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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37475-8.txt b/37475-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a3e0ef --- /dev/null +++ b/37475-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2963 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Turkey, by Julius R. Van Millingen + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Turkey + Peeps at Many Lands + +Author: Julius R. Van Millingen + +Illustrator: Warwick Goble + +Release Date: September 19, 2011 [EBook #37475] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURKEY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A KAFEDJI] + + + + + PEEPS AT MANY LANDS + + TURKEY + + BY JULIUS R. VAN MILLINGEN + + WITH TWELVE FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BY WARWICK GOBLE + + + LONDON + ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK + 1911 + + + + +[Illustration: THE BRIDGE FROM GALATA TO STAMBOUL.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 5 + + II. ALBANIANS, POMAKS, TARTARS, AND BULGARIANS 11 + + III. CIRCASSIANS, LAZES, AND KURDS 22 + + IV. ARMENIANS 27 + + V. GREEKS AND VLACHS 36 + + VI. JEWS--SUPERSTITIONS 48 + + VII. GIPSIES--SUPERSTITIONS 54 + + VIII. SYRIANS, DRUSES, MARONITES, AND BEDOUINS 57 + + IX. TURKS 61 + + X. THE FAITH OF ISLAM 72 + + XI. GAMES 78 + + XII. DOGS 85 + + XIII. THE GALATA BRIDGE AND THE BAZAARS 90 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THE BRIDGE FROM GALATA TO STAMBOUL _Frontispiece_ + + ROUMELI HISSAR (BOSPHORUS) 9 + + A SIMITDJI 16 + + A STAMBOUL BEGGAR 25 + + IN THE GRAND BAZAAR 32 + + A SHEKERDJI's SHOP 41 + + A CEMETERY BY THE BOSPHORUS 48 + + A FORTUNE-TELLER 57 + + A TURKISH LADY IN OUTDOOR DRESS 64 + + INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AHMED I. 73 + + A HOWLING DERVISH 80 + + A KAFEDJI _On the cover_ + + Sketch-Map of Turkey _page iv_ + + + + +[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP OF TURKEY.] + + + + +TURKEY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY + + +The Empire of Turkey, through which I propose to conduct you, stretches +over portions of Europe and Asia--the slender thread of the Bosphorus +and the Dardanelles being the division between the two continents. A +rapid current rushes through these channels, but in some places they are +so narrow that you can shout across from Europe to Asia, and it is no +uncommon thing to hear the dogs barking from the other side. + +Turkey in Europe spreads northwards from these points up to Bulgaria, +and consists of a long strip of country extending from the Black Sea to +the Adriatic. + +Turkey in Asia is more extensive, and stretches from the Black Sea to +the Persian Gulf. Persia lies to its east, and the Red Sea and blue +Mediterranean to its west. + +Turkey holds sway over some of earth's fairest lands, the homes of its +most ancient civilizations and lands familiar to us through Holy Writ +and profane history, and the sources of Jewish, Christian, Moslem, and +other beliefs. + +The rulers of Turkey are the Turks, originally a nomadic tribe from +Central Asia. Compelled to abandon their homes on account of the +desiccation or drying up of large tracts of their country, which were +converted into a desert, they swarmed into Armenia and Persia in quest +of new pasture-lands for their flocks and cattle. Like the in-coming +tide, they swept everything before them, and finally overwhelmed, not +only Asia Minor, but also Egypt and Northern Africa. + +Converted at an early stage of their history to the Mahomedan faith, +they propagated it wherever they went, and, under the leadership of the +Sultans of the Seljuk dynasty, they established themselves in Konia, and +advanced their rule to the gates of the Byzantine Empire. But it was +reserved for a kindred tribe under Ertogrul to be the successors of the +Seljuks and establish the Ottoman dynasty which still holds sway over +Turkey. + +The events leading up to it were as follows: Ertogrul, with a band of +400 followers, was wandering about Asia Minor, and accidentally came +across a conflicting Mongolian and Seljuk army in the neighbourhood of +Angora. He dashed into the fray in support of the latter, and changed +impending defeat into a brilliant victory. In reward for this timely +assistance the Seljuk Sultan awarded to Ertogrul the district of +Anatolia, which bounded the Greek or Byzantine Empire, the capital of +which Empire was then Constantinople. + +During the summer the new-comers drove their flocks to the mountains, +and during the winter they withdrew them to the plains, but, growing +bolder and more powerful, Ertogrul waged war against the Greeks. Success +followed upon success, until at last, in 1326, under the leadership of +Othman, the son of Ertogrul, Nicea, noted for its Council which drew up +the Nicean Creed, fell to the sword of the Moslem. Brusa also was taken, +and there Othman enthroned himself as Sultan of the dynasty thenceforth +known as the Ottoman. + +Before proceeding further it might be interesting to relate an incident +which pictures the primitive character and frugality of the founders of +this dynasty. When the mighty Othman died, the only possessions he left +behind were a salt-bowl, the symbol of hospitality, a spoon, his sword +and standards, his cloak and white turban, a pair of horses, a yoke of +oxen, and his flock of sheep. His sword is still preserved in +Constantinople, and each successive Sultan is invested with it on his +coronation. The descendants of his flock of sheep are still the heritage +of the reigning Sultan, and still browse on the ranges of Bithynian +Olympus, and supply butter and cheeses for the royal household. + +The victories of the Ottoman Turks were followed by the incorporation of +the Seljuks, and drew into their ranks crowds of recruits thirsting for +blood and plunder. The Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus were ravaged +with sword and fire, and shortly afterward (in 1453) Constantinople was +invested and stormed, and the last of the Byzantine Emperors slain. + +Driving everything before them, the victorious Turks marched northwards +into Europe, devastating, burning, plundering, slaying, and making +captives of women and children, until at last they reached the walls of +Vienna, and at one moment it looked as if all Europe would fall to their +sway. + +But this was the limit of their Northern conquests, and, like the tide +which recedes after it has reached its fulness, so this assault on +Vienna and its repulse marks the high tide and first ebb of Turkey's +greatness. + +One by one they lost their possessions in Europe, such as Hungary, +Roumania, Greece, Servia, and Bulgaria, and now only a comparatively +small strip of country remains to them in Europe. In Asia also large +tracts of country have been wrenched from Turkey by Russia; and in +Africa, Egypt and Tunis are Turkish only in name. + +[Illustration: ROUMELI HISSAR.] + +The splendid conquests of the Turks were due to the hardihood of a race +brought up in frugality and nomadic pursuits. Their strength and courage +were amazing, and their religious zeal made them reckless of their +lives. Their early Sultans, too, were men of extraordinary energy and +sagacity, and were the first among the Turks to organize regular +soldiers. A famous corps was that of the Janissaries, who were +selected from the strongest and most beautiful Christian youth forced +away from their parents or captured in battle. Confined all their lives +in barracks, and daily drilled in the arts of war, they grew to be as +invincible as Cromwell's Ironsides. + +But as discipline relaxed they became insubordinate, dethroning Sultans +and nominating others, until one day, in 1826, Sultan Mahmoud IV. had +them secretly surrounded in their barracks and annihilated. A venerable +planetree may yet be seen in the old Palace grounds where the survivors +were hanged. Its hollow trunk ultimately served as the shop of a +shoemaker. + +The decline of the Ottoman Empire was due to the corruption of the Turks +that followed acquisition of wealth. They lost their hardihood, and +their Sultans became profligate and luxurious. They filled their harems +with wives and numberless slaves, and addicted themselves to pleasure +instead of duty. They became tyrants, and their jealousies and fears of +being supplanted made them so cruel that it became customary for a +Sultan ascending the throne to kill all his brothers or near male +relatives. This was usually done by strangling them with a bow-string, +or sewing them in bags and drowning them in the Bosphorus, as one would +an undesirable litter of puppies. + +Recent Sultans, it is true, have not dared to commit such deeds openly +in the face of growing public opinion, but, with few exceptions, they +have been equally selfish and corrupt. Indeed, in the reign of the +recent ex-Sultan Abdul Hamid, rightly styled "the Great Assassin" by Mr. +Gladstone, corruption and villainy reached unheard-of enormity. He +planned and carried out wholesale massacres against his Armenian +subjects, and spirited away thousands of innocent Mussulmans and +Christians at the instigation of the army of spies whom he employed, and +who enriched themselves with the bribes he offered. + +At last matters reached such a pitch that life in Turkey became +unbearable, and in sheer desperation he was dethroned in 1908 by his +army, led by patriotic officers who styled themselves Young Turks. + +In his stead they appointed his brother, Murad V., to be Sultan, and +proclaimed a Constitution; that is, a form of Government like our own, +with a Parliament consisting of representatives of the people. + +Turkey is now doing its best to reform itself, and we wish it all +success, but naturally, after so many years of misrule and corruption, +it will take time before the Turks can set their house in proper order. + +For now more than twenty years Turkey has been connected with Western +Europe by rail, trains starting from Vienna and crossing the Danube at +Belgrade. Shortly after, the main line branches off and one portion +proceeds through Bulgaria to Constantinople, while the other terminates +at Salonica. The journey from London to Constantinople occupies three +and a half days, but may be accelerated. + +There is no railway bridge over the Bosphorus, but a railway line, of +recent construction, runs from its Asiatic entrance into Asia Minor as +far as Konia, the Iconium of Scripture. This line is now being extended +to reach Bagdad in Mesopotamia, and will be prolonged thence to the +Persian Gulf, and doubtless, ultimately, to India, and will perhaps +enable us to visit our friends there within a week's journey from +London. + +Another railway crosses the Lebanon mountains from Beyrout, and proceeds +to Damascus, and thence extends, keeping to the east of the Jordan, to +Mecca, in Arabia, the Holy City of the Moslems. This line is called the +Sacred or Pilgrim railway, because it conveys large numbers of pilgrims +to their shrine. It was built nearly entirely out of the contributions +of the faithful, both in money and in free labour. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ALBANIANS, POMAKS, TARTARS, AND BULGARIANS + + +Having briefly narrated the history of the rise and decline of the +Ottoman Empire, it may be interesting to have a peep at the various +races and nationalities which at present constitute it. + +Beginning with Turkey in Europe, we have the Albanians, who occupy the +mountainous country north of Greece, and also Albania and Epirus on the +eastern shore of the Adriatic. They are a brave, haughty, +liberty-loving, but turbulent people, whom some maintain to be the +descendants of the ancient Pelasgi, who originally occupied Greece. They +boast of having given Alexander the Great to the world. The Albanians +were never properly conquered by the Turks, and, excepting those +inhabiting the lowlands, they do very much what they please, and even at +this moment they are defying the Turkish troops sent to disarm them, and +bring them under subjection. Some are Mahomedans, others are Roman +Catholics, and others belong to the Greek Church. They have a language +of their own, but until quite recently they had no alphabet for it, and +it was only within the last forty years that a Scotsman, the agent of +the British and Foreign Bible Society, endowed them with one, and +printed the Scriptures in their tongue. It is this alphabet that the +Turks are now trying to suppress by substituting the Arabic, and the +Albanians are fighting to maintain. The national dress of the Albanians +is a white kilted petticoat coming down to their knees, with a scarlet +or purple embroidered vest, and a corresponding sleeveless jacket worn +over a white shirt with wide sleeves. The waist is girded with a broad +silken band folded many times round the body. Embroidered leggings, +corresponding in colour with the jacket, protect the legs, and a red +cap, called a _fez_, with a silken blue tassel, covers the head. + +So attached are they to their national costume that an attempt made by +Sultan Mahmoud to forbid it led to an insurrection in the same way that +the edict in 1747 to do away with the kilts and tartans in the Scottish +Highlands created the troubles which followed the rebellion. Naturally, +the peasants cannot afford costly material, and their dress consists of +a closely-woven, home-spun tweed called _shayiak_, which is very warm +and enduring. They wear a skull-cap of the same material, _shayiak_ +knickers and leggings, and sandals instead of shoes. Over this girdle +they wear a broad cartridge-belt, which bristles with old-fashioned +pistols and formidable daggers. + +The Albanians are a nation of clans, implacable in their hatred and +constant in their friendships. Their covenant of friendship is cemented +by tasting a drop of each other's blood, and from that moment they +consider themselves blood kinsmen, and sworn to befriend, defend, or +avenge each other. + +Like the Israelites of old, the blood avenger pursues the murderer of +his friend or clansman until he finds him, and if he should fail to do +so during his lifetime, his children are bound to act on his behalf. You +can thus understand that in accordance with this law of "vendetta," as +they call it, whole families become sometimes exterminated. + +Another peculiar method of establishing friendships is by securing the +assent of an influential person to stand as godfather to children at +baptism. It involves no spiritual obligations, as may be seen from the +fact that these godfathers are frequently Mussulmans, but is recognized +as a social rite whereby the two families become relations. Albania +being a poor country, a large number of its Moslem population join the +Turkish army as soldiers or officers, this vocation being congenial with +their tastes. Others go to Constantinople or other large towns, and +engage in an occupation very different from that of warriors--namely, +that of manufacturing and selling cakes, called _simits_, and an +Albanian speciality of confection called _halva_. It resembles nougat, +and is prepared with walnuts or sesame seeds. These commodities are +temptingly arranged on large circular trays, which they poise very +adroitly on their heads by means of a small cushion resembling a quoit. +You will see, under the heading of "Simitji," a picture of this kind of +tray, and the tripod upon which it is rested. The seller in the picture +is not, however, an Albanian, but a Turk from Anatolia. + +These _halvagis_, as they are called, are great favourites of boys and +girls, and of grown-up persons too, and are to be met with at every +gathering of people. Albanians also go out as vegetable-gardeners and +fruit-sellers, and deal in the remarkably beautiful apple which grows so +splendidly in their native country. + +The Turks call the Albanians _Arnaouts_, and many a village occupied by +them has in consequence been named Arnaoutkioy, the village of the +Albanian. + +Another occupation in which they engage is that of shepherds, and among +some of this craft I may mention those of the Sultan's flock of sheep on +Mount Olympus, to which I have already alluded. They keep huge fierce +dogs, which are a terror not only to wolves and bears, but also to human +beings whom they may encounter. So daring and powerful are shepherd-dogs +of this description that they have been known to tear riders down from +the saddle. The writer might once have undergone this fate were it not +for the powerful dog-whip which he carried on the occasion of an attack, +and to the fact that his horse finally bolted with him until he was some +miles from the field of danger. + +To shoot one of these dogs is at the peril of your life, for the +Albanian law of vendetta seems to extend to avenging their dogs. There +is a strong suspicion that an Englishman, who made the ascent of Olympus +some twenty years ago, was murdered by these shepherds for shooting one +of these creatures in self-defence. On another occasion the captain of +one of our ironclads, while shooting in that neighbourhood, had occasion +to kill a dog which attacked him, whereupon he was himself felled to the +ground by the axe of the shepherd. + +Turkish shepherd-dogs, though savage and powerful, have none of the +finer instincts of our collies; they will not bring round the sheep in +accordance with the shepherd's directions; they are only fighters, and +often turn