an accent so like an American, that we +leaped from our wheels at once, and grasped his hand as +that of a fellow countryman. This, in fact, he proved to +be in everything but birth. He was one of that party of +mandarins’ sons which had been sent over to our country +some years ago, as an experiment by the Chinese government, +to receive a thorough American training. We cannot +here give the history of that experiment, as Mr. Woo +related it—how they were subsequently accused of cutting +off their queues and becoming denationalized; how, +in consequence, they were recalled to their native land, +and degraded rather than elevated, both by the people +and the government, because they were foreign in their +sentiments and habits; and how, at last, they gradually +began to force recognition through the power of merit +alone. He had now been sent out by the government to +engineer the extension of the telegraph-line from Su-chou +to Urumtsi, for it was feared by the government that the +employment of a foreigner in this capacity would only +increase the power for evil which the natives already attributed +to this foreign innovation. The similarity in the +phrases, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">telegraph pole</span></span> and <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">dry heaven</span></span>, had inspired the +common belief that the line of poles then stretching +across the country was responsible for the long-existing +drought. In one night several miles of poles were sawed +short off, by the secret order of a banded conspiracy. +After several decapitations, the poles were now being +restored, and labeled with the words, <span class="tei tei-q">“Put up by order +of the Emperor.”</span> +</p> + <a name="ill115" id="ill115"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i217.jpg" alt="TWO PAGODAS AT LAN-CHOU-FOO." title="TWO PAGODAS AT LAN-CHOU-FOO." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">TWO PAGODAS AT LAN-CHOU-FOO.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In company with the English missionary, Mr. Redfern, +while attempting to get out of the city on the way to his +mountain home, we were caught in another jam. He +counseled us to conceal the weapons we were carrying in +our belts, for fear the sight of them should incite the mob +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span><a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to some act of violence. Our own experience, however, +had taught us that a revolver in China was worth nothing if +not shown. For persistence, this mob surpassed any we had +ever seen. They followed us out of the city and over the +three miles’ stretch to the mission premises, and there announced +their intention of remaining indefinitely. Again +Mr. Redfern feared some outbreak, and counseled us to return +to the city and apply to the viceroy himself for protection. +This proved a good move. A special exhibition on the +palace parade-grounds gained for us the valuable favor of +one who was only fourth in rank to the emperor himself. +A body-guard of soldiers was furnished, not only during +our sojourn in the city, but for the journey to Singan-foo, +on which a good reception was everywhere insured by an +official despatch sent in advance. In order to secure for +us future respect, a small flag with the government stamp +and of yellow color was given us to fly by the side of our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span><a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“stars and stripes.”</span> On this was inscribed the title of +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Traveling Students,”</span> as well as answers to the more +frequent of the common questions—our nationality, destination, +and age. The best mechanic in the local cannon-foundry +was then ordered to make, at government expense, +whatever repairs were possible on our disabled machines. +This, however, as it proved, was not much; most of his +time was spent in taking measurements and patterns for +another purpose. If his intentions have been carried out, +Lan-chou-foo is to-day possessed of a <span class="tei tei-q">“foot-moving carriage”</span> +of home production. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our sojourn in this city is especially associated with +the three names of Woo, Choo, and Moo—names by no +means uncommon in Chinese nomenclature. We heard of +a boy named the abstract numeral, <span class="tei tei-q">“sixty-five,”</span> because +his grandfather happened to reach that age on the very +day of his birth. Mr. Moo was the local telegraph operator, +with whom we, and our friends Woo and Choo, of +Shanghai, associated. All operators in the Chinese telegraph +system are required to read and write English. +The school established for this purpose at Lan-chou we +occasionally visited, and assisted the Chinese schoolmaster +to hear the recitations from Routledge’s spelling-book. +He, in turn, was a frequent partaker of our <span class="tei tei-q">“foreign +chows,”</span> which our English-speaking friends served with +knives and forks borrowed from the missionaries. Lily +and bamboo roots, sharks’ fins and swallows’ nests, and +many other Chinese delicacies, were now served in abundance, +and with the ever-accompanying bowl of rice. In +the matter of eating and drinking, Chinese formality is +extreme. A round table is the only one that can be used +in an aristocratic household. The seat of honor is always +the one next to the wall. Not a mouthful can be taken +until the host raises his chop-sticks in the air, and gives +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span><a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the signal. Silence then prevails; for Confucius says: +<span class="tei tei-q">“When a man eats he has no time for talk.”</span> When a +cup of tea is served to any one in a social party, he must +offer it to every one in the room, no matter how many +there are, before proceeding to drink himself. The real +basis of Chinese politeness seems to be this: They must +be polite enough to offer, and you must be polite enough +to refuse. Our ignorance of this great underlying principle +during the early part of the Chinese journey led us +into errors both many and grievous. In order to show a +desire to be sociable, we accepted almost everything that +was offered us, to the great chagrin, we fear, of the +courteous donors. +</p> +<a name="ill116" id="ill116"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i219.jpg" alt="MISSIONARIES AT LAN-CHOU-FOO." title="MISSIONARIES AT LAN-CHOU-FOO." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MISSIONARIES AT LAN-CHOU-FOO.</span></div></div> + + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span><a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="ill117" id="ill117"></a> + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i220.jpg" alt="LI-HUNG-CHANG." title="LI-HUNG-CHANG. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH SENT TO THE AUTHORS BY THE PRIME MINISTER." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">LI-HUNG-CHANG. + </span><br /><span style="font-size: 90%"> + FROM A PHOTOGRAPH SENT TO THE AUTHORS BY THE PRIME MINISTER.