and rend their masters. + +It is interesting to watch, as I have done, the yearly migrations of the +Albanian shepherds to and from Olympus. My home lay at the foot of the +mountain, and one summer's night, when the moon was full, I was waked by +the sound of sonorous voices, and the barking of dogs, and bleating of +rams. Gradually the sounds became louder, and I could hear the tinkling +of bells and finally the tramp of thousands of little feet pattering +past my door. To the bleating of the rams was added the shriller cry of +the ewes and the feebler notes of the lambs, and, rushing to the window, +I could see the whole procession--sheep and shepherd--winding its way +upwards. It was a weird sight, those shepherds in their heavy capotes of +sheepskin, and their shadows reflected on the mountain, and gave one the +impression of so many spectres gliding in the moonlight. The procession +passed along, the bleating, the tinkling, the barking, the shouting +became fainter, and finally the mountain returned to its silence +primeval, and when I awoke in the morning I could not help wondering if +it had not all been a dream. + +[Illustration: A SIMITDJI.] + +Bordering on Albania and Epirus, and east of them, you will find a +district marked on the map as Macedonia. It is inhabited principally by +Tartars, Bulgarians, and Greeks, with a large sprinkling of Jews in its +seaport towns, specially in Salonica, the Thessalonica of Scripture. The +Bulgarians belong to the Slav family, and are mostly Christians. Some, +however, have turned Moslems, and are generally known under the name of +Pomaks. The Pomaks have intermarried and fused with Tartars, who +migrated to Macedonia, as well as to other parts of Turkey, in large +numbers when their native lands--the Crimea, Bessarabia, Roumania, and +Bulgaria--passed under the sovereignty of Christian rulers. They have +high cheekbones, broad flat faces, globular noses, and sunken eyes. They +are fanatical, ignorant, and naturally embittered against Christians, +and many, as the authors of the so-called Bulgarian atrocities, have +fled to escape the punishment they deserved. + +During the time of the Russo-Turkish War in 1879, I remember witnessing +the wholesale flight of thousands of them to Constantinople. Many +arrived in ox-drawn waggons laden with their families, their goods and +chattels, and driving before them their cattle, which they disposed of +for a mere song in the market. Others were conveyed in railway-trucks, +packed close like sheep in a pen, and seemed as bewildered. A peculiar +sight was a truck-load of children packed among sacks and bedding, from +which they emerged on the arrival of the train, like ants issuing from +an ant-hill. The city swarmed with these immigrants, the courts of the +mosques were converted into refuge houses, and the utmost misery +prevailed until Government had quartered them in different villages in +Asiatic Turkey. There they still may be found, and their location +recognized by their wretched wooden shanties and their squalor. But in +many cases change of environment has not occasioned change of +disposition, and I am assured that during the time of the Armenian +massacres (1896) Pomaks quartered in Brusa sharpened their knives and +armed themselves to a man to kill and plunder the Christians, and they +were only prevented from carrying out this nefarious deed by the armed +interposition of the humane Turkish Governor. + +In dress Pomaks differ but little from the ordinary Turk; in habits they +are perhaps more industrious, and it may be put down to their credit +that they introduced into Constantinople and elsewhere a new and light +form of carriage which is now extensively used for picnics and +excursions into the country. + +In addition to the half-caste Tartars of Macedonia there are the pure +Tartars who for several centuries past have inhabited the highlands of +Asia Minor, and who are credited with great trustworthiness. This +quality, in addition to their capacity for long and rapid riding, has +obtained for them the practical monopoly of the postal service in the +interior of Turkey, and the word _tartar_ has come to be synonymous with +postillion, or mounted postman. There are relays of horses at stated +intervals, but the same rider travels over the whole distance. His +saddle is capacious, with broad stirrups in the form of an open shoe. +The saddle has, moreover, a hump on which the rider can support his +arms, and an arrangement for fixing a short rod, with a crescent-shaped +top or cushion, on which the rider rests his chin and sleeps during +night travelling. Letters and parcels are placed in saddle-bags, which +are thrown astride the saddle in the same way as paniers are with us. +They are made of leather, of carpet, or camel's-hair, and the opening is +closed through a series of loops running into each other. There is +usually great excitement at the arrival of the Tartar, and the letters, +where no post office exists, are strewn on the floor of a room of the +_conak_, or Governor's house, and applicants asked to pick out any +addressed to them. + +Money is also conveyed from province to province by these Tartars, when, +if the amount is large, several horses are strung together, and are +escorted by mounted police. The currency in the interior being silver +coins of the size of our five-shilling pieces, the jolting and friction +occasioned by the drive are likely to tear ordinary bags, so the latter +are enclosed in a special rope-bag, which is neatly and compactly +knitted over them. Gold coin is put up in leather, which is puckered up +to form a bag, and tied and sealed on the top. + +The Christian Bulgarians of Macedonia, having been brought up more or +less under servitude, are of a much meeker character than the Pomaks, +but, judging from the strides which have been made by the other +Bulgarian races in Turkey since their independence from Turkish rule, we +may infer that their Macedonian brethren are also capable of great +development. On the whole they are poor, and live in thatched hovels, +plastered both within and without with a mixture of clay, cow-dung, and +straw. The interior is divided into three rooms--a public room, a family +bedroom, and one for keeping provisions. The floor is of clay, beaten +hard, and is covered with coarse rugs and cushions large enough to serve +as beds. A small oil-lamp burns in a corner under the _icon_, or +picture, of some grim patron saint. Outside the house is an oven, +resembling an ant-hill, and accommodation for hens, pigs, and cattle, +and the whole is enclosed with a wall and guarded by dogs. + +The Bulgarians are frugal in their habits, and live principally on beans +seasoned with vinegar and red pepper, and they have a great partiality +for garlic. Their principal occupation is agriculture and sheep-farming. + +The men's dress somewhat resembles the Albanian, but their vests and +jackets are generally made from sheepskins, with the wool turned +inwards, and they wear on their heads the _calpak_, or low cap, made +from black lamb-skins, with the wool turned outwards. This _calpak_ is +as much the national characteristic of the Bulgarian as the fez is of +the Turk. The women's dress is pleasing--green and red being very +conspicuous--and when in gala dress their persons are weighted down with +ponderous silver ornaments worn on the head, round the neck, waist, and +wrists. + +Their national music is the bagpipe, but the music is very primitive, +and does not soar to the heights of the pibrochs of Scotland, and their +dance is heavy and uncouth, and apparently modelled from the bear. +Indeed, in one of these dances the principal dancer puts on a real +bearskin, and, led about by a young girl, performs all sorts of antics, +much to the enjoyment of the spectators, who at the close of the +performance all join in hooting and pursuing the dancer. + +Formerly large bands of Bulgarian dancers used to come to Constantinople +during the Easter festivities, and march through the streets with +inflated bagpipes, or resort to the field of sports. Their bear-dance +ended, they would fling their caps heavily to the ground, then pick them +up, and walk round with them to the crowd for the collection of coppers. + +But the Bulgar is no longer popular, either with the Turk or the Greek, +and they now seldom grace the festivals in the capital with their +presence and their antics. + +The Greek population of Macedonia is not large, but is inimical to the +Bulgarian, both from feeling of racial antipathy and from religious +discord. Both, it is true, belong to what is called the Greek or +Orthodox Church, but a few years ago a dispute arose regarding the +language in which services should be conducted in Bulgarian churches. +The Patriarch and heads of the Greek Church insisted that it should be +Greek, whereas the Bulgarians, who do not understand Greek, claimed that +it should be Bulgarian, the language of the people. The dispute led to a +disruption, and now the Bulgarian Church is governed by a Bulgarian +Exarch, and the priests and language are Bulgarian, but the Greek Church +considers them schismatics, and will have no ecclesiastical dealings +with them. + +Further reference to Greeks will be made in Chapter V. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CIRCASSIANS, LAZES, AND KURDS + + +Passing over to Asia Minor, we come across groups of a very interesting +race called the Circassian. + +Inhabiting originally the belt of lofty mountains which run from the +Black Sea to the Caspian, they were conquered in 1864 by the Russians, +after nearly a century of resistance, and no less than half a million +were expelled, and received hospitality in Turkey. + +This welcome was extended, not only because the exiles were Moslems, but +also because that country, remarkable for the beauty of its women, had +hitherto supplied the Turkish slave-market with wives for the Palace and +the Grandees. The vendors were their own fathers or guardians, who by +this method secured, not only a substantial profit for themselves, but +also provided comfortable homes and even royalty for their daughters. + +With so much Circassian blood in their veins, it was natural that the +Turks should show themselves sympathetic toward these poor fugitives, +and find settlements for them in various parts of their dominion. +Moreover, in doing so they kept up the market for wives; for although +slavery is officially abolished in Turkey, there is still an underhand +commerce with the Circassian colonists for the disposal of their +daughters as aforesaid. However revolting this transaction may appear +to us, it is consistent with the customs prevalent in Circassia itself, +where a suitor is expected to buy his intended from her father. But +there, at least, he must further arrange to run away with her, an +undertaking which is not so easy if the young lady does not consent. + +The characteristics of Circassians are their small and beautifully +shaped hands and feet, the grace and agility of their movements, and +their clear complexion. + +They are temperate in their habits, and frugal, their national meal +consisting of millet boiled in mutton fat. + +The Circassians are splendid horsemen, but are rather lax about their +perception of what is mine or thine; indeed, their Tartar name, +_tcherkes_, implies a "robber." They are entirely uneducated. + +The following pretty Circassian custom came under my personal notice. It +was an application made by one of their chiefs to my father for +intervention on his behalf with Government for the extension of a grant +of land. The letter in question was addressed to "Pasta Baba"--_i.e._, +the father of bread--a name by which my father was known through +distributing charitable subscriptions raised in Great Britain; it was +sent by a special messenger, and was attached to the wings of a +snow-white pigeon. A gift of a few geese of spotless purity accompanied +it. The petition was duly transmitted to Government, and the request +granted. + +There is a Turkish saying that the Almighty assigned the sovereignty of +the land to the Moslem, but that of the sea to the Giaours, or Infidels. + +But among the subject races of Turkey there is one which has +distinguished itself for its intrepidity on the water and the +fearlessness with which it navigates the Black Sea--a sea well deserving +its sinister epithet. The Lazes occupy the eastern and south-eastern +shores of the Black Sea, and their sailing-boats and ships do the +coasting trade between these regions and Constantinople. Like all +mariners of olden days, they cease navigating the seas during the +winter, and draw up their lighter boats on the beach, and anchor their +heavier ones in harbours. The lighter boats are styled _tchektermes_, +and are from 30 to 50 feet in length, with sharp, beaky prow and stern. +They carry a long bowsprit, with one or two jib-sails hoisted from a +short mast, placed nearer the bows than the stern. A long boom, attached +obliquely to the mast, serves to support an enormous sail, which, when +the boat is on the tack, bellies out to such a remarkable extent that it +resembles the section of a balloon. Yet notwithstanding this departure +from the principles of sailing, _tchektermes_ can run close up to the +eye of the wind, and are very swift in their movements. A faint idea of +this sort of sail is given in the picture of the lighter in the +illustration of "The Bridge from Galata" in the frontispiece. + +[Illustration: A STAMBOUL BEGGAR.] + +The _tchektermes_ are only partially decked, a covered stern and bow +serving for cabins for the crew. The undecked sides are heightened by 2 +or 3 feet, with a tarred awning, which protects from surf and spray. + +The larger ships used by the Lazes are from 200 to 300 tons; they are +very quaint, and resemble ancient galleons. There is very little +discipline among the crew, and everyone has a say and advice to give to +the captain, who is much on the same level as his men. + +A large number of Lazes come to Constantinople, and engage in the +shipping trade or as stevedores, but others form into guilds for digging +and carrying on operations in connection with housebuilding, and are +very industrious and hard-working. Their hours of labour often extend +during the summer season from five in the morning till eight at night. +They, in common with all labourers in the East, are not engaged by time, +as with us, but, like those labourers mentioned in Scripture, at a fixed +charge for the day. + +Another people strongly resembling the Lazes in appearance, but +inhabiting the mountainous regions to the south of them, all the way up +to and into Persia, are the Kurds, of whom you have probably heard a +good deal in connection with the Armenian massacres. Their country is +called Kurdistan, and is drained by the tributaries of the Euphrates and +the Tigris. Several of its mountains rise to the height of 6,000 to +7,000 feet. Kurds are also to be found in all the hilly districts of +Armenia and Mesopotamia. They are a sinewy, dark, well-formed race, with +a fierce look which betrays an equally ferocious character. They owe +but slight allegiance to the Turkish Empire, and are under the rule of +chiefs, more or less independent, who organize robber bands to plunder +or blackmail caravans. + +They possess remarkably fine horses, which are greatly in demand for the +Turkish cavalry. The Kurds themselves are great riders, and with their +long javelins, bows, or muskets, are a terror to their neighbours. They +are also experts in the use of the sling. During the recent Armenian +massacres they were allowed a free hand, and their cruelty and rapacity +were such as to defy description. The ex-Sultan, Abdul Hamid, +incorporated a number of them into a division of cavalry, commanded by +their own officers, which constituted his bodyguard, and he paid them +largely, and dressed them handsomely, but since his dethronement they +have been disbanded as too insubordinate. + +It is the boast of the Kurds that their country gave birth to the great +Saladdin, who in the twelfth century fought against our Richard Coeur +de Lion in the Holy Land. + +Most of the Kurds are migratory in their habits, but others reside in +villages, where they sow their fields with seed in spring-time, and then +quit them in order to pasture their flocks in the mountains. In autumn +they return to their villages, and reap their harvest. Those residing in +the plains are of a more peaceful disposition, and exercise much +ingenuity and show much taste in the manufacture of carpets. These are +entirely of wool, and are of that light description known as _kilims_, +used in this country for portières. Occasionally some of the women +working at them weave in locks or tresses of their own hair, which is +supposed to add to the value of the carpet. It certainly adds to its +quaintness. + +A peculiar product of the Kurdish forests is manna, a sweet exudation on +the oak-leaf. These leaves are beaten down from the trees, and collected +on sheets, and then pressed into lumps and eaten, either in their +natural condition, or used as a sweetening ingredient. Manna has a +sweet, pleasant taste, and is called by the Kurds the "divine +sweetmeat." It is sold in the courts of the mosques in Constantinople +during the sacred month of Ramazzan. + +Lake Van, on the confines of Kurdistan, is about 70 miles long and 28 +miles broad. Its waters are salt, but brackish near the streams, and +when evaporated produce a kind of soap used in the country. The lake +abounds in a peculiar kind of carp (_Cyprinus Tarachi_), locally known +as _Dareg_, which is said to exist nowhere else, and which is dried and +eaten extensively in the neighbourhood. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ARMENIANS + + +Adjoining Kurdistan lies Armenia, but it is difficult to determine where +the one begins and the other ends, as during the time of the Armenian +troubles the Sultan decreed that no such place as Armenia should exist, +and vast stretches of country inhabited by Armenians were officially +incorporated in the villayets, or provinces, of Kurdistan and others. + +So determined was the Sultan to blot out the name he hated that the +censors were ordered to prohibit or deface all books having reference to +Armenia, and the writer of these lines had unpleasant experiences at the +Custom-house where a number of his books were mutilated; Keith +Johnston's book on "Geography," for instance, had ten pages torn out. + +But in spite of Imperial edicts, Armenia still exists, and will continue +to do so as long as Mount Ararat stands as a monument in the land to +proclaim an antiquity claimed to be coeval with Noah. + +The traditions of the Deluge are still cherished by the Armenians, who +yearly celebrate the exit from the Ark, and symbolize it in their +national pudding, called the _anoosh aboor_, or sweet pudding. This +consists of as many varieties of dried fruits as they can collect, which +they mix together and stew, in imitation, it is alleged, of Noah, who +did the same with the remnants of the provisions he had stored in the +Ark. On this occasion they also sprinkle water on each other's faces, to +denote the flood, and liberate captive doves and make cakes to represent +birds. + +Tradition also maintains that it was in Armenia, on the southern slopes +of Ararat, still rich in vines and olive-yards, that Noah planted the +first vineyard. A withered root of one of the plants is still exhibited +to show the result of the Divine malediction on the vine which +occasioned his drunkenness. + +Armenia has passed through a number of vicissitudes, and frequently +changed masters, and, owing to its geographical position, has often been +the highway for the passage of opposing armies. It was the first country +that officially embraced Christianity, their Sovereign, Tigranes, having +been converted at the end of the third century by Gregory the +Illuminator, and the Armenian Church has since been called the +Gregorian. Armenia fell under the sword of the Moslem powers, and many +of its inhabitants were compelled to turn Mahomedans, but as a whole +they bravely maintained their faith and worship, notwithstanding +persecutions. They have a language and an alphabet of their own, the +latter consisting of thirty-eight letters, and expressing so many sounds +that it is often used with advantage in writing Turkish also. The +language spoken by the people principally is Turkish, while that used in +the Church services is Ancient Armenian, which is not understood by the +illiterate, but efforts are now made to revive the use of Modern +Armenian, and it is being taught in their schools, and spoken more +extensively. + +Armenia is to-day portioned between Russia, Persia, and Turkey, the +latter ruling over the largest share. The population of the Turkish +section is probably about 1,000,000, but about as many, if not more, +are spread about other portions of the Empire, and Constantinople holds +150,000. + +The Armenians are of medium height, but broad-shouldered and of powerful +build; their complexion is swarthy, their hair black, and they can grow +magnificent beards. Their eyes are black, and their nose aquiline, or +eagle-beaked. This latter characteristic is very marked, and can be +traced back to the coins of Tigranes, and of their earliest sovereigns. +Their habits are indolent, and years of servitude have made them timid, +and until quite recently they appeared so infatuated with their masters +that their highest ambition seemed to be to ape them. They have been +described as "having no high feeling, no emulation, no enthusiasm, no +longing for a place among nations, no aspirations after the bright and +the beautiful." But now all this has changed--at least with the educated +people--and ecclesiastically, as well as socially, they have aspirations +for an improvement in their condition. They have great business +capacities, and show some aptitude in the arts, especially in weaving +and embroidery, but have little initiative. They are naturally devout +and kind-hearted, especially to animals, and ill-treatment of the latter +is considered as deserving ecclesiastical censure, a case being on +record where a priest imposed a fast of twenty years upon a woman for +killing her cat. + +Villagers and Armenians from the interior are remarkable for their +honesty, and have been entrusted for generations with the guardianship +of merchants' offices, banks, shops, and the surveillance of public +establishments. + +Their inducements to faithfulness are strengthened by their conviction +that honesty is the best policy, for as a result of their proverbial +trustworthiness their functions have come to be regarded as hereditary, +and when one servant dies or returns to his family, he is replaced by +his son, or brother, or near relative. There is thus solidarity between +the members of a family, and even between the citizens of a town, for +there are some towns--Mush, for instance--that hold the palm for the +integrity of its inhabitants. + +An occupation, akin to the previous one, held by Armenians, in common +with Turks of Asia Minor, is that of porterage, an institution of the +greatest importance, especially in Constantinople, where the narrowness +or steepness of the streets often prevents wheeled conveyance. + +These porters, known under the name of _hamals_, carry their burden on +their back by means of a leather cushion, which is strapped over their +shoulders, and called a _semer_, or saddle (see illustration, "In the +Grand Bazaar," Chapter IV.), and it is extraordinary what weight and +bulk they can carry. The object to be carried, if heavy, is lifted by +one or two companions, and rested on the _semer_, while the wearer +stoops forward to receive it. + +Great care is necessary to poise and balance it properly, as the secret +of lifting lies in the correct adjustment--an art which with the +_hamals_ seems instinctive. A short rope is then thrown over the burden, +and the ends are held by the porter so as to prevent the burden from +slipping as he proceeds on his way with heavy but steady steps. Should +the road be steep, he will generally find resting-stones, which have +been placed at regular intervals, where he can lean his burden without +removing it, and obtain a brief repose. The placing of these +resting-stones is considered a meritorious act among Moslems, and finds +its equivalent in the Rest-and-be-Thankful Stones to be met with in many +places in this country, where the weary traveller sits and blesses the +donor. + +It is an interesting study to watch the muscles of the _hamal's_ legs +distend and his veins dilate as, nearly bent in two, he treads leisurely +along, groaning under a weight which it would take two ordinary men to +carry. + +Conveying a piano, for instance, is no unusual occurrence, and on one +occasion the writer had coals conveyed to his house, situated on a hill, +and about three miles from the ship, at the same price as they would +have been conveyed by horses, each _hamal_ carrying half a horseload. A +_hamal's_ carrying capacity may therefore be expressed, after this +experience, as equal to a half horse-power. + +[Illustration: IN THE GRAND BAZAAR] + +If the object to be conveyed is a very heavy one, it is suspended on a +long pole, and carried between two _hamals_, the rounded ends of the +poles resting on their shoulders, with perhaps a leather pad between to +protect the bone. + +Should the weight be heavier still, say a large bale of merchandise or a +pig of lead, four, six, or eight _hamals_ combine, each pair carrying a +separate pole. As they march swinging and staggering along, with their +right hand resting on their neighbours' left shoulder, and occupying +half the street, they shout _Varda!_ which means "Make room!" and +everybody has to clear out and rush to the sidewalk, or run the risk of +being thrown over. + +_Hamals_ form themselves into Guilds, allotting themselves special +spheres of work or districts, and are very jealous of interference by +outsiders in what they consider their monopoly. + +In addition to the porterage of goods they also undertake the hewing of +wood, such as is used for warming purposes in the East. They begin by +conveying it on their backs in lengths of 5 or 6 feet, in which it +arrives from the forests, and, throwing it in a heap in front of your +door, they proceed forthwith to chop it with their axes into lengths of +12 to 14 inches, and then store it. In the meanwhile half the street is +occupied by the hewers, and chips fly right and left, endangering the +eyes and faces of passers-by. + +Up to the time of the Armenian massacres, Armenian _hamals_ had nearly +the entire monopoly of the Constantinople Custom-house porterage, but +the majority were slaughtered in cold blood or had to flee, and Kurds +(many of whom were their murderers) were engaged in their place. + +But the latter had neither the experience, nor the skill, nor the +obliging manners of the Armenians, and for a long time business was +disorganized, and merchants were discontented. + +Before dismissing the subject of the _hamals_, reference may be made to +a peculiar contrivance they adopt for preventing water conveyed in open +barrels from spilling, through the vibration. It simply consists in +floating a disc of wood on the surface, and this seems as effectual as +the sailors' device of throwing oil over the troubled waters. Anyone may +try it and see the result. + +It is difficult to depict the habits of a people in a country so +widespread as Armenia, but I may briefly allude to the houses they +inhabit in Erzerum, the principal town of Armenia, and one which, +according to Armenian tradition, stands on the site of the Garden of +Eden! In any case, the climate has changed since those blissful days, +for owing to its high latitude of 5,000 feet above the sea, that +district is bitterly cold during the winter and hot during the summer. +Indeed, for six months of the year, and more, snow is said to lie in the +streets of Erzerum. The houses are in consequence low and small, +consisting generally of a ground-floor only, with a flat roof over it. +They are built of stone against the sides of a hill, and each room +stands with a separate roof. As these roofs or terraces are connected +with steps, one can walk a very considerable way over them. During the +summer they are overgrown with grass, and are the favourite resort of +women and children, the latter taking with them their lambs to browse +over the grass and flowers. Each room of these houses has a fireplace, +where cow-dung fuel is consumed. The furniture is very simple, and +consists of a raised divan round three sides of the room, on which the +family sit during the day, and often sleep at night. Only few houses +possess chairs and tables. Meals are served on a round tray placed on a +stool, around which the family squat and partake from a common dish. The +characteristic feature of the house is the stable for oxen, one portion +of which has a raised platform, with divans and carpets, and is used as +the men's reception-room. The breath of the cattle helps to keep it warm +and cosy, and underneath the platform the dogs lie and sleep, while on +the divan, resting along with the men, are lovely silken-haired cats, +many of which have their tails dyed red with henna. + +In winter the houses can hardly be distinguished under the snow, and the +town is described as a great rabbit-warren, with the passages leading to +the doors of the houses like so many burrows. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GREEKS AND VLACHS + + +In our account of the races ruled over by the Turks we must not forget +the Greeks, those enterprising colonists who, long before the Christian +era, settled along the coast of the Black Sea, and all along the +sea-line which now fringes the Ottoman Empire, as well as in its +islands, and who also founded commercial stations in the interior. In +earliest times we find them connected with such expeditions as the +Argonautic, in quest of the Golden Fleece, and returning, not only with +rich trophies, but with wonderful legends regarding the lands they +visited. I could entertain you at great length on their adventures in +the countries I am describing, but this is not the object of this book, +and my reference to the past must only be to show you that the present +Greeks in Turkey are much the same people as their ancestors, with the +same love for commerce, the same love for the beautiful and the same +glowing imagination. Yet they differ in this respect, that they are now +a subject instead of an independent people. They also differ in not +calling themselves Hellenes, but Romei--_i.e._, Romans--an appellation +which, strange to say, applies only to members of the Greek Church. +Roman Catholics contemptuously refuse to be called Romei, and style +themselves Latins. + +Intermarriages have somewhat tainted the purity of their blood, and in +many cases they have lost the use of their mother-tongue, and can only +speak Turkish, but still they are Greeks to all intents and purposes, +and mostly members of the Greek or Orthodox Church. + +The Greek type of face is much the same as what we see in the statuary +in our museums. The forehead is broad but rather low, the nose and +profile straight, the eyes large, the lips full, the chin firm, and the +neck rounded. They are tall and stately, and graceful in their +movements, and have small hands and feet. + +In character they are highly imaginative, superficial, and shrewd, but +make excellent husbands and wives, and inspire their children with a +love for home and respect for their parents. + +In education the wealthier classes are advanced, but the peasantry are +still backward. The Greek spoken by the latter is very corrupt, and has +a large admixture of Turkish and Italian, but the efforts of School +Boards and of the local newspapers are tending to purify and elevate it. +At present even the New Testament Greek is above the average man's +comprehension. + +The Greeks, as of yore, have much of the heroic in their character, and +their ballads are full of the noble deeds, both of men and of women, in +their defence against their oppressors. + +Their usual method of vindicating their rights and protecting themselves +consisted in forming bands of _Armatolæ_, or _Kleptæ_, and occupying +strongholds in the mountains, from which they would sweep down +unexpectedly and avenge themselves, or carry away some wealthy Pacha as +captive until he was ransomed. + +These bands were looked up to by the people as heroes and +deliverers--the Jephthas and Gideons of their captivity. + +But unfortunately their exploits were not resorted to for the cause of +freedom and justice alone, and have often degenerated into sheer acts of +brigandage. A series of them were recently enacted in Macedonia, and on +one occasion an Englishman was surprised, surrounded, and carried to the +mountains. A messenger was sent down with a demand for his ransom, and +with a threat that unless this was produced within a stated time, or if +pursuit was made, his life would be forfeited. The sum fixed upon was +the captives' weight in gold, and as he unfortunately happened to be a +heavy man, the amount represented £12,000. The ransom was duly paid, +but the money afterwards recovered from the Turkish Government. + +As an instance of the strange mixture of superstition and depravity +among some of these brigand bands, it is related that on one occasion a +band plundered a church, and then, seizing the priest, the _Kleptæ_ put +a sword to his throat until he absolved them from the offence. + +Acts of brigandage are not, however, limited to Greeks, though they are +the chief offenders, but are shared with Albanians and Turks. Nor have +Macedonia and Greece had the monopoly, but Smyrna and the hill-country +near Constantinople have given scope for their activities. Their spies +and agents in these towns supplied them with information, and the +villagers and shepherds about their districts being in full sympathy, +kept them in supplies and ammunition. + +From the bandit it is pleasant to turn to the agricultural and pastoral +life of the Greeks in Turkey, and describe the assistance that boys and +girls give to their parents. + +When the wheat or barley has been harvested, the sheaves are spread on +the threshing-floor, which has previously been carefully prepared with +clay and stones beaten down into a smooth surface. A broad wooden sledge +is then provided, with sharp flint-stones firmly embedded into the under +portion. One or two horses are attached to the sledge and a boy or girl, +seated on a stool on the sledge, seizes the reins, and whip in hand, +drives the horses at full gallop round and round the threshing-floor. +The sharp flints, acting as knives, soon cut up the long stalks into +straw, and separate the