</span></div></div> + + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span><a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc118" id="toc118"></a><a name="pdf119" id="pdf119"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">VI</span></h2> + +<h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.40em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%">AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF CHINA</span></h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our departure from Lan-chou was not, we thought, +regretted by the officials themselves, for we heard +that apprehension was expressed lest the crowds continuing +to collect around the telegraph-office should indulge +in a riot. However, we were loath to leave our genial +friends for the society of opium-smokers, for we were now +in that province of China which, next to Sechuen, is most +addicted to this habit. From dusk till bed-time, the streets +of the villages were almost deserted for the squalid opium +dens. Even our soldier attendant, as soon as the wooden +saddle was taken from his sore-backed government steed, +would produce his portable lamp, and proceed to melt on +his needle the wax-like contents of a small, black box. +When of the proper consistency, the paste was rolled on +a metal plate to point it for the aperture in the flute-shaped +pipe. Half the night would be given to this process, +and a considerable portion of the remaining half +would be devoted to smoking small pinches of tobacco in +the peculiar Chinese water-pipe. According to an official +note, issued early in 1882, by Mr. Hart, Inspector-General +of Chinese Customs, considerably less than one per cent. +of the population is addicted to opium-smoking, while +those who smoke it to excess are few. More to be feared +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span><a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>is the use of opium as a poison, especially among Chinese +women. The government raises large sums from the import +duty on opium, and tacitly connives at its cultivation +in most of the provinces, where the traders and mandarins +share between them the profits of this officially prohibited +drug. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +This part of the great historic highway on which we +were now traveling, between the two bends of the Hoang-ho, +was found more extensively patronized than heretofore. +Besides the usual caravans of horses, donkeys, and +two-wheeled vans, we occasionally met with a party of +shaven-headed Tibetans traveling either as emissaries, or +as traders in the famous Tibetan sheep-skins and furs, and +the strongly-scented bags of the musk-deer. A funeral +cortège was also a very frequent sight. Chinese custom +requires that the remains of the dead be brought back +to their native place, no matter how far they may have +wandered during life, and as the carriage of a single body +would often be expensive, they are generally interred in +temporary cemeteries or mortuary villages, until a sufficient +number can be got together to form a large convoy. +Mandarins, however, in death as in life, travel alone and +with retinue. One coffin we met which rested upon poles +supported on the shoulders of thirty-two men. Above on +the coffin was perched the usual white rooster, which is +supposed to incorporate, during transportation, the spirit +of the departed. In funeral ceremonies, especially of the +father, custom also requires the children to give public +expression to their grief. Besides many other filial observances, +the eldest son is in duty bound to render the +journey easy for the departed by scattering fictitious paper-money, +as spirit toll, at the various roadside temples. +</p> + <a name="ill120" id="ill120"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i223.jpg" alt="OPIUM-SMOKERS IN A STREET OF TAI-YUEN-FOO." title="OPIUM-SMOKERS IN A STREET OF TAI-YUEN-FOO." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">OPIUM-SMOKERS IN A STREET OF TAI-YUEN-FOO.</span></div></div> + + <a name="ill121" id="ill121"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i224.jpg" alt="MISSIONARIES AT TAI-YUEN-FOO." title="MISSIONARIES AT TAI-YUEN-FOO." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MISSIONARIES AT TAI-YUEN-FOO.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Singan-foo, the capital of the Middle Kingdom, under +the Tsin dynasty, and a city of the first importance more +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span><a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>than two thousand years ago, is still one of the largest +places in the empire, being exceeded in population probably +by Canton alone. Each of its four walls, facing the +cardinal points, is over six miles long and is pierced in +the center by a monumental gate with lofty pavilions. It +was here, among the ruins of an old Nestorian church, +built several centuries before, that was found the famous +tablet now sought at a high price by the British Museum. +The harassing mobs gathered from its teeming population, +as well as the lateness of the season, prompted us to make +our sojourn as short as possible. Only a day sufficed to +reach Tong-quan, which is the central stronghold of the +Hoang-ho basin, and one of the best defended points in +China. Here, between precipitous cliffs, this giant stream +rushes madly by, as if in protest against its sudden +deflec<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span><a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tion. Our ferry this time was not the back of a Chinese +coolie nor a jolting ox-cart, but a spacious flat-boat made +to accommodate one or two vehicles at a time. This was +rowed at the stern, like the gondolas of Venice. The mob +of hundreds that had been dogging our foot-steps and +making life miserable, during our brief stop for food, +watched our embarkation. We reached the opposite +shore, a mile below the starting-point, and began to ascend +from the river-basin to the highlands by an excavated +fissure in the famous <span class="tei tei-q">“yellow earth.”</span> This gives +its name, not only to the river it discolors, but, from the +extensive region comprised, even to the emperor himself, +who takes the title of <span class="tei tei-q">“Yellow Lord,”</span> as equivalent to +<span class="tei tei-q">“Master of the World.”</span> The thickness of this the richest +soil in China, which according to Baron Richthofen is +nothing more than so much dust accumulated during the +course of ages by the winds from the northern deserts, is +in some places at least two thousand feet. Much ingenuity +has been displayed in overcoming the difficulties offered +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span><a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to free communication by the perpendicular walls of these +yellow lands. Some of the most frequented roads have +been excavated to depths of from forty to one hundred +feet. Being seldom more than eight or ten feet wide, the +wheeled traffic is conducted by means of sidings, like the +<span class="tei tei-q">“stations”</span> in the Suez Canal. Being undrained or unswept +by the winds, these walled-up tracks are either dust-beds +or quagmires, according to the season; for us, the +autumn rains had converted them into the latter. Although +on one of the imperial highways which once excited +the admiration of Marco Polo, we were now treated +to some of the worst stretches we have ever seen. The +mountain ascents, especially those stair-like approaches to +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Heavenly Gates”</span> before reaching the Pe-chili plains, +were steep, gradeless inclines, strewn with huge upturned +blocks of stone, over which the heavy carts were fairly +lifted by the sheer force of additional horse-flesh. The +bridges, too, whose Roman-like masonry attests the high +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page213">[pg 213]</span><a name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>degree of Chinese civilization during the middle ages, +have long since been abandoned to the ravages of time; +while over the whole country the late Dungan rebellion +has left its countless ruins. +</p> + <a name="ill122" id="ill122"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i225.jpg" alt="ENTERING TONG-QUAN BY THE WEST GATE." title="ENTERING TONG-QUAN BY THE WEST GATE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">ENTERING TONG-QUAN BY THE WEST GATE.</span></div></div> + + <a name="ill123" id="ill123"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i226.jpg" alt="MONUMENTS NEAR ONE-SHE-CHIEN." title="MONUMENTS NEAR ONE-SHE-CHIEN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MONUMENTS NEAR ONE-SHE-CHIEN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The people of Shan-si province are noted for their special +thrift, but this quality we observed was sometimes +exhibited at the expense of the higher virtue of honesty. +One of the most serious of the many cases of attempted +extortion occurred at a remote country town, where we +arrived late one evening, after learning to our dismay that +one of our remarkably few mistakes in the road had +brought us just fifty miles out of the way. Unusually +wearied as we were by the cross-country cuts, we desired +to retire early. In fact, on this account, we were not so +observant of Chinese formality as we might have been. +We did not heed the hinted requests of the visiting officials +for a moon-light exhibition, nor go to the inn-door +to bow them respectfully out. We were glad to take them +at their word when they said, with the usual hypocritical +smirk, <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, don’t come out any farther.”</span> This indiscretion +on our part caused them, as well as ourselves, to +suffer in the respect of the assembled rabble. With official +connivance, the latter were now free, they thought, to +take unusual liberties. So far, in our dealings with the +Chinese, we had never objected to anything that was reasonable +even from the native point of view. We had long +since learned the force of the Chinese proverb that, <span class="tei tei-q">“in +order to avoid suspicion you must not live behind closed +doors”</span>; and in consequence had always recognized the +common prerogative to ransack our private quarters and +our luggage, so long as nothing was seriously disturbed. +We never objected, either, to their wetting our paper windows +with their tongues, so that they might noiselessly +slit a hole in them with their exceptionally long finger +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page214">[pg 214]</span><a name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>nails, although we did wake up some mornings to find the +panes entirely gone. It was only at the request of the +innkeeper that we sometimes undertook the job of cleaning +out the inn-yard; but this, with the prevalent superstition +about the <span class="tei tei-q">“withering touch of the foreigner,”</span> was +very easily accomplished. Nor had we ever shown the +slightest resentment at being called <span class="tei tei-q">“foreign devils”</span>; for +this, we learned, was, with the younger generation at least, +the only title by which foreigners were known. But on +this particular night, our forbearance being quite exhausted, +we ejected the intruders bodily. Mid mutterings +and threats we turned out the lights, and the crowd as +well as ourselves retired. The next morning the usual +exorbitant bill was presented by the innkeeper, and, as +usual, one half or one third was offered and finally accepted, +with the customary protestations about being +under-paid. The innkeeper’s grumblings incited the +crowd which early assembled, and from their whispers +and glances we could see that trouble of some kind was +brewing. We now hastened to get the wheels into the +road. Just then the innkeeper, at the instigation of the +crowd, rushed out and grabbed the handle-bars, demanding +at the same time a sum that was even in advance of +his original price. Extortion was now self-evident, and, +remonstrance being of no avail, we were obliged to protect +ourselves with our fists. The crowd began to close +in upon us, until, with our backs against the adjoining +wall, we drew our weapons, at which the onward movement +changed suddenly to a retreat. Then we assumed +the aggressive, and regained the wheels which had been +left in the middle of the road. The innkeeper and his +friend now caught hold of the rear wheels. Only by seizing +their queues could we drag them away at all, but even +then before we could mount they would renew their grasp. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page215">[pg 215]</span><a name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>It was only after another direct attack upon them that +we were able to mount, and dash away. +</p> +<a name="ill124" id="ill124"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i229.jpg" alt="MONUMENT NEAR CHANG-SHIN-DIEN." title="MONUMENT NEAR CHANG-SHIN-DIEN." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MONUMENT NEAR CHANG-SHIN-DIEN.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A week’s journeying after this unpleasant episode +brought us among the peanuts, pigs, and pig-tails of the +famous Pe-chili plains. Vast fields of peanuts were now +being plowed, ready to be passed through a huge coarse +sieve to separate the nuts from the sandy loam. Sweet +potatoes, too, were plentiful. These, as well as rice balls, +boiled with a peculiar dry date in a triangular corn-leaf +wrapper, we purchased every morning at daybreak from +the pots of the early street-venders, and then proceeded +to the local bake-shops, where the rattling of the rolling-pins +prophesied of stringy fat cakes cooked in boiling linseed +oil, and heavy dough biscuits cleaving to the urn-like +oven. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was well that we were now approaching the end of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page216">[pg 216]</span><a name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>our journey, for our wheels and clothing were nearly in +pieces. Our bare calves were pinched by the frost, for +on some of the coldest mornings we would find a quarter +of an inch of ice. Our rest at night was broken for the +want of sufficient covering. The straw-heated <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">kangs</span></span> would +soon cool off, and leave us half the night with only our +thin sleeping-bags to ward off rheumatism. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But over the beaten paths made by countless wheelbarrows +we were now fast nearing the end. It was on the +evening of November 3, that the giant walls of the great +<span class="tei tei-q">“Residence,”</span> as the people call their imperial capital, broke +suddenly into view through a vista in the surrounding +foliage. The goal of our three-thousand-one-hundred-and-sixteen-mile +journey was now before us, and the work of +the seventy-first riding day almost ended. With the dusk +of evening we entered the western gate of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Manchu +City,”</span> and began to thread its crowded thoroughfares. +By the time we reached Legation street or, as the natives +egotistically call it, <span class="tei tei-q">“The Street of the Foreign Dependencies,”</span> +night had veiled our haggard features and ragged +garments. In a dimly lighted courtyard we came face to +face with the English proprietor of the Hotel de Peking. +At our request for lodging, he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Pardon me, but may +I first ask who you are and where you come from?”