grain. Then a windy day is selected, and with +long wooden forks the straw is tossed up into the air, the wind carrying +the chaff and straw to a short distance, and leaving the heavier grain +at the winnower's feet. The winnowed grain is then shovelled up into a +heap, and there it must remain until the tax-gatherer has come and +removed one-tenth on behalf of the Government. The harvest-festival +follows, when, attired in their best clothes and with flowers on their +heads and sheaves of golden grain in their hands, the harvesters proceed +to the towns, and dance and sing before the doors of their patrons. + +One of their favourite dances is the old classical _syrto_, or +long-drawn dance, performed on the village green. The youths and maidens +don their picturesque gala costumes, and prepare for the dance, while +the elderly men group themselves round the coffee-house, smoking their +pipes and sipping coffee, and the matrons, with little ones, sit under +the trees and gossip. A musician, with fiddle, pipe, or viol, sits on a +barrel, while each youth produces his coloured handkerchief, and, +holding it by one corner, presents the other to the girl at his side. +She in her turn presents her own to the dancer next to her; a long line +or circle is formed, and the dance is proceeded with, the youths and +maidens responding to each other in the words of a song. + +The dress of the girls differs very much according to the locality where +they reside. That of the villages near Constantinople consists of a +loose, bright-coloured bodice, worn over a blouse open at the neck, and +a coloured kerchief twisted round the head, from under the folds of +which the hair hangs down the back in rich plaited tresses. The trousers +are loose, baggy, and voluminous, and are fastened with a cord round the +waist. + +[Illustration: A SHEKERDJIS' SHOP.] + +Over the bodice a bright zouave is worn, richly embroidered in gold or +silver, and strings of gold or silver coins hang round the head, or as a +necklace round the throat, while on the wrists are heavy bracelets. + +In other places it is described as consisting of "a skirt woven in +stripes of silk and woollen, reaching to the ankles, with a +tight-fitting bodice of the same, a cloth jacket braided or embroidered +round the borders in gold thread and lined with fur, and in some +districts a bright-coloured apron ornamented with needlework" (L. +Garnett, "Women in Turkey"). + +The same writer reports that in the islands a favourite amusement on +these occasions is for the girls to suspend a rope across a narrow +street from the wall of their own house to that of a neighbour, and +every youth who wishes to pass by must pay toll in the form of a small +coin, and give one of the girls a swing, while he sings the following +verse: + + "O swing the clove-carnation red, + The gold and silver shining: + And swing the girl with golden hair, + For love of her I'm pining." + +To which the maiden replies: + + "O say what youth is swinging me, + What do you call him, girls? + For I a fez will broider him, + With fairest, whitest pearls." + +The Vlachs that inhabit Macedonia follow principally pastoral and +agricultural pursuits. They spend the winter in their mountain +villages, but during the summer they lead a nomadic life in quest of +pastures, and move about, gipsy-like, in caravans. + +The care of their father's flock is committed to the charge of the +daughters, whose beauty has often been extolled in many an amorous +folklore song. Their duties are to milk the sheep and goats, churn the +milk into butter, or convert it into cheese, bleach and spin the wool, +and weave garments for the use of the family. A loom occupies the corner +of every dwelling, and every spare moment is given to twisting thread +with a spindle. + +There is considerable dislike among the Greeks to let their daughters go +out to service, but this feeling is not shared by the inhabitants of the +Greek islands. On the contrary, they supply the main stock of domestic +servants, and recognized agents sail to and from the islands to find +them occupation and attend to their interests. These Greek servants are +generally very ignorant, can seldom write, and depend on the agent or +some kind friend both for reading and writing their letters. They do not +draw their pay monthly or quarterly, but prefer to allow it to +accumulate with their masters, and withdraw it in a lump sum. After +having stayed for some years in service, the girls are greatly in demand +with their countrymen, and return to their islands and marry, but only +to go back to service when their lazy husbands have expended their +savings. Many of them return in the capacity of wet-nurses, a vocation +greatly in demand in the East, where children are seldom brought up on +the bottle. They are highly paid, and, moreover, receive presents on +such important occasions as the child's cutting its first tooth and the +like. + +Their social position is also different from that of other servants, for +as foster-mothers they have a say in the child's upbringing, and their +own children can claim kinship as foster-brothers or foster-sisters. +Strange and incongruous connections are often the result, as, for +instance, in the case of an acquaintance of mine in Smyrna, a British +subject and manager of a bank. His foster-brother, a Greek, took to the +mountains, and was known as the famous brigand, Caterdjee Yiani, and +many a time the latter escaped detection and arrest by hiding in the +house of his British milk-kinsman. + +Wet-nurses in the Sultan's palace are, it is stated, invariably +Circassians, and their own children become playmates with the Crown +Princes, and are not forgotten in after life. The foster-mother enjoys a +title of courtesy, and often her influence in the palace comes next to +that of the reigning Sultan's mother. In the case of the wet-nurse of +Sultan Abdul Aziz, her power was such that frequently the appointment or +dismissal of Governors and other State officials depended on her +good-will. + +Greek servants are as a rule honest, but very slovenly, and at first +very raw and unused to the ways of civilized life. They love to go +about barefooted, or shuffle in slippers. Their hair is seldom combed, +and their garments hang loosely about them. Their head-dress is a +printed kerchief, called a _fakiol_, which they wear both indoors and +out of doors, but the more advanced wear hats, and consider it such a +distinction, that a man-servant of mine, who wanted to get married, +could not describe his intended to me in more flattering terms than by +saying that "she wears the _capello_" (hat). + +On Sundays they put on their finery and are very keen to go to church, +and gossip with their fellow-servants in the women's gallery. It was +probably to similar tittle-tattling, so common in Eastern churches, that +St. Paul referred when forbidding women to "speak in the churches." + + * * * * * + +Factories are so seldom to be seen in Turkey that women have few +opportunities of employment as factory-girls, but in the silk-spinning +factories in Brusa Greek, Armenian, and Turkish girls work side by side. +Their great ambition is to be possessed of and wear gold coins about +their persons, but specially a five-lira piece, representing about £4 +10s. of our money. Too eager to wait until their savings enable them to +buy that coin, they go to a money-changer and receive one immediately on +credit, paying him weekly a stipulated instalment, and interest at 12 +per cent. a year in addition. The result is that when they have paid off +the debt they find that the coin has cost them at least £6 or £7; but +in the meanwhile their feminine vanity has been gratified, and the coin +displayed three or four years earlier than otherwise. + +A curious class of people to be found in nearly every village in Turkey, +and even in the interior of Arabia, Egypt, and Khartoum, is that of the +_bakals_, or grocers, who are Greeks from Kaisarieh, in Karamania (Asia +Minor). Fat, dumpy, and oily, with dirty, baggy trousers, greasy vests +and shining countenances, they are as like one another as two peas. They +have practically the monopoly of the retail grocery business, and their +shops contain everything you can imagine in the way of Eastern articles +of diet--bread, cheese, black olives, salted anchovies, sardines, +curdled milk called _yiaourt_, oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, rice, +sausages, and dried meats, honey, butter, dried fruits, tallow candles, +matches, etc. + +Their little boys--chips of the old block--go round every house, calling +out "_Bakalis_" and catering for orders, or bringing them back in +conical bags of brown paper. Nearly everybody buys on credit, and an +account is run up (not always too honestly) which, after a short time, +becomes formidable, and credit is stopped till an instalment is paid. + +The _bakals'_ book-keeping is of the most primitive type, and will +baffle the sharpest chartered accountant; but mistakes are seldom on the +wrong side. + +A peculiar method for recording the number of loaves of bread +distributed in each house is that of the _tchetoula_, and consists in +cutting a notch on a piece of stick for every loaf taken. The +householder retains the stick, and receives a new one when the amount is +paid. Another method is to make a chalk-mark on the door, and efface it +on payment. + +With a community living from hand to mouth like the Eastern, it is +difficult to know what they would do without the ubiquitous _bakal_. +Besides making himself useful in the catering-line, he frequently is the +only man in his village who can read, and is resorted to both for +reading and writing letters. His correspondence is carried on in Turkish +words, but with Greek characters, full of conventional signs and +contractions, and is next to impossible to decipher. + +Stray newspapers sometimes reach him, and the news of the day is +conveyed by him to clients; and should there be a Christian church in +his village, he is sure to be one of its dignitaries, and as _psaltis_, +or precentor, preside over the singing. + +Another curious product, if I may so call it, of the Greek market is a +class of beggars known as the _Volitziani_. They come from villages in +Thessaly, and are young women who put aside their best garments, and don +an old black skirt and black jacket, so as to assume an air of abject +poverty. When about to start they receive from their community a +beggar's staff, as a badge or passport of their functions, and they +proceed to Constantinople, or any other town where begging offers +advantageous prospects. On their arrival they borrow or hire two or +three children, one of which is an infant, and which they drug and cause +to sleep on a handkerchief spread out in a corner of the street. The +beggar sits beside it, putting on her most tearful looks, and when any +likely passer-by approaches, she raises her voice in supplication, and +sends the other children to pull at his coat-tails. These _Volitziani_ +frequent the neighbourhood of churches, and their appeal is: "Give for +the sake of the souls of the departed." The result is a plentiful +harvest of coins, which enables them to return with a bagful to their +country. The beggar's staff is then hung behind the door as a trophy. +Should they desire to proceed on another begging expedition, a second +staff is given them, and so on, and at each successive return the staff +that has done service is deposited behind the door. Sometimes as many as +seven make up the trophy. Young men desiring to find wives with money +pry behind the door, and form an approximate idea of the fortune of the +owner, the one with seven staffs taking, of course, the palm. + +Constantinople was once the great resort of beggars of all descriptions, +and lines of them used to exhibit on the Galata Bridge (see +frontispiece) all manners of deformities to elicit sympathy, but one of +the reforming measures of the Young Turks was to expel them from the +city. In illustration facing Chapter III. you will see one of these +wayside beggars. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JEWS--SUPERSTITIONS + + +We read in the New Testament of Jews scattered all over the Roman +Empire. The same is true of them to-day in Turkey. Their principal +resorts are Constantinople, Smyrna, Salonica, and the other great towns. + +Some are original colonists, principally from Palestine; others are +exiles from Spain in 1493. Common vicissitudes with the Moors, who had +also been ejected from Spain, created sympathy for them in the Moslem +world, and, to the honour of the Turk let it be told, they were offered +a shelter and a home. These immigrants introduced with them the jargon +which they had employed in Spain, and which consists of a mixture of +Hebrew and Spanish, and is known as Judeo-Spanish. To it have been +grafted a number of Italian and Turkish words, and it has been adopted +as the common vernacular of both classes of Jews above mentioned. + +[Illustration: A CEMETERY BY THE BOSPHORUS.] + +Another division is that of Hebrews from Russia, Poland, and Austria. +These do not understand Judeo-Spanish, but speak corrupt Russian and +German, and differ from their southern brethren in features and customs; +they all adhere to the law of Moses, and accept the teaching of the +Prophets. There exists also a sect of Jews called _Dunmés_, or +turncoats, who are both Mahomedans and Jews. Ostensibly they are the +former, and observe all Moslem rites, but secretly they practise those +of the Hebrews also. + +The Dunmés give their children two names, one a Turkish, such as +Mustapha, and the other a Hebrew, such as Jacob. + +They reside chiefly in Salonica, and are very fanatical, and were the +ringleaders of a riot against the Christians in 1870. On the other hand, +several have distinguished themselves recently by joining the Reform +Party in Turkey, known as Young Turks, who overthrew Sultan Hamid, and +introduced the Constitution. + +Perhaps they are the only class of Jews who are seamen, and it is +interesting to watch their flotilla of small boats board the steamers +that arrive in Salonica. From their screams and shouts, you would think +yourself in pandemonium. The originator of the sect was a certain +Sabbatai Levy, who proclaimed himself the Messiah in 1648, but +afterwards accepted Mahomedanism to save his life. His adherents believe +in his return, and it is stated that one of their number always awaits +the arrival of the railway-train in Salonica to offer him a welcome. + +Jews in Turkey are not relegated to ghettos, as in several European +cities, but all the same they live in separate quarters, as, indeed, do +all the other nationalities. Their quarters may be recognized by their +malodorous smells, their filth, and the numerous families residing in +the houses, and also from the babel of tongues, and the shrill, +discordant voices of women or children shouting to each other or +quarrelling. + +Jews in the East engage principally in commerce, banking, +money-changing, pawnbrokerage, dealings on the Stock Exchange, +watchmaking, and shopkeeping. + +A feature among them is the early age at which boys commence earning +their daily bread. As young as six or seven you may see them going about +with trays containing cigarette-papers, pins, matches, and similar cheap +articles. Boys in this country will marvel at the ease and rapidity with +which mere tots can work calculations mentally in the course of their +business. + +When they grow up to manhood many engage in window-cleaning, an +occupation which has come to be a Jewish speciality, and which an +Eastern servant will resent if called upon to undertake. Others go about +riveting or cementing broken china, or, with a small charcoal brazier +and soldering irons, as tinkers; others sell a special kind of sand for +cleaning pots and pans, which they hawk about under its Latin name of +_arena_. Some make a speciality of buying, washing, and sorting empty +bottles, which they afterwards re-sell with profit; others, of course, +buy up old clothes, or, with a capacious wooden box slung over their +back, go about selling all those little articles which are indispensable +to ladies. When called to a house they spread out all their +paraphernalia, and the bargaining, which Easterns take such a delight +in, begins--buyer and seller trying to outwit and deceive each +other--the housewife feeling happy and virtuous all day if she has +beaten down the Jew to one-third of his demands, and the Jew unhappy +because he had not charged more. + +Hebrew marriages in the East occur at an early period of life, fifteen +with girls and eighteen with boys, and even earlier in Palestine. The +result is large families and much destitution, but with all that one +seldom sees any Jewish beggars, their system for relief of poverty being +so admirable. They are frugal in their habits, living largely on bread, +salt-fish, leeks, and onions, and, during the season, on fruits. The +produce sold in their shambles is, moreover, of the cheapest and most +inferior quality, yet, notwithstanding all this, the Jews are the +longest lived and healthiest of the Eastern races. + +The dress of those in Constantinople consists of two or three long +gowns, open below the knees; the sleeves are long. Their head-dress is +the Turkish fez. In winter they wear long furs over their gowns. Married +women cover their hair with a sort of bag-like