</span> Our +unprepossessing appearance was no doubt a sufficient +excuse for this precaution. But just then his features +changed, and he greeted us effusively. Explanations were +now superfluous. The <span class="tei tei-q">“North China Herald”</span> correspondent +at Pao-ting-foo had already published our story to the +coast. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +That evening the son of the United States minister +visited us, and offered a selection from his own wardrobe +until a Chinese tailor could renew our clothing. With +borrowed plumes we were able to accept invitations from +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page217">[pg 217]</span><a name="Pg217" id="Pg217" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>foreign and Chinese officials. Polite cross-examinations +were not infrequent, and we fear that entire faith in our +alleged journey was not general until, by riding through +the dust and mud of Legation street, we proved that Chinese +roads were not altogether impracticable for bicycle +traveling. +</p> +<a name="ill125" id="ill125"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i231.jpg" alt="ON THE PEI-HO." title="ON THE PEI-HO." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">ON THE PEI-HO.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The autumn rains had so flooded the low-lying country +between the capital and its seaport, Tientsin, that we were +obliged to abandon the idea of continuing to the coast on +the wheels, which by this time were in no condition to +stand unusual strain. On the other hand the house-boat +journey of thirty-six hours down the Pei-ho river was a +rather pleasant diversion. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our first evening on the river was made memorable by +an unusual event. Suddenly the rattling of tin pans, the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page218">[pg 218]</span><a name="Pg218" id="Pg218" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tooting of horns, and the shouting of men, women, and +children, aroused us to the realization that something extraordinary +was occurring. Then we noticed that the full +moon in a cloudless sky had already passed the half-way +mark in a total eclipse. Our boatmen now joined in the +general uproar, which reached its height when the moon +was entirely obscured. In explanation we were told that +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Great Dragon”</span> was endeavoring to swallow up the +moon, and that the loudest possible noise must be made +to frighten him away. Shouts hailed the reappearance +of the moon. Although our boatmen had a smattering +of pidjin, or business, English, we were unable to get a +very clear idea of Chinese astronomy. In journeying +across the empire we found sufficient analogy in the various +provincial dialects to enable us to acquire a smattering +of one from another as we proceeded, but we were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page219">[pg 219]</span><a name="Pg219" id="Pg219" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>now unable to see any similarity whatever between <span class="tei tei-q">“You +makee walkee look see,”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“You go and see,”</span> or between +<span class="tei tei-q">“That belong number one pidjin,”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“That is a first-class +business.”</span> This jargon has become a distinct dialect +on the Chinese coast. +</p> + <a name="ill126" id="ill126"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i232.jpg" alt="A CHINAMAN SCULLING ON THE PEI-HO." title="A CHINAMAN SCULLING ON THE PEI-HO." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CHINAMAN SCULLING ON THE PEI-HO.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On our arrival in Tientsin we called upon the United +States Consul, Colonel Bowman, to whom we had brought +several letters from friends in Peking. During a supper +at his hospitable home, he suggested that the viceroy +might be pleased to receive us, and that if we had no +objection, he would send a communication to the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yamen</span></span>, +or official residence. Colonel Bowman’s secretary, Mr. Tenney, +who had been some time the instructor of the viceroy’s +sons, and who was on rather intimate terms with the +viceroy himself, kindly offered to act as interpreter. A +favorable answer was received the next morning, and the +time for our visit fixed for the afternoon of the day following. +But two hours before the appointed time a message +was received from the viceroy, stating that he was +about to receive an unexpected official visit from the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">phantai</span></span>, +or treasurer, of the Pe-chili province (over which Li-Hung-Chang +himself is viceroy), and asking for a postponement +of our visit to the following morning at 11 +o’clock. Even before we had finished reading this unexpected +message, the booming of cannon along the Pei-ho +river announced the arrival of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">phantai’s</span></span> boats before +the city. The postponement of our engagement at this +late hour threatened to prove rather awkward, inasmuch +as we had already purchased our steamship tickets for +Shanghai, to sail on the <span class="tei tei-name"><span style="font-style: italic">Fei-ching</span></span> at five o’clock the next +morning. But through the kindness of the steamship +company it was arranged that we should take a tug-boat +at Tong-ku, on the line of the Kai-ping railroad, and overtake +the steamer outside the Taku bar. This we could +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page220">[pg 220]</span><a name="Pg220" id="Pg220" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>do by taking the train at Tientsin, even as late as seven +hours after the departure of the steamer. Steam navigation +in the Pei-ho river, over the forty or fifty miles’ +stretch from Tientsin to the gulf, is rendered very slow +by the sharp turns in the narrow stream—the adjoining +banks being frequently struck and plowed away by the +bow or stern of the large ocean steamers. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When we entered the consulate the next morning, we +found three palanquins and a dozen coolies in waiting to +convey our party to the viceroy’s residence. Under other +circumstances we would have patronized our <span class="tei tei-q">“steeds of +steel,”</span> but a visit to the <span class="tei tei-q">“biggest”</span> man in China had to +be conducted in state. We were even in some doubt as +to the propriety of appearing before his excellency in +bicycle costume; but we determined to plead our inability +to carry luggage as an excuse for this breach of etiquette. +</p> +<a name="ill127" id="ill127"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i234.jpg" alt="SALT HEAPS AT THE GOVERNMENT WORKS AT TONG-KU." title="SALT HEAPS AT THE GOVERNMENT WORKS AT TONG-KU." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">SALT HEAPS AT THE GOVERNMENT WORKS AT TONG-KU.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The first peculiarity the Chinese notice in a foreigner +is his dress. It is a requisite with them that the clothes +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page221">[pg 221]</span><a name="Pg221" id="Pg221" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>must be loose, and so draped as to conceal the contour of +the body. The short sack-coat and tight trousers of the +foreigner are looked upon as certainly inelegant, if not +actually indecent. +</p> +<a name="ill128" id="ill128"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i235.jpg" alt="WINDMILLS AT TONG-KU FOR RAISING SALT WATER." title="WINDMILLS AT TONG-KU FOR RAISING SALT WATER." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">WINDMILLS AT TONG-KU FOR RAISING SALT WATER.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was not long before we were out of the foreign settlement, +and wending our way through the narrow, winding +streets, or lanes, of the densely populated Chinese city. +The palanquins we met were always occupied by some +high dignitary or official, who went sweeping by with his +usual vanguard of servants, and his usual frown of excessive +dignity. The fact that we, plain <span class="tei tei-q">“foreign devils,”</span> +were using this mode of locomotion, made us the objects +of considerable curiosity from the loiterers and passers-by, +and in fact had this not been the case, we should have +felt rather uncomfortable. The unsympathetic observation +of mobs, and the hideous Chinese noises, had become +features of our daily life. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page222">[pg 222]</span><a name="Pg222" id="Pg222" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yamen</span></span> courtyard, as we entered, was filled with +empty palanquins and coolie servants waiting for the +different mandarins who had come on official visits. The +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yamen</span></span> itself consisted of low one-story structures, built in +the usual Chinese style, of wood and adobe brick, in a +quadrangular form around an inner courtyard. The common +Chinese paper which serves for window-glass had +long since vanished from the ravages of time, and the +finger-punches of vandals. Even here, at the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yamen</span></span> of +the prime minister of China, dirt and dilapidation were +evident on every hand. The anteroom into which we +were ushered was in keeping with its exterior. The paper +that covered the low walls and squatty ceiling, as well as +the calico covering on the divans, was soiled and torn. +The room itself was filled with mandarins from various +parts of the country, waiting for an audience with his excellency. +Each wore the official robe and dish-pan hat, +with its particular button or insignia of rank. Each had +a portly, well-fed appearance, with a pompous, dignified +mien overspreading his features. The servant by whom +we had sent in our Chinese visiting-cards returned and +asked us to follow him. Passing through several rooms, +and then along a narrow, darkened hallway, we emerged +into an inner courtyard. Here there were several servants +standing like sentinels in waiting for orders; others +were hurrying hither and thither with different messages +intrusted to their care. This was all there was to give to +the place the air of busy headquarters. On one side of +the courtyard the doors of the <span class="tei tei-q">“foreign reception”</span> room +opened. Through these we were ushered by the liveried +servant, who bore a message from the viceroy, asking us +to wait a few moments until he should finish some important +business. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The foreign reception-room in which we were now +sit<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page223">[pg 223]</span><a name="Pg223" id="Pg223" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ting was the only one in any official residence in the empire, +and this single instance of compliance with foreign +customs was significant as bearing upon the attitude toward +Western ideas of the man who stands at the head of +the Chinese government. Everything about us was foreign +except a Chinese divan in one corner of the room. +In the middle of the floor stood a circular sofa of the +latest pattern, with chairs and settees to match, and at +one end a foreign stove, in which a fire had been recently +lighted for our coming. Against the wall were placed a +full-length mirror, several brackets, and some fancy work. +The most interesting of the ornaments in the room were +portraits of Li-Hung-Chang himself, Krupp the gun-maker, +Armstrong the ship-builder, and the immortal <span class="tei tei-q">“Chinese +Gordon,”</span> the only foreigner, it is said, who has ever won +a spark of admiration from the Chinese people. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +While we were waiting for the viceroy, his second son, +the pupil of Mr. Tenney, came in and was introduced in +the foreign fashion. His English was fluent and correct. +He was a bright, intelligent lad of nineteen years, then +about to take his first trial examinations for the Chinese +degree of scholarship, which, if attained, would make him +eligible for official position. Although a son of the viceroy +he will have to rise by his own merit. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Our conversation with the viceroy’s son extended over +ten or fifteen minutes. He asked many questions about +the details of our journey. <span class="tei tei-q">“How,”</span> said he, <span class="tei tei-q">“could you +get along without interpreter, guide, or servant, when +every foreigner who goes even from here to Peking has +to have them?”</span> He questioned us as to whether or not +the Chinese had ever called us names. We replied that +we usually traveled in China under the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">nom de Chinois</span></span>, + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yang queedza</span></span> (the foreign devils), alias <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yeh renn</span></span> (the wild +men). A blush overspread his cheeks as he said: <span class="tei tei-q">“I must +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page224">[pg 224]</span><a name="Pg224" id="Pg224" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>apologize for my countrymen; I hope you will excuse +them, for they know no better.”</span> The young man expressed +deep interest in America and American institutions, +and said if he could obtain his father’s consent he +would certainly make a visit to our country. This was +the only son then at home with the viceroy, his eldest son +being minister to Japan. The youngest, the viceroy’s favorite, +was, it was said, the brightest and most promising. +His death occurred only a few months before our arrival +in Tientsin. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We were holding an animated conversation when the +viceroy himself was announced. We all stood to show +our respect for the prime minister whom General Grant +included among the three greatest statesmen of his day. +The viceroy was preceded by two body-servants. We +stood before a man who appeared to be over six feet in +height, although his head and shoulders were considerably +bent with age. His flowing dress was made of rich colored +silk, but very plain indeed. Any ornamentation +would have been a profanation of the natural dignity and +stateliness of Li-Hung-Chang. With slow pace he walked +into the room, stopped a moment to look at us, then advanced +with outstretched hand, while a faint smile played +about his features and softened the piercing glance of his +eyes. He shook our hands heartily in the foreign fashion, +and without any show of ceremony led the way into an +adjoining room, where a long council-table extended over +half the length. The viceroy took the arm-chair at the +head, and motioned us to take the two seats on his left, +while Mr. Tenney and the viceroy’s son sat on his right. +For almost a minute not a word was said on either side. +The viceroy had fixed his gaze intently upon us, and, like +a good general perhaps, was taking a thorough survey of +the field before he opened up the cannonade of questions +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page225">[pg 225]</span><a name="Pg225" id="Pg225" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that was to follow. We in turn were just as busily engaged +in taking a mental sketch of his most prominent +physical characteristics. His face was distinctly oval, +tapering from a very broad forehead to a sharp pointed +chin, half-obscured by his thin, gray <span class="tei tei-q">“goatee.”</span> The crown +of his head was shaven in the usual Tsing fashion, leaving +a tuft of hair for a queue, which in the viceroy’s case +was short and very thin. His dry, sallow skin showed +signs of wrinkling; a thick fold lay under each eye, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page226">[pg 226]</span><a name="Pg226" id="Pg226" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>at each end of his upper lip. There were no prominent +cheek-bones or almond-shaped eyes, which are so distinctively +seen in most of the Mongolian race. Under the +scraggy mustache we could distinguish a rather benevolent +though determined mouth; while his small, keen eyes, +which were somewhat sunken, gave forth a flash that was +perhaps but a flickering ember of the fire they once contained. +The left eye, which was partly closed by a paralytic +stroke several years ago, gave him a rather artful, +waggish appearance. The whole physiognomy was that +of a man of strong intuition, with the ability to force his +point when necessary, and the shrewd common sense to +yield when desiring to be politic. +</p> + <a name="ill129" id="ill129"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i239.jpg" alt="FURNACE FOR BURNING WASTE PAPER BEARING WRITTEN CHARACTERS." title="FURNACE FOR BURNING WASTE PAPER BEARING WRITTEN CHARACTERS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">FURNACE FOR BURNING WASTE PAPER BEARING WRITTEN CHARACTERS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Well, gentlemen,”</span> he said at last, through Mr. Tenney +as interpreter, <span class="tei tei-q">“you don’t look any the worse for your +long journey.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We are glad to hear your excellency say so,”</span> we replied; +<span class="tei tei-q">“it is gratifying to know that our appearance +speaks well for the treatment we have received in China.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We hope our readers will consider the requirements of +Chinese etiquette as sufficient excuse for our failure to +say candidly that, if we looked healthy, it was not the +fault of his countrymen. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Of all the countries through which you have passed, +which do you consider the best?”</span> the viceroy then asked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In our answer to this question the reader would no +doubt expect us to follow etiquette, and say that we +thought China was the best; and, perhaps, the viceroy +himself had a similar expectation. But between telling +a positive lie, and not telling the truth, there is perhaps +sufficient difference to shield us from the charge of gross +inconsistency. We answered, therefore, that in many respects, +we considered America the greatest country we had +seen. We ought of course to have said that no reasonable +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page227">[pg 227]</span><a name="Pg227" id="Pg227" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>person in the world would ever think of putting any other +country above the Celestial Empire; our bluntness elicited +some surprise, for the viceroy said: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“If then you thought that America was the best why +did you come to see other countries?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Because until we had seen other countries,”</span> we replied, +<span class="tei tei-q">“we did not know that America was the best.”</span> But this +answer the viceroy evidently considered a mere subterfuge. +He was by no means satisfied. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What was your real object in undertaking such a +peculiar journey?”</span> he asked rather impatiently. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“To see and study the world and its peoples,”</span> we answered; +<span class="tei tei-q">“to get a practical training as a finish to a theoretical +education. The bicycle was adopted only because +we considered it the most convenient means of accomplishing +that purpose.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The viceroy, however, could not understand how a man +should wish to use his own strength when he could travel +on the physical force of some one else; nor why it was +that we should adopt a course through central Asia and +northwestern China when the southern route through +India would have been far easier and less dangerous. He +evidently gave it up as a conundrum, and started out on +another line. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you consider the Shah of Persia a powerful monarch?”</span> +was his next question. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Powerful, perhaps, in the Oriental sense,”</span> we replied, +<span class="tei tei-q">“but very weak in comparison with the Western nations. +Then, too, he seems to be losing the power that he does +have—he is compelled to play more and more into the +hands of the Russians.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think that Russia will eventually try to take +possession of Persia?”</span> the viceroy interrupted. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That, of course, is problematical,”</span> we answered, with the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page228">[pg 228]</span><a name="Pg228" id="Pg228" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>embarrassment men of our age might feel at being instigated +to talk politics with a prime minister. <span class="tei tei-q">“What we +do know, for certain, is that Russia is now, with her Transcaspian +railroad, within about forty miles of Meshed, the +capital of Persia’s richest province of Khorasan; that she +now has a well-engineered and, for a great portion of the +way, a macadamized road to that city across the Kopet +Dagh mountains from Askabad, the capital of Russian +Transcaspia; and that half that road the Persians were +rather forcibly invited to construct.”</span> +</p> +<a name="ill130" id="ill130"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i242.jpg" alt="MR. LIANG, EDUCATED IN THE UNITED STATES, NOW IN THE SHIPPING BUSINESS." title="MR. LIANG, EDUCATED IN THE UNITED STATES, NOW IN THE SHIPPING BUSINESS." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">MR. LIANG, EDUCATED IN THE UNITED STATES, NOW IN THE SHIPPING + BUSINESS.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think,”</span> again interrupted the viceroy, whose +interest in the Russians now began to take a more domestic +turn, <span class="tei tei-q">“that the Russians would like to have the Chinese +province of Ili?