embroidered kerchief, +called _yemeni_, which is painted with flowers and ornamented with lace +and seed-pearls. + +Within recent years much has been done, both by the Jewish Alliance and +the Scottish and English Mission Schools, to educate boys and girls, and +there is certainly a great improvement. + +Jews are fatalists, and are convinced that the decrees of fate are +unalterable, yet they imagine that Providence may be cheated and thus +deterred from its purposes. Accordingly, if Joseph happens to fall ill, +and there is a likelihood of his dying, they forthwith change his name +into, we will say, Benjamin, and they expect that when the Angel of +Death arrives to fulfil his mission he will think he has made a mistake, +and gone to the wrong house. So everyone in the room keeps addressing +the invalid as Benjamin, and, should he recover, they all congratulate +themselves on their masterly deception. + +Another expedient, but principally connected with children's ailments, +is to trap the malevolent demon who has induced the sickness, and this +they profess to do by laying a trail of sugar from the child's sick-bed +to a well. The greedy demon follows the track, and gets drowned! + +Dread of the evil-eye is as prevalent with the Jews as with the other +races in Turkey. They believe that there are certain malignant spirits +in existence who are envious of men's happiness and do all they can to +destroy it, especially when any self-praise or praise by others has been +expressed by the lips. This power, it is further believed, is not +restricted to demons, but is also shared by individuals, especially +those possessing blue eyes. Quite an elaborate series of antidotes or +prophylactics are adopted as a preservative against such influence, the +most potent of which is to prefix to each commendation the magic +spell-word _Mashalla_--_i.e._, "In the name of God." To this may be +added the power of the blue bead, the evil spirit having a great +predilection for that colour. Hence, if you praise a child for its +beauty, and it happens to wear blue beads, the spirit's attention will +be so absorbed with the bead that it will not hear your remarks. Another +preservative is garlic, which has a repellent effect on the evil spirit. + +As a consequence, everything in Turkey that has to be protected from the +evil-eye is decorated either with the one or the other, and you seldom +see a horse, a draught ox, or even a donkey, that has not a string of +blue beads about its neck. Children wear these charms on their caps; and +the prows of boats, the roofs of houses, cages of birds, and even hovels +have a bunch of garlic suspended with strings. It is even stated that +bouquets of flowers formed of spices, and in the centre of which garlic +is nestled, are sent as a present to the mother of a new-born infant, as +a safeguard both to herself and the child. + +Suspended along with the garlic on the gables of Turkish houses framed +texts from the Koran are often to be seen, and on the doorposts of +Hebrew houses a small tablet with the word _Shadai_ (the Almighty). +Jewish houses have also imprinted on the walls the impress of a man's +hand, with the five fingers outstretched. In Christian houses the +prophylactic takes the form of a cross, which frequently is nailed on +the eaves during the process of building. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GIPSIES--SUPERSTITIONS + + +A people resembling the Jews in that, like them, they are "found +scattered toward all the four winds of heaven, and there is no nation +whither these outcasts have not come," are the gipsies. They are to be +met with in every part of the Sultan's dominions, and in physical +appearance, manners, and character they are very similar to those in our +country. + +Moslems and Christians vie with each other in holding them in +execration, and they are branded by the former as the _Kitabsis_, or +"bookless" nation, because of the unwritten form of their beliefs and +worship. Yet the presence of gipsy-girls at weddings and other +ceremonies is much in demand, in order to amuse the guests with their +dancing and singing, to the accompaniment of the tambourine or the +flute. + +The men are frequently blacksmiths, or they rear horses and donkeys +(besides stealing them), and frequently earn something by the sale of +asses' milk, which is considered beneficial for chest complaints. The +she-ass is led early in the morning to the patient's door, and the +newly-drawn milk taken while quite warm and frothy. + +The children, of course, beg and steal, but the most fruitful occupation +of the women is that of fortune-telling, the usual methods employed +being the reading of the palm of the hand and cards. A little mirror +placed in the bottom of a small box is also consulted. + +But divination and fortune-telling is not limited to gipsies; tall +negro-women, with great rolling eyes, may be seen seated on the ground +in public squares, with groups of inquirers of both sexes around them. +They divine by means of beans or black pebbles (see illustration facing +Chapter VII.). + +There is another class of soothsayers who profess to recover lost +property, and see or show the face of the thief reflected in the water +of a deep well. A valuable ring was once lost in a house, and no clue or +evidence could be obtained as to the culprit, so the services of a +diviner were requisitioned. He arrived at night, bringing in a bag a red +cock, which he professed would crow the instant the guilty party touched +it. The inmates of the house were all ordered to squat in a circle on +the ground; the cock was placed in their midst, and all lights were +extinguished. "Now," said the diviner, "let everybody rest their hands +on the cock." They all apparently did so, and lights were called for, +and an exhibition of hands was demanded. A red stain was visible on +every hand except one--that of the guilty maid-servant, who had not +touched the cock for fear of being betrayed. + +Residents in Turkey have inherited many of the superstitions of the +Greeks and Romans, such as augury from the flight of birds, and the +entrails of newly-slaughtered animals, and faith in astrology. The +Sultan keeps a royal astrologer, who publishes yearly a list of the +lucky and unlucky days, and no one will think of undertaking a journey, +marrying a wife, or commencing business without consulting it. + +At the birth of a child a horoscope is made out for his benefit, +indicating under what constellation he was born, and laying down rules +accordingly for his guidance. + +On a certain day in March a peculiar kind of sweet, resembling and +tasting like spiced toffy, but coloured red and with a sheet of +gold-leaf stuck on it, is sent round to all palace officials. The +elegant bowl that contains it is fastened in bright muslin, and is tied +with coloured ribbons and sealed, and has to be opened and the contents +eaten at the specified moment indicated by the astrologer, in order to +secure wealth and felicity during the year. + +When troubled with dreams or otherwise apprehensive of impending +misfortune, Turks believe that by hanging shreds of rags on the railings +of the tomb of an old saint the danger may be averted. The consequence +is that some of these shrines are literally covered and disfigured with +rags. + +Dogs are also considered excellent subjects to which disease may be +transferred. The patient can effect this by feeding them. + +[Illustration: A FORTUNE-TELLER] + +A popular remedy for illness of any kind is to obtain from the _imam_, +or priest, a written text of the Koran and swallow it, and I have known +of doctors' prescriptions being taken the same way, and doubtless +with similar effect. + +Another superstition is that, if a person has had a fall, water poured +on the spot will prevent its repetition. + +A curious method for arresting the spread of infectious disease is to +surround the patient with a circle of some disinfectant, and during a +cholera scare I saw it applied to a man on the Galata bridge who had an +apoplectic stroke. The case was considered suspicious, and his body was +removed, but a circle of whitewash, like the markings of a tennis-court, +was drawn round the place where he had fallen, and the infection thus +imprisoned! + +Scraps of paper thrown in the street are held in reverence and removed +by pious Moslems, because the Name of God may be written on them and +profaned if trodden upon; but another version is that all scraps not +thus collected by the Moslem will be scattered over the burning soil +through which he is to pass, after death, on the way to Paradise, and +will make his passage more painful. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SYRIANS, DRUSES, MARONITES, AND BEDOUINS + + +An account of Palestine having been given in "Peeps at the Holy Land," I +will not allude specially to it, although it belongs to Turkey. Arabic +is the language also spoken in Syria, which lies north of Palestine, +and in Mesopotamia, which is to the east. + +Of the ancient towns of Tyre and Sidon, once famous as the capitals of +Phoenicia, nothing now remains but ruins on which fishermen dry their +nets. The inhabitants in the surrounding regions, however, still keep up +many of their ancient customs and superstitions, and, in a modified way, +Baal and Astarte are still worshipped. + +The slopes of the Lebanon adjoining Beyrout are inhabited by the Druses +and the Maronites, who, since the year 1860, have obtained +semi-independence, and are ruled by a Christian Governor appointed by +the Sultan. + +The Lebanon Ranges are very beautiful; they abound in aromatic flowers, +and bees yield an enormous production of excellent honey. They are also +the home of the cedar. + +As already stated, a railway, starting from Beyrout, crosses the Lebanon +and connects it with Damascus, one of the most ancient cities of the +world. Damascus is also one of the most beautiful, the plain on which it +stands being a continuous garden, over fifty miles in circuit, rich in +oranges, lemons, pomegranates, mulberries, figs, plums, apricots, +walnuts, pears, quinces, etc. The town, through which flows a river, +contains several magnificent structures, including a splendid mosque, +which was once a Christian church, but the streets of the city are +squalid and dirty. One of the most interesting is that called Straight, +which St. Paul traversed. + +Damascus has a large manufacturing industry, and among other articles +produces beautiful silks. It formerly produced those remarkable Damascus +swords, inimitable for hardness, elasticity, sharpness, and tenacity, as +well as for the beauty of their ornamentation. It gives its name to the +plums which we call "damsons." + +Damascus is a great centre for the conveyance of merchandise to Bagdad +and Persia by means of camel caravans--those fleets of the desert. They +are accompanied by armed escorts, as their journey lies through a long +stretch of desert, inhabited by numerous Bedouins or Arab tribes, ever +ready to blackmail the caravan. + +These tribes inhabit the Hauran during the spring, and move to the +desert in autumn. They own camels, asses, and sheep, and rear +magnificent horses, which are justly considered the most beautiful in +the world. + +The Bedouins live in tents made of black goat's-hair, and their camp +looks from a distance like a number of grazing cattle. The tent of their +_sheik_, or chief, is distinguished by its greater size, and round it +are those of the members of the family. Before the tent-doors the horses +are tethered. + +Family life among them is patriarchal, the sheik being priest, judge, +and ruler. With some tribes women occupy a high social position, and +menial work is done mostly by the men. + +The Arabs subsist chiefly on dates, which they gather and store in +October, but when in the desert they live to some extent on the produce +of the chase, which comprises an abundance of gazelles, hares, and +quails. + +These they hunt with greyhounds or with trained hawks. The latter, when +they see their quarry, swoop upon it, and pick at its eyes until the +hunter arrives. + +The Bedouins live also on bread, which they bake in thin flat cakes, and +on milk, specially in its fermented condition, which they call _leben_. +Their butter they have to keep in summer in jars, as, owing to the heat, +it is then as liquid as oil. + +The great province of Mesopotamia, where formerly stood Babylon and +Nineveh, forms the south-eastern limit of the Turkish Empire. Watered by +the Euphrates and the Tigris, it was once a magnificent agricultural +district, but the incompetency of its rulers has allowed the network of +canals, which distributed the waters of these rivers, to dry up, and the +country is now largely a wilderness. + +Its population, the remnant of the Chaldeans, has also decreased, and is +poor. The houses are made with sun-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen. +The roofs are flat, and the lower rooms are underground, and are used +during the summer months as bedrooms, owing to the excessive heat. + +The navigation of the upper reaches of the Euphrates is by means of +rafts, underneath which are inflated skins of oxen. On this raft the +traveller's tent is pitched, and he drifts leisurely down the river, +while the boatmen help it along with long poles. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TURKS + + +Having summarized the customs of some of the people under Ottoman rule, +I must say something of the Turks themselves. + +When a Turkish baby comes to this world no dainty embroidered linen and +warm bath await it, but it is dressed in a plain cotton shirt and a +cotton, quilted dressing-gown. Its limbs are then tightly wrapped in a +long shroud, so that it cannot move them. Frequently a cushion is put +between its legs before shrouding, and this probably accounts for so +many children being bandy-legged. The child is then rolled into a +quilted blanket, which is strapped up into a shapeless bundle, from +which a little head appears, wearing a red cap, copiously studded with +blue beads and seed pearls, as a protection from the evil-eye. The baby +is then laid in a wooden rocking-cradle, which has a bar connecting its +two raised ends, by means of which the cradle is lifted. Some of these +cradles are very beautiful, and are inlaid with ivory and +mother-of-pearl, and they bear appropriate inscriptions, carved in +Arabic characters on the woodwork, such as "Under the Shadow of the +Almighty," etc. + +Among poorer people a canvas hammock takes the place of the cradle, and +in it the baby is carried out of doors, and the hammock swung between +two trees, while the mother attends to her duties. + +On the third day after birth it is washed and presented to its father, +who shouts thrice in its ear the name by which it is to be known. + +A festive reception is then held by the mother in her room, and streams +of women-visitors come to compliment her and peep at the infant. But the +poor little thing does not receive the baby-worship and adulation +bestowed in this country. On the contrary, it is addressed in insulting +language, and called ugly, and a wretch, and a monster, and is +deliberately spat upon--and all this in order to ward off the influence +of the evil-eye. + +It is quite exceptional for a babe to be brought up in the East on the +bottle; should its mother be unable to nurse it a wet-nurse is procured. + +Both mothers and nurses are singularly ignorant in the question of +upbringing, and many an infant dies through injudicious feeding after it +is weaned. + +The love of Turkish parents for their children is excessive to a fault. +A characteristic story is related of a Turk who was so distressed at the +indisposition of his grandchild that he would neglect his business and +hasten constantly to the patient's room to inquire as to his condition; +and when the doctor ordered strict diet for a fortnight the anxious +grandfather compelled his whole household, including himself, to submit +to the same fare, for fear that the patient might be disappointed in not +sharing the food of the family. + +To such extent do Turks carry their love for children that they will +adopt those of others, and bring them up with the same tenderness as +their own, and will provide for them in after-life. + +Children, on the other hand, are exemplary in their respect for their +parents, and kiss their hands, and will not sit down, unless invited, in +their presence. Even when they have reached mature age their mother is +consulted, confided in, and listened to with respect. "My wives die," +says the Osmanlee, "and I replace them; my children perish, and others +are born to me; but who shall restore to me the mother who has passed +away?" + +Nor is this regard limited to the humbler classes; it is conspicuous in +the case of the Sultan, who, on his accession to the throne, elevates +his mother to the rank of Valide Sultana, or Queen-Mother, and requires +all persons belonging to his harem to swear allegiance to her. Her rule +is absolute, and even the Sultan's wives cannot leave their apartments, +or go out for drives, or shopping, without her permission. + +The early childhood of both boys and girls among Turks is spent in the +harem--that is, the section of the house reserved for the women--but +until the age of twelve, girls are not subject to the restraints of +grown-up women, nor required to wear the veil, and they often accompany +their