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To this question we might very appropriately have said, +<span class="tei tei-q">“No”</span>; for the reason that we thought Russia had it +al<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page229">[pg 229]</span><a name="Pg229" id="Pg229" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ready. She is only waiting to draw it in, when she feels +certain that her Siberian flank is better protected. The +completion of the Transsiberian railroad, by which troops +can be readily transported to that portion of her dominion, +may change Russia’s attitude toward the province of +Ili. We did not, however, say this to his excellency. We +merely replied that we believed Russia was seldom known +to hold aloof from anything of value, which she thought +she could get with impunity. As she was now sending +cart-load after cart-load of goods over the border, through +Ili, into northern and western China, without paying a +cent of customs duty, while on the other hand not even a +leaf of tea or thread of cotton passed over the Russian +line from China without the payment of an exorbitant +tariff; and as she had already established in Kuldja a +postal, telegraph, and Cossack station, it would seem that +she does not even now view the province of Ili as wholly +foreign to the Russian empire. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At this the viceroy cleared his throat, and dropped his +eyes in thoughtful mood, as much as to say: <span class="tei tei-q">“Ah, I know +the Russians; but there is no help for it.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At this point we ventured to ask the viceroy if it were +true, as we had been informed, that Russia had arranged +a treaty with China, by which she was entitled to establish +consuls in several of the interior provinces of the Chinese +empire, but he evaded the question with adroitness, and +asked: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Didn’t you find the roads very bad in China?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +This question was creditable to the viceroy’s knowledge +of his own country, but to this subject we brought the +very best Chinese politeness we could muster. We said +that inasmuch as China had not yet adopted the bicycle, +her roads, of course, were not adapted to that mode of +locomotion. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page230">[pg 230]</span><a name="Pg230" id="Pg230" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The viceroy then asked us to describe the bicycle, and +inquired if such a vehicle did not create considerable consternation +among the people. +</p> +<a name="ill131" id="ill131"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i244.jpg" alt="A CHINESE SEEDING-DRILL." title="A CHINESE SEEDING-DRILL." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CHINESE SEEDING-DRILL.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +We told him that the bicycle from a Chinese point of +view was capable of various descriptions. On the passports +given us by the Chinese minister in London the +bicycle was called <span class="tei tei-q">“a seat-sitting, foot-moving machine.”</span> +The natives in the interior had applied to it various epithets, +among which were <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yang ma</span></span> (foreign horse), <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">fei-chay</span></span> +(flying-machine), <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">szüdzun chay</span></span> (self-moving cart), and +others. The most graphic description, perhaps, was given +by a Chinaman whom we overheard relating to his neighbors +the first appearance of the bicycle in his quiet little village. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is a little mule,”</span> said he, <span class="tei tei-q">“that you drive by the +ears, and kick in the sides to make him go.”</span> A dignified +smile overspread the viceroy’s features. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page231">[pg 231]</span><a name="Pg231" id="Pg231" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Didn’t the people try to steal your money?”</span> he next +inquired. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> we replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“From our impoverished appearance, +they evidently thought we had nothing. Our wardrobe +being necessarily limited by our mode of travel, we +were sometimes reduced to the appearance of traveling +mendicants, and were often the objects of pity or contempt. +Either this, or our peculiar mode of travel, seemed +to dispel all thought of highway robbery; we never lost +even so much as a button on our journey of over three +thousand miles across the Chinese empire.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Did the governors you met treat you well?”</span> he asked; +and then immediately added: <span class="tei tei-q">“Being scholars, were you +not subjected to some indignity by being urged to perform +for every mandarin you met?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“By nearly all the governors,”</span> we said, <span class="tei tei-q">“we were treated +very kindly indeed; but we were not so certain that the +same favors would have been extended to us had we +not cheerfully consented to give exhibitions of bicycle +riding.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There was now a lull in the conversation. The viceroy +shifted his position in his chair, and took another whiff +from the long, slender Chinese pipe held to his mouth by +one of his body-servants. One whiff, and the pipe was +taken away to be emptied and refilled. After a short respite +he again resumed the conversation, but the questions +he now asked were of a personal nature. We enumerate +a few of them, without comment, only for the purpose of +throwing some additional light on the character of our +questioner. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“About how much did the trip cost you? Do you expect +to get back all or more than you spent? Will you +write a book?</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Did you find on your route any gold or silver deposits?</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page232">[pg 232]</span><a name="Pg232" id="Pg232" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you like the Chinese diet; and how much did one +meal cost you?</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“How old are you? [One of the first questions a Chinese +host usually asks his guest.] Are you married? What +is the trade or profession of your parents? Are they +wealthy? Do they own much land?”</span> (A Chinaman’s idea +of wealth is limited somewhat by the amount of land +owned.)</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Will you telegraph to your parents from Shanghai +your safe arrival there?</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Were you not rash in attempting such a journey? +Suppose you had been killed out in the interior of Asia, +no one would ever have heard of you again.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Are you Democrats or Republicans?”</span> (The viceroy +showed considerable knowledge of our government and +institutions.) +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Will you run for any political office in America? Do +you ever expect to get into Congress?</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you have to buy offices in America?”</span> was the last +inquiry. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There was considerable hesitancy on the part of us both +to answer this question. Finally we were obliged to +admit that sometimes such was the case. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ah,”</span> said the +viceroy, <span class="tei tei-q">“that is a very bad thing about American politics.”</span> +But in this censure he was even more severe on +his own country than America. Referring to ourselves +in this connection, the viceroy ventured to predict that we +might become so well-known as the result of our journey +that we could get into office without paying for it. <span class="tei tei-q">“You +are both young,”</span> he added, <span class="tei tei-q">“and can hope for anything.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +During the conversation the viceroy frequently smiled, +and sometimes came so near overstepping the bounds of +Chinese propriety as to chuckle. At first his reception +was more formal, but his interest soon led him to dispense +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page233">[pg 233]</span><a name="Pg233" id="Pg233" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>with all formality, and before the close of the interview +the questions were rapidly asked and discussed. We have +had some experience with examining attorneys, and an +extended acquaintance with the American reporter; but +we are convinced that for genuine inquisitiveness Li-Hung-Chang +stands peerless. We made several attempts +to take leave, but were interrupted each time by a question +from the viceroy. Mr. Tenney, in fact, became fatigued +with the task of interpreting, so that many of the +long answers were translated by the viceroy’s son. +</p> +<a name="ill132" id="ill132"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/i247.jpg" alt="A CHINESE BRIDE." title="A CHINESE BRIDE." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">A CHINESE BRIDE.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The interview was conducted as nearly as possible in +the foreign fashion. We smoked cigarettes, and a bottle +of champagne was served. Finally the interview was +brought to a close by a health from the viceroy to <span class="tei tei-q">“Ta-mā-quo”</span> +(the great American country). +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In conclusion we thanked the viceroy for the honor he +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page234">[pg 234]</span><a name="Pg234" id="Pg234" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>had done us. He replied that we must not thank him at +all; that he was only doing his duty. <span class="tei tei-q">“Scholars,”</span> said +he, <span class="tei tei-q">“must receive scholars.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The viceroy rose from his chair with difficulty; the servant +took him by the elbows and half lifted him to his feet. +He then walked slowly out of the room with us, and across +the courtyard to the main exit. Here he shook us heartily +by the hand, and bowed us out in the Chinese manner. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Li-Hung-Chang is virtually the emperor of the Celestial +Empire; the present <span class="tei tei-q">“Son of Heaven”</span> (the young emperor) +has only recently reached his majority. Li-Hung-Chang +is China’s intellectual height, from whom emanate +nearly all her progressive ideas. He stands to-day in the +light of a mediator between foreign progressiveness and +native prejudice and conservatism. It has been said that +Li-Hung-Chang is really anti-foreign at heart; that he +employs the Occidentals only long enough for them to +teach his own countrymen how to get along without them. +Whether this be so or not, it is certain that the viceroy +recognizes the advantages to be derived from foreign +methods and inventions, and employs them for the advancement +of his country. Upon him rests the decision +in nearly all the great questions of the empire. Scarcely +an edict or document of any kind is issued that does not +go over his signature or under his direct supervision. To +busy himself with the smallest details is a distinctive +characteristic of the man. Systematic methods, combined +with an extraordinary mind, enable him to accomplish his +herculean task. In the eastern horizon Li-Hung-Chang +shines as the brilliant star of morning that tells of the +coming of a brighter dawn. +</p> + </div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-back" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div id="footnotes" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <a name="toc133" id="toc133"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Footnote</span></h1> + <dl class="tei tei-list-footnotes"><dt class="tei tei-notelabel"><a id="note_1" name="note_1" href="#noteref_1">1.</a></dt><dd class="tei tei-notetext">Eight years before the first recorded ascent of Ararat by Dr. Parrot +(1829), there appeared the following from <span class="tei tei-q">“Travels in Georgia, +Persia, Armenia, and Ancient Babylonia,”</span> by Sir Robert Ker Porter, +who, in his time, was an authority on southwestern Asia: <span class="tei tei-q">“These +inaccessible heights [of Mount Ararat] have never been trod by the +foot of man since the days of Noah, if even then; for my idea is that +the Ark rested in the space between the two heads (Great and Little +Ararat), and not on the top of either. Various attempts have been +made in different ages to ascend these tremendous mountain pyramids, +but in vain. Their forms, snows, and glaciers are insurmountable +obstacles: the distance being so great from the commencement +of the icy region to the highest points, cold alone would be the destruction +of any one who had the hardihood to persevere.”</span></dd></dl> + </div> + + + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="boxed tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="pdf134" id="pdf134"></a><a name="toc135" id="toc135"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Transcriber’s Note</span></h1> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The list of illustrations has been added in the electronic text.</p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The illustrations have been placed between paragraphs + in the electronic text. The page they are printed on in the original edition + can be seen in the list of illustrations.</p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Pages only containing + images have been left out in the pagination on the margin.</p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The following typographical errors have been corrected:</p> + <table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr082" class="tei tei-ref">page 82</a>, period changed to comma (after <span class="tei tei-q">“was”</span>)</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr140" class="tei tei-ref">page 140</a>, <span class="tei tei-q">“Siberan”</span> changed to <span class="tei tei-q">“Siberian”</span></td></tr></tbody></table> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Inconsistent hyphenation (<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">e. g.</span></span> <span class="tei tei-q">“footsteps”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“foot-steps”</span>, + <span class="tei tei-q">“innkeeper”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“inn-keeper”</span>, + <span class="tei tei-q">“moonlight”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“moon-light”</span>, + <span class="tei tei-q">“pigtails”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“pig-tails”</span>, + <span class="tei tei-q">“wickerwork”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“wicker-work”</span>), punctuation or italicizing has not been changed. + The authors use both <span class="tei tei-q">“Yengiz”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“Yenghiz”</span>, <span class="tei tei-q">“bakshish”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“baksheesh”</span>, + <span class="tei tei-q">“pilaff”</span> and <span class="tei tei-q">“pillao”</span>.</p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; 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