fathers in excursions or join the boys in their play. They even +attend the same elementary school, and, sitting cross-legged with them +on a mat, repeat the alphabet, or recite texts from the Koran given out +to them by the _imam_, or priest, of the mosque with which the school is +connected. These recitations are carried on in a monotonous drawling +tone, and the body is swung forwards and backwards, the _imam_ himself +setting the time by his own rhythmical nodding. + +On their return home they frequently join their mothers and other +inmates of the harem in an afternoon's stroll. The Turks are great +lovers of Nature, and have a keen appreciation of the beautiful, but +prefer sitting down to walking, and generally spend their afternoons +resting under the shade of a great tree, or near the water's edge, +making _kef_, or, in other words, doing nothing. + +They invariably carry with them a _boktcha_, or bundle, containing a rug +and picnic requisites, while one of the party carries a red clay +pitcher, with water. Water is an indispensable requisite with Turks, and +they will enjoy drinking it from the pitcher as much as from a glass. + +[Illustration: A TURKISH LADY IN OUTDOOR DRESS.] + +The rug spread out, the party will all sit cross-legged upon it, and as +other groups of women also congregate in the same place, dressed in +garments of variegated colours, you would imagine yourself amid beds +of many-coloured tulips, while the boys and girls playing around suggest +fluttering butterflies. + +The enjoyment of the women consists in smoking cigarettes, and gazing +between each puff at the glorious scenery. Vendors of all sorts of +eatables surround them, and, we will say, a _shekerdgi_, or dealer in +sweeties, answers to their call, and places his circular tray, which he +carries on his head, on the tripod-stand which he rests on the ground. +The children flock around him, puzzled what to choose in that array of +Turkish delight and _shekers_ of every kind and colour. At last a choice +is made, and the sweets are placed in a brown-paper bag shaped like a +cone, and shared by the party. Shortly afterwards an Albanian selling +_halva_ as described in Chapter II., is called to contribute his wares. +Then walnuts, pistachios, and peanuts come in for their turn, then ices, +maybe, and something more solid in the shape of _simits_, or ring-cakes, +as shown in the illustration in Chapter II. At sunset the _boktchas_ are +made up, and the party wends its way home to partake of a more +substantial meal. + +But should the night be bright, with moonlight, the party often start +out again, and prolong their enjoyment until late hours, or until a +policeman or old Turk passing by reminds them it is time to retire. It +is amusing, in connection with these moonlight promenades, to see the +women walking about or sitting with open sunshades to protect +themselves from the lunar rays, imagining, no doubt, that they occasion +lunacy. + +Sometimes a too close proximity to the Bosphorus is selected for +spreading the family rug, and an unusually large wash from a steamer +passing by breaks unexpectedly on the shore, showering clouds of spray +over the women's heads. The cold douche sets them all on their feet, +screaming, and the bed of tulips now looks like one dashed by a storm. + +But sometimes the ladies are more enterprising; a picnic to some distant +part is decided upon, and _arabas_, or carts, drawn by oxen or +buffaloes, are engaged. These conveyances are springless, and about 9 +feet long by 4 feet wide. Those intended for excursion purposes have +highly ornamented boards of carved, gilt, and painted wood on the two +long sides, and an arched awning overhead, made usually of crimson +cloth, with gilt or silver fringes. + +The yoke attached to the oxen's necks has also an arched projection over +it, on which tassels of various colours, and sometimes bells, are +suspended in two or more tiers. + +The driver, in baggy trousers, short jacket (often dispensed with), and +a red fez, walks leisurely alongside the oxen, with a goad in his hand +to direct them. + +The cart has no seats, but the occupants provide themselves with carpets +and cushions. The jolting on bad roads is, of course, tremendous, but +this is considered part of the fun of the excursion. + +Packed as closely as possible, with the children to fill up odd corners, +the cart proceeds on its way groaning and creaking, while its inmates +roar with continued laughter, especially when an unusually big jolt has +jostled them together. + +Having arrived at their destination, the carpets are spread out, and +while some prepare and lay out the appetizing viands, others disport +themselves in the fields, and return laden with flowers and with great +yellow marigolds stuck in their hair. + +The repast may consist of such _hors-d'oeuvres_ as salted sardines, +black olives, caviar, and salad of _tchiros_, or dried mackerel. This +mackerel is the fish that in spring-time migrates from the +Mediterranean, where it has spawned, into the Black Sea, and is in such +an emaciated condition that the expression "thin as a _tchiros_" is used +in Turkey to designate a person of extreme leanness. Nevertheless, it is +caught and dried in the sun in such large quantities that the fields +over which they are suspended look blue from a distance. They are sold +by the pair, or "married couples," as the vendors cry out, and are +grilled, shredded, and prepared into salad with oil and vinegar, and the +tender leaves of the cummin (_tereot_). + +Next to the _hors-d'oeuvres_ follow _dolmaz_ or rissoles of rice, +raisins, and pine-nuts, seasoned with oil, and wrapped and boiled in +vine-leaves. _Keftez_ or meat rissoles come next, and then the fruits of +the season, such as strawberries, cherries, and plums, or, should it be +autumn, grapes, peaches, melons, water-melons, figs, etc. Cheese is +frequently eaten with these fruits. _Hoshaf_, or the sweetened water in +which fruit has been stewed, is generally drunk during meals, and when +the humble repast is over, coffee is prepared, and served round in +little cups which will barely hold an ounce. + +Turkish coffee owes its excellence to the beans being newly roasted and +newly ground. The grinding is done with a small machine, which +pulverizes the beans very finely. The coffee is prepared in a special +brass pot, the bottom of which is wider than the top. A teaspoonful is +put in for every cup required, and the water is gently brought to a +simmer over a slow fire. The coffee is allowed to rise thrice, and after +resting the pot for a minute for the grounds to settle, it is poured out +into the cups and drunk while quite hot, with or without sugar. The cups +containing a creamy foam are the most recherché. The dregs are not +drunk. The illustration on the cover of this book shows a Kafedji in the +act of preparing coffee. + +Before and after partaking of food, hands are washed, and this is all +the more necessary, as meals are eaten with the fingers, the party +sitting round a low tray, and dipping into a common dish. Should the +hostess desire to confer a special attention on a guest, she takes up a +dainty morsel in her fingers, and exclaiming _Buyrum_ (Welcome), places +it gently into the guest's mouth. It would be the grossest insult to +refuse. Cigarettes invariably follow, and then comes the lounging and +the sleeping, and the return home with the lingering rays of the setting +sun. + +Accompanying the _Arabas_ large parties of Turkish women and children +may often be seen riding astride on donkeys, with donkey-drivers at +their heels. No Oriental or Turkish lady would think of riding +otherwise, and it is reported that quite a sensation was created when a +European lady was first seen riding on a side-saddle. The conclusion was +that the unfortunate creature had lost a leg, and people wondered how +she could keep on with only the other. + +But perhaps the pleasantest method of locomotion is by _caik_--that +daintiest of all boats that float on the surface of the waters. Slender +and tapering, its side view may be compared to a half-bent long-bow, and +when looked upon from above to two such bows lying opposite each other, +string to string. A picture of a heavy sort of _caik_, used for ferrying +passengers across the Golden Horn, may be seen in the frontispiece. A +_caik_ is about 20 feet long by 4 feet broad in the middle; it is +constructed with slender boards, and is only decked at the bows and the +stern. The boatman sits on a seat in the middle of the boat, and its two +to four passengers on cushions in the bottom, while a servant sits +cross-legged on the raised stern. The oars are long and slender, with a +peculiar bulge at the upper extremity to balance them. They are fixed to +the rowlock peg by leather thongs, which the boatman continually +greases. He is clad in a shirt of transparent gauze, with long hanging +sleeves, and bordered round the open chest with a scalloping of +needlework. His feet are bare, his ample trousers are of white cotton, +and his shaven head is only partially covered by a red fez with tassels +of purple silk. At each stroke of the oars the arrowy boat flies and +skims the waters like a thing of life. Yet, though swift and graceful, +the _caik_ is not so safe nor commodious as an ordinary boat, and in +this practical age the _barka_ is rapidly replacing it. + +Friday, the Turkish Sunday, is _par excellence_ the day for excursions +during the summer to Geuk-sou or the Heavenly Waters, a lovely spot on +the Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus. A rivulet there discharges itself +into the latter, and hundreds of boats may be seen shooting towards it +from all directions. A vast concourse of people meet and sit on rugs or +low stools, making _kef_ under the shade of superb Oriental plane-trees +which abound on that spot, and while sipping coffee or smoking +hubble-bubbles, they watch the various performances going on for their +benefit. Here is a Punch and Judy show, called _cara-geuz_, or the black +eye, closely resembling our own, and equally popular with the children. +There goes a _Pomak_ with a huge Olympian bear, fastened through the +nose with a ring; it has been trained to dance at the sound of a +tambourine played by its master, and then to go round with it for +coppers. Children are always delighted with the bear-show, but the +street-dogs set up a tremendous barking, and their cry of alarm is so +peculiar and distinctive that one can always tell from the sound when a +bear is in sight. + +There is frequently also on these occasions an open-air theatrical +performance on an improvised stage, but the acting is coarse and vulgar, +and admission is generally limited to men. + +Of course at this, as at every open-air gathering, vendors of eatables +and temperance drinks abound. + +Among them I may enumerate _yiaourtgis_ or sellers of that curdled milk, +resembling curds, which is now so largely advocated in this country for +promoting longevity. It is sold in little bowls, carried in two wooden +trays, which are suspended like a pair of scales on either side of a +yoke thrown over the shoulders. _Dondulmagis_ or ice-cream vendors, who +also carry their burden over the shoulders, one side containing the +ice-cream box wrapped in folds and folds of snow-white sheeting, and the +other a polished brass receptacle for spoons, cups, and saucers, and +water to wash them after use. + +A brazier with live coal may also be seen, on which heads of Indian corn +are roasted, and greedily munched by the purchasers. _Hoshaf_ and +_sherbet_, or syrup vendors, are also there, with a stand for bottles +and glasses, and an ingenious contrivance for revolving, by means of +dropping water, a small wheel or paddle, the flaps of which strike +against a glass and produce a merry jingling sound which draws +attention. + +The charm of this concourse of people is the primitive orderly enjoyment +of outdoor life, without the disgraceful accompaniments of drunkenness. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FAITH OF ISLAM + + +A peep at Turkey cannot be complete without a passing reference to the +religious beliefs of its people, but space will only allow me to mention +those of Mahomedans. + +Broadly speaking, without counting Arabia, there are 13,000,000 +Mahomedans or Moslems, as they are also called; 12,000,000 Christians; +and 1,000,000 Jews and members of other persuasions. In Asiatic Turkey, +Mahomedans form the majority, but only the minority in European Turkey. + +Moslems are the followers of Mahomet, who was born in Mecca, Arabia, in +the year 569 of our era, and declared himself to be the Prophet of God, +sent to introduce a fuller revelation of Him, which was to supersede +Judaism and Christianity. + +The Koran, which was the great book of his faith, was declared to have +been revealed to him by the Archangel Gabriel. The Koran claims to be +the completion of the Law and the Gospel, and it proclaims Mahomet to be +the last and greatest of the line of prophets, among whom is included +Jesus Christ, but whose divinity is denied. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AHMED I.] + +The new faith, which received the name of Islam, implying submission to +God, was a protest against the heathenish practices of his countrymen in +Arabia, and the worship of the Saints and the Virgin Mary among the +Christians. The corner-stone was the unity of God, and its leading dogma +was expressed in the formula, "_La illah il Allah_" ("There is no God +but God"), to which was added, "_Mohamet Resoul Allah_" ("Mahomet is the +Prophet of God"). + +In addition to the unity of God, Moslems believe in the existence of +good and evil spirits, in the efficacy of prayer, and in a future life +with its rewards or punishments. + +Prayer with them is homage which the worshippers are required to offer +five times a day, according to a fixed ritual, with prescribed +genuflections, prostrations, and touching of the ground with the +forehead. + +When the hour of prayer arrives they will suspend their occupations, +spread a rug facing Mecca, and pray wherever they happen to be, shaming +Christians by their disregard of ridicule. + +The summons to pray or to attend the mosque is made by the _muezzim_ or +crier, who ascends the minaret or tower, attached to the mosque (see +frontispiece), and from its balcony proclaims the Unity of God, and +invites believers to prayer, as follows: "Come to prayers, come to +prayers. God is great. There is no God but God." To which, at dawn of +day, the exhortation is added: "Prayer is better than sleep, prayer is +better than sleep." + +Before prayer Turks wash their hands, feet, and faces, and remove the +shoes from off their feet. Lines of fountains are found outside the +mosques for these ablutions. The head of the worshipper remains covered. + +Among the observances enjoined upon Moslems are those of charity, +fasting, and pilgrimage. + +They are bidden to lay aside one-tenth of their income for religious or +charitable purposes. Their fasting takes place during the holy month of +Ramazan, and lasts from morning twilight to sunset. Abstinence from +food, drink, and smoking must be total. At sunset a gun announces that +the day is over, and feasting commences and lasts all night. The day is +thus transformed to night, and the night to day. + +The pilgrimage enjoined is to Mecca, and has to be performed by every +Moslem at least once in his lifetime, either in person or by proxy. He +then acquires the title of _Hadji_, or Pilgrim, which he prefixes to his +name. The shrine or temple visited at Mecca is called the _Caaba_, and +tradition records that it was there Hagar discovered the well Zem Zem, +which saved Ishmael's life, and that the latter, assisted by Abraham, +built a tabernacle. An angel brought the corner-stone, which all +pilgrims go and kiss. It was originally of crystalline whiteness, but is +now coal-black, owing to its absorption of the sins of worshipping +pilgrims. On the Day of Judgment it will testify in favour of those who +kissed it, whether men or women. + +The first mosque was built by Mahomet in Medina, and was of a very +simple structure. But as his successors grew wealthier and more +powerful, they vied with one another in the magnificence of the +buildings erected for God's worship. They were more or less on the model +of the Greek churches around them, lofty, and surmounted with a circular +dome imitating the canopy of the sky. The dome is covered with lead and +on the spike that crowns it is a gilt crescent. The apex of each minaret +is also covered with lead and tipped with gold. The dome and the +minarets standing side by side remind one of the umbrella pine-tree and +the cypress--so characteristic of an Eastern landscape. + +The interior of a mosque is a mixture of simplicity and grandeur. The +dome is supported by columns, which, in the case of the mosque of Sultan +Achmet, represented in the illustration facing this chapter, are inlaid +with coloured tiles, and decorated with verses from the Koran. The +sunlight streams in from the numerous windows encircling the dome, or +from those on the walls of the mosque, many of which are of beautiful +stained glass, but without figures of any kind, as Moslems consider this +would be breaking the commandment relating to images. + +All mosques point toward Mecca, and at the Mecca end stands a _mihrab_, +or niche, from which the _imam_ conducts the devotions. Beside it, +supported by pillars, is a terrace for the choir, which consists +entirely of men. They chant, seated cross-legged on rugs. South of the +_mihrab_ is the _minber_, or pulpit, from which prayers and addresses +are delivered on Fridays. The pulpit in Sultan Achmet's mosque (see +illustration) is a masterpiece in marble, and a copy of that in Mecca. +Stands for Korans, shaped like the letter X, and inlaid with +tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl, are placed about the building for +public reading, and from the roof hang chandeliers on which are attached +numerous lamps fed with olive oil. Interspersed among the lamps are +ostrich-eggs and glass-ball ornaments. + +Mosques are not seated, but mats and carpets are laid on the stone floor +for the use of the faithful. "The luxurious inhabitant of the East, who +in his _selamlik_ is wont to recline on cushions, does not pass into the +House of God to tenant a crimson-lined and well-padded pew; he takes his +place among the crowd--the _effendi_ stands beside the water-carrier, +the _bey_ near the charcoal-vendor--he is but one item among many; he +arrogates to himself no honour in the temple where all men are as one +family." + +There is a mistaken idea that Moslems consider that women have no souls, +and need not perform devotions. The Koran is explicit to the contrary. +They may not worship in the mosques with the men, but groups of them are +met, worshipping apart, and during the Ramazan special services are held +for women. + +Among the various Orders of Dervishes, or Moslem Monks, are those of the +Ruffai Order, or Howlers, illustrated in Chapter XI. They are the most +fanatical, and meet in a rectangular building to perform their +devotions, the idea being to produce such an ecstasy of the soul as will +separate it from the body and enable it to contemplate God. + +Their sheik, or chief, takes his seat on a carpet, while his followers +sit in front of him and repeat passages from the Koran. They then stand +and repeat their formula of faith, "_La illah_," etc., bending forward +and backward at each syllable. This recital, which is at first slow, +becomes more and more rapid, until you can only distinguish the +syllables _il_ and _lah_. The sheik then stamps his foot, and the +Dervishes, growing frantic, quicken their swinging motion, shouting +_lah_, and interposing every now and then the exclamation _Hu yia hu_, +implying "He, O He" (is God). The ninety-nine names or attributes of God +are then recited, while the sheik counts the ninety-nine beads of his +chaplet. + +When the last bead is reached their fury knows no bounds, and, holding +each other's hands in a circle, they swing forwards and backwards until +they foam at the mouth, and, falling exhausted to the ground, lie in an +apparent trance. This they claim to be spiritual ecstasy! + +Another sect, the Mevlevis, find this ecstasy in whirling until they +sink exhausted. The third Order the Bektashis, who are the most +tolerant, maintain that the contemplation of God can be best attained by +their carrying out their motto, "Keep thy tongue, thy hand, and thy +heart," and by the observance of His precepts. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +GAMES + + +The Turk is too indolent by nature to care for any sports requiring +physical exertion, and he would rather be a spectator than take an +active part in them. There is, besides, a feeling among those that have +reached the age of manhood, especially if they are holding some +Government office, that their dignity would be lowered if they were seen +engaged at play. + +A very interesting and pretty sport is the _djirat_. Two companies of +horsemen, armed with muffled lances, or in some places the stalks of +palm-leaves, give each other chase. The pursuers hurl their missiles +when at full speed, and those assailed endeavour to avoid the stroke or +to capture the weapon. + +Watching ram-fights is a favourite recreation, and crowds gather round +the village green to witness these huge creatures, with their long +crumpled horns, dashing at each other at full speed. Their heads strike +with a resounding thud, and you expect that a skull or two will be +broken, but no, it is only fun, and the rams caper gracefully back, to +return again to the charge. + +Cock-fights are likewise in repute, and in Cyprus a spur is grafted on +to the crest of the bird, giving it the appearance of a sort of winged +unicorn. + +Professional wrestling is much enjoyed. The two contending parties or +_pehlivans_, as they are called, are frequently a negro and a white man; +their attire is nothing but a leather pair of drawers. Their bodies are +smeared over and made slippery with abundance of olive-oil. The struggle +commences by their measuring distances and touching each other's +shoulders; then they manoeuvre about and dodge each other, and finally +come to grips, until the stronger forces his opponent to the ground. +Turkish wrestlers are so celebrated that they often find their way to +this country. + +Another entertainment is the "Shadow Pantomime." This performance +consists in throwing shadows of little cardboard figures against a +curtain, on the other side of which the spectators are seated. The +exhibitors, carefully hidden from sight, work their marionettes with +strings and wires, and are clever in making them move and bow, strike +each other, and perform all sorts of feats and somersaults, while a +ventriloquist makes them carry on the most animated conversation. + +Horse-racing is seldom indulged in in Turkey, except among European +residents. An effort made several years ago to introduce racing failed, +because, it is alleged, foreign jockeys dared to allow their horses to +beat the Sultan's stud. Occasionally, however, Turks get up children's +races; they strap the youngsters to the saddle, give them the reins, and +speed the horses off with a tremendous swipe. + +Fox-hunting is not only unheard of, but is prohibited as cruel, and a +Spanish bull-fight was attempted last year for the first time, only on +the understanding that no blood would be shed. + +Football has recently come somewhat into fashion, but it is only +occasionally that the real game is played. Departure from rule is +preferred to its observance, and often the game consists of mere kicking +of the ball from one to another. This is done with great swagger and +conceit, but without any of the true sporting dash. + +Tennis is played to some extent, and bicycling is fairly popular, but +principally because it allows the rider to show off. + +There are some keen sportsmen among the Turks; and hunting the wild boar +offers lively sport coupled with a zest of danger, as these savage +animals, if not killed outright, often turn and rip their assailants +with their powerful tusks. + +The "gentle art" of fishing is largely indulged in as a recreation, and +the Bosphorus yields excellent sport. The favourite fishing there is +that of the _lufer_, which weighs from 1 to 3 pounds, and is caught by +night, with bright lamps throwing down a beam of light from the boat +into the water. A peculiar hook, soldered to a sinker, which is +brightened with mercury, is used. Gourmet fishers often take a brazier, +with live coals, in the boat, and grill and eat the fish as soon as +it is secured. + +[Illustration: A HOWLING DERVISH.] + +Chess--that most antiquated of games--is known under the name of +_satrach_, and differs somewhat from our own, but is as highly +scientific. However sceptical we may be about the story in the "Arabian +Nights" of the monkey which played chess with a Grand Vizier, I can +vouch for the accuracy of one regarding an Armenian banker who played it +with Sultan Aziz. The stakes were properties belonging to the Crown, and +so successful was the banker that, finally, his landed possessions +extended from the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. + +Backgammon is a favourite game; draughts differs slightly from our own, +and there is a peculiar form of it played with pebbles, on a checkered +board traced on a stone. + +Cards are played to some extent, but as gambling and games of chance are +forbidden by the Koran, cards are looked upon with suspicion, and their +use discouraged. So also is betting, which ensnares young and old in our +own country. + +Among games for boys I may mention top-spinning. Turkish tops are made +from hard wood, turned in a lathe, and painted with bands of various +colours. They are spun with the thumb and the finger, or with a string, +and then kept in motion with a whip and cord. A point in the game is to +direct the top so that it should bump against the opponent's, and topple +it over. + +Kite-flying is popular, and in early spring hundreds of kites may be +seen flying from the terraces over the house-tops. They are shaped like +our own, and are made with bright-coloured paper, with long tails of +paper strips. Little splints of wood or cane are attached to the tail +for the purpose of entangling and capturing other kites. This is done by +manoeuvring them about, letting them drop momentarily or rise +suddenly, so as to swoop over their adversary and capture it. When these +air-ships have boarded, both the fliers pull in the string as rapidly as +possible, and it sometimes happens that the vanquished kite is after all +the victor. + +Hop-scotch is as ancient as the hills, and is played in Turkey in much +the same way as with us. So also are marbles and tip-cat, with the same +risks, in the case of tip-cat, to the eyes of beholders as in this +country. + +Walnuts enter largely into the composition of boys' games. One of these +consists in rolling them down a sloping board, each boy playing in turn. +The person who hits any of the nuts on the floor appropriates all he can +gather. The game goes on, each player retiring when his stock of walnuts +is exhausted. Another game is that of placing the walnuts in a ring, and +throwing (not rolling) other nuts at them from a distance. All displaced +walnuts belong to the displacer. + +Knifey, or _bitchak_, as it is called in Turkey, is popular among girls +as well as boys. They sit in a circle on the village green, and, placing +an open pocket-knife on the back of their hand, throw it up in the air +so that it shall on descending stick in the ground. Knuckle-bones is +allied to the above, and is played with five bones, as with us, and with +much the same variations. + +_Pendavola_, or five pebbles, is the Greek name of knuckle-bones, when +played with stones instead of bones. Both the above games date back to +remote antiquity, and exist in some form with every nation. + +A practice indulged in by boys and young men is that of bird-catching by +means of nets, snares, or bird-lime twigs. + +In autumn, when Nature shows the first hectic flushes of decay, and +birds know that winter will soon be upon them, innumerable flocks +traverse the regions around Constantinople on their way south. Quails +arrive by scores of thousands, and, exhausted with their flight over the +Black Sea, they alight near the mouth of the Bosphorus, and are easily +caught in nets, and served on the tables of even the poorest +inhabitants. + +Smaller birds also, such as bullfinches, goldfinches, and other finches, +linnets and the like, are on the wing, and to secure them bird-lime +twigs are placed on an isolated tree, or one improvised for the +occasion, and a booth is constructed near it, in which boys hide and +watch unobserved. Some half-dozen birds of various kinds are tied by the +leg to a long string, one end of which is held by the occupants of the +booth, and when a flock of birds is seen in the air these decoys are +made to rise. Their chirping attracts the attention of the birds +overhead, and, alighting on the tree, the great majority are glued to +the twigs. The best are put in cages and sold as song-birds; the +remainder are killed, and strung with twine through their bills, they +are sold for food. Roasted and mixed with _pillaf_, the national rice +dish, they are most savoury. + +In contrast to this inhospitable reception of Nature's winged songsters +while travelling through the land, it it pleasant to visit the +bird-market, and there see venerable Turks opening their purses and +buying as many of these captives as they can afford. They then throw +open the prison-doors, and as the birds fly skyward with chirps of +delight, the faces of the liberators grow radiant with satisfaction. + +My list of games and sports is by no means exhausted, but I must close +it by referring to stone-throwing, which, although not exactly a game, +is in universal practice among boys, and even girls. To such an extent +is it carried that dogs attacking you will often disregard a stick, but, +remembering their sad experiences with stones, will take to their heels +when you stoop to pick up one. + +The writer himself still carries a lively impression of a fight carried +on with these missiles. The scene of this skirmish, which took place +when he was a boy, was near the seashore of a village on the Bosphorus, +where he and one or two English boys met a squad of Turkish children. +The latter took refuge behind a row of Turkish houses, and stones were +thrown by both parties over the roofs. They fell fast and thick from the +unseen foe, until at last one, doubtless thrown "at a venture," hit the +writer on the head, and made the impression already referred to. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DOGS + + +Everybody has heard of Turkish dogs, and I am sure you will consider +this book incomplete if I pass them over in silence. + +Their origin is shrouded in mystery, but naturalists would probably find +them allied to the wolf and the jackal. + +Tradition, however, has it that they originated in Tartary, and followed +the Mongolians and Turks across the steppes, gorging themselves on the +carnage of a thousand battle-fields, and finally settling down with the +conquerors. + +How much truth there is in this gruesome legend it is impossible to say, +but the fact remains that wherever the Turk is found, there, too, the +ubiquitous _kiopek_, or _skilo_, is seen. Nor does it seem to exist +north of Vienna--that outermost ring of Turkish invasion. Dogs, very +like _skilos_, are to be met in Hungary; you have no doubt of their +existence when you cross the Danube into Servia; they are numerous in +Bulgaria, and you fall into the thick of them when you reach +Constantinople, where until recently they were supposed to number +80,000. + +In size and appearance they resemble the short-haired Scotch collie, but +without the sharpness of nose, and their ears are shorter. With all the +instincts of the nomad--unkempt, unkept, and owning no master--their +home is the street, where they are born and die, a boon and a bane to +mankind. They are the former because they are the scavengers--sometimes +the only scavengers--that clean the streets of the refuse thrown into +them, and which would otherwise putrefy and breed disease. They are the +latter because they collect at night over refuse-heaps, and fight, bark, +and yell over the disputed possession of coveted morsels. Their noise +disturbs your slumbers and irritates your nerves. Then, lying as they do +in the street, you might in the darkness stumble against one, and +experience in return something hard and sharp, which would send you +howling in your turn. + +But _skilos_ do not thrive on refuse alone; they hang about butchers' +shops, and are plentiful near the Sultan's palace-kitchens and soldiers' +barracks, where remains of food are dispensed to them. At the Ministry +of War, in Stamboul, a special man is employed to give them fragments of +the soldiers' bread. These he carries in a capacious hamper on his back, +and, holding a thick stick in his hand, he proceeds to the public +square, where hundreds of dogs await and surround him. His first action +is to clear a wide circle with his stick around him, and then he +suddenly empties the contents of his hamper. A rush and charge of +_skilos_ follows. They tumble over one another in that hissing sea of +dogs, but do not seem to mind, provided they can seize a fragment of +bread and bolt away. There is strategy, however, even in dogdom, and +some, more cunning and fleet-footed than others, do not join in the +scrimmage, but quietly await the result at some point of vantage, and, +spotting any dog that retires laden with spoil, pursue it, and snatch +away its prize. + +Yet, with all their habits of the tramp, they seem imbued with a sense +of order, and come to an agreement among themselves as to what streets +groups of them are to occupy. Woe to the dog that dares to overstep the +assigned boundaries. On one condition alone is he allowed to cross +through another district--that of lowering his flag--_i.e._, that he +puts his tail under his legs, keeps his head submissively low, and walks +in the middle of the street, while all the dogs of the quarter rend the +air with their barking. + +You must not conclude from what precedes that _skilos_ are devoid of +finer feelings and even chivalry. The following incident, related by a +friend, regarding one with which I was acquainted, proves the contrary. +When a pup, Carabash (black head), as he was called, was picked up in +the street, and coddled in a comfortable home. On growing up, he was +provided with a kennel in the garden. One frosty morning, when the snow +was lying thick on the ground, Carabash was discovered sleeping outside +the kennel, which he had surrendered to an emaciated bitch. The intruder +was driven away, but next morning was again found in occupancy, and was +gruffly expelled. Carabash seemed vexed, and refused to eat his food. On +the third morning the strange dog was again found in the kennel, and was +this time thrashed out of the premises. She went, like Eve from +Paradise, but her Adam followed, took up his residence with her under +the shelter of an old tombstone in the Turkish Cemetery, and never again +returned to his comfortable home. Their descendants live in the cemetery +to this day. + +Such romantic incidents would doubtless have met with recognition on +behalf of the whole race of dogs in the days of Haroun-al-Raschid, or +other heroes of the "Arabian Nights," but the Young Turkey party of +to-day are not to be moved by such considerations. They are practical +men, and, desiring to cleanse the streets of Constantinople of a +recognized nuisance, they decreed the extermination of _skilos_. But, +taking into consideration the Moslem abhorrence of taking away animal +life, a curious compromise was made. They were to be banished to a large +enclosure at the city walls. A special forceps was invented for the +purpose of trapping them, and at dead of night municipal officers +gripped the sleeping dogs by the neck or the body, and pitched them into +a cart, which conveyed them to their so-called "hotel." Terrible fights +occurred there between dogs already in residency and new arrivals, but +it frequently happened that kind-hearted Turks waylaid the carts and +liberated the captives. + +Within their enclosure the dogs were fed and received water at the +expense of the State, a grant of £5,000 a year having been voted in +Parliament for their maintenance; but soon the space allotted them +proved inadequate, and their cries and smells became so horrible that it +was decided to move them to another locality. + +A little uninhabited island, called Oxya, about fifteen miles from the +city, was selected for the purpose, and 30,000 were transported to it. +But the island had no water, and the supply of bread was difficult and +irregular, and the result was that six months after their transportation +only one solitary dog, of which I have the photograph, survived to tell +the tale. + +Discouraged by their want of success, Government has, I understand, now +given up the attempt to exterminate the _skilos_, and any of my readers +who happen to visit Constantinople will probably have the pleasure of +forming their acquaintance. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE GALATA BRIDGE AND THE BAZAARS + + +An attempt has been made in these pages to conduct the reader over the +domains of the Sultan of Turkey, and to introduce him to some of his +subjects, but there is perhaps no better place in the world for getting +a panoramic view of the various races depicted than on the bridge which +spans the Golden Horn, and joins Stamboul with the Galata quarter of +Constantinople (see frontispiece). Nor can you find the various products +of the Empire exhibited within a more suitable compass than in the +bazaars of Stamboul. + +It is computed that no less than twenty million persons pass over the +bridge in the course of a year--_i.e._, about 50,000 daily. The races +there represented are too numerous to mention. Each wears its +distinctive dress, and foot and head gear, and the contrast of design +and colour is wonderful, and not limited to women, as in a European +crowd. Here comes an Albanian in white petticoats and crimson sash +bristling with pistols; there goes an Embassy _cavass_ resplendent in +scarlet; there is an _Ulema_, or high ecclesiastic, with green turban +and flowing robes of white, and another dressed in magenta and a white +turban; soldiers in khaki or in pale blue come next, and Young Turk +officers all spick and span in new uniforms. A Whirling Dervish, with +tall, conical, brown head-dress then moves majestically along, followed +by a Bedouin, with camel-hair mantle over his shoulders, and silken +kerchief over his head. Alongside him is an M.P. from Arabia, with +flowing green coat, and white cap with green turban around it, +indicating consanguinity with Mahomet. As for representatives of the +other sex, you see groups shuffling along in soft yellow boots, and +dragging loose overshoes--overshoes which often prove serviceable +weapons of attack to any Turkish woman who has been insulted. + +The Turkish ladies' dress is frequently bright-coloured, and a white +veil is thrown over the head and face, but sometimes the dress itself is +used for that purpose. The fashion, however, is prevailing that black +should be used, and the women look like silhouettes flitting along. + +Should it happen to be a Friday, sounds of military music greet your +ear, and you hear the tramp of infantry as the Sultan's soldiers march +along to line the streets through which he must pass on his way to +mosque. + +Nothing can rival the physical appearance, dogged perseverance, and +power of endurance of the soldiers streaming before you, and the +prancing steeds ridden by the officers excite your admiration. + +But another sound, less musical, may disturb your ear, and a horde of +half-naked savages appear, carrying on poles what you would call a +garden-pump, but which is really a fire-engine. A man carrying the +hose-nozzle precedes, and as they tear along, shouting "_Sagh ol!_" +("Clear out"; literally, "Keep yourself uninjured!"), you imagine a band +of maniacs has been let loose. + +There is now a regular fire-brigade in Constantinople, available where +the streets are wide enough to permit its use, but you will not wonder +that under the old system conflagrations sometimes destroyed thousands +of houses at a time, and still do so in quarters where the streets are +too narrow and the houses of wood. + +Ambulating vendors of all sorts are also to be found on the bridge, +advertising their goods in loud falsetto notes, or sometimes singing +metrical eulogies over them. _Hamals_, and porters, too, of every +description, are there, conveying their burdens, and Turkish sailors, +whose duty it is to police the bridge, while at either end are men clad +in long white shirts, without pockets, to collect the toll, and not +pocket it. And as if to connect the new with the old order of +administration, a motorbus, with the words "Progres" emblazoned upon it, +traverses the bridge with passengers, while British-built steamers moor +on pontoons attached to the bridge, and convey travellers to the +villages of the Bosphorus and other suburbs. + +Crossing the bridge, you arrive at Stamboul, the Turkish quarter, and +enter into a long street, arched over, and with numerous windows. It is +called the _Missir Tcharchi_, or Egyptian Spice Bazaar, owing to the +drugs and spices sold in it. It is dark and badly ventilated; its +odours overpower you, but you see there a display of drugs and perfumes +never dreamt of before, and gathered from all parts of the empire. Each +shop within the bazaar is known by its special sign--a ship, a broom, a +bird's-cage, the model of a mosque, a flag, bows and arrows, and so +on--while its occupant sits, like a spider in his den, inviting you into +his parlour. + +Among the articles offered are musk and seraglio pastilles, +frankincense, cedar-wood, and other perfume-emitting substances which +Turks delight in throwing on the brazier to scent their apartments; otto +of roses, produced in Bulgaria, rose-water, patchuli, jessamine, and +other native fragrant oils, with which to perfume their person. Rouge, +native hair-dyes, and henna for improving the complexion, painting the +eyebrows until they meet, or staining the nails and finger-tips; +corrosive sublimate, that deadly poison, for giving a flash to the eye; +red and black pepper, and all sorts of condiments; seeds of the +"love-in-the-mist" to protect _yiaourt_ and pastry from the evil-eye; +gum mastic from the island of Chio, which women love to chew and chew +for hours, and children to blow into bubbles; herbal and quack medicines +of all kinds, and even gall-stones from an ass to renew the vigour of +youth. Nearer the sea are several streets, roofed with glass, called the +_Yemish_, or fruit-bazaar, where dried fruits and nuts of every +description are to be found. Among its peculiarities are fruit-pastes of +plum, apricot, quince, mulberry, etc., which have been mashed, +sun-dried, and rolled into thin long sheets; grape-juice, thickened with +flour; unfermented grape-treacle; and honey from Angora, unrivalled for +the whiteness of its comb. + +The Wood-turners' bazaar gives you an insight into the native method of +turning, which is performed with a bow in one hand and a chisel in the +other, while the big toe supplies a third hand for holding the object in +position. The Brass-turners' bazaar provides you with _samovars_, or +special brass urns, for boiling water and preparing tea, and _mangals_, +or braziers, for holding ignited charcoal to warm houses. + +The main bazaars consist of a labyrinth of streets and alleys, arched +over with masonry, and pierced with numerous domes from which the light +enters. They extend over a surface of more than a mile, and their +windings are so intricate that a traveller may easily lose his way. + +Articles of every description, new and old, may be found there. Whole +streets, for instance, are reserved for boots, shoes, and slippers of +all kinds, shapes, and colours: soft yellow ones for Turkish women; +patent-leather ones, with overshoes, for men; red shoes with turned-up +points for Anatolians; sandals for Albanians; Parisian ones for those +dressed _à la Française_; slippers of softest native tanned leather; +slippers embroidered with seed-pearls and jewels, etc. Another street is +reserved for silks from Brusa, Damascus, Syria, etc., another for pipes, +hubble-bubbles, amber mouthpieces etc. Another, styled Manchester +Street, is stocked with cotton prints, of flashy colours and designs, +made specially for the East. + +In the heart of the bazaar is the _bezesten_, an inner bazaar, with +gorgeous carpets from all parts of the land, diamonds, pearls, +turquoises, and all manner of precious stones; old armour, antiquities, +curios, and relics of all kinds. + +But the _muezzim's_ cry now reverberates through the bazaar; the sun is +setting, and the gates are to be closed. You rise to depart, but the +crowds, the sights, the colours, the noises, the smells, the various +costumes around--these will be there on the morrow as they have been in +the past, and they will still in the future allure and charm all those +who come in contact with the bewitching East. + +BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD + + * * * * * + +LIST OF VOLUMES IN THE PEEPS AT MANY LANDS AND CITIES SERIES + +EACH CONTAINING 12 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BELGIUM + BURMA + CANADA + CEYLON + CHINA + CORSICA + DENMARK + EDINBURGH + EGYPT + ENGLAND + FINLAND + FRANCE + GERMANY + GREECE + HOLLAND + HOLY LAND + ICELAND + INDIA + IRELAND + ITALY + JAMAICA + JAPAN + KOREA + MOROCCO + NEW ZEALAND + NORWAY + PARIS + PORTUGAL + RUSSIA + SCOTLAND + SIAM + SOUTH AFRICA + SOUTH SEAS + SPAIN + SWITZERLAND + + +A LARGER VOLUME IN THE SAME STYLE + + THE WORLD + +Containing 37 full-page illustrations in colour + + PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK + SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. + + AGENTS + + AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + 64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE,, NEW YORK + + AUSTRALASIA OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + 205 FLINDERS LANE, MELBOURNE + + CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD. + ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE, 70 BOND STREET, TORONTO + + INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD. + MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY + 309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Turkey, by Julius R. 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Van Millingen + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Turkey + Peeps at Many Lands + +Author: Julius R. Van Millingen + +Illustrator: Warwick Goble + +Release Date: September 19, 2011 [EBook #37475] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURKEY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="cover" id="cover"></a> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A KAFEDJI</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/tp.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h1>PEEPS AT MANY LANDS</h1> + +<h2>TURKEY</h2> + +<h2>BY JULIUS R. VAN MILLINGEN</h2> + +<h3>WITH TWELVE FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR<br /> +BY WARWICK GOBLE</h3> + + +<p class="center">LONDON<br /> +ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK<br /> +1911</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + +<h3>THE BRIDGE FROM GALATA TO STAMBOUL.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_I"> GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY </a></td><td align="right">5</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_II"> ALBANIANS, POMAKS, TARTARS, AND BULGARIANS </a></td><td align="right">11</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_III"> CIRCASSIANS, LAZES, AND KURDS </a></td><td align="right">22</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"> ARMENIANS </a></td><td align="right">27</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_V"> GREEKS AND VLACHS </a></td><td align="right">36</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"> JEWS—SUPERSTITIONS </a></td><td align="right">48</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"> GIPSIES—SUPERSTITIONS </a></td><td align="right">54</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"> SYRIANS, DRUSES, MARONITES, AND BEDOUINS </a></td><td align="right">57</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"> TURKS </a></td><td align="right">61</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_X"> THE FAITH OF ISLAM </a></td><td align="right">72</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"> GAMES </a></td><td align="right">78</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"> DOGS </a></td><td align="right">85</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"> THE GALATA BRIDGE AND THE BAZAARS </a></td><td align="right">90</td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td><a href="#illus1">THE BRIDGE FROM GALATA TO STAMBOUL </a></td><td align="right"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus2">ROUMELI HISSAR (BOSPHORUS) </a></td><td align="right">9</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus3">A SIMITDJI </a></td><td align="right">16</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus4">A STAMBOUL BEGGAR </a></td><td align="right">25</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus5">IN THE GRAND BAZAAR </a></td><td align="right">32</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus6">A SHEKERDJI's SHOP </a></td><td align="right">41</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus7">A CEMETERY BY THE BOSPHORUS </a></td><td align="right">48</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus8">A FORTUNE-TELLER </a></td><td align="right">57</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus9">A TURKISH LADY IN OUTDOOR DRESS </a></td><td align="right">64</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus10">INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AHMED I. </a></td><td align="right">73</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus11">A HOWLING DERVISH </a></td><td align="right">80</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#cover">A KAFEDJI </a></td><td align="right"><i>On the cover</i></td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#map"><i>Sketch-Map of Turkey</i> </a></td><td align="right">page iv</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="map" id="map"></a> +<img src="images/map.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + +<h3>SKETCH-MAP OF TURKEY.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>TURKEY</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY</h3> + + +<p>The Empire of Turkey, through which I propose to conduct you, stretches +over portions of Europe and Asia—the slender thread of the Bosphorus +and the Dardanelles being the division between the two continents. A +rapid current rushes through these channels, but in some places they are +so narrow that you can shout across from Europe to Asia, and it is no +uncommon thing to hear the dogs barking from the other side.</p> + +<p>Turkey in Europe spreads northwards from these points up to Bulgaria, +and consists of a long strip of country extending from the Black Sea to +the Adriatic.</p> + +<p>Turkey in Asia is more extensive, and stretches from the Black Sea to +the Persian Gulf. Persia lies to its east, and the Red Sea and blue +Mediterranean to its west.</p> + +<p>Turkey holds sway over some of earth's fairest lands, the homes of its +most ancient civilizations and lands familiar to us through Holy Writ +and profane history, and the sources of Jewish, Christian, Moslem, and +other beliefs.</p> + +<p>The rulers of Turkey are the Turks, originally a nomadic tribe from +Central Asia. Compelled to abandon their homes on account of the +desiccation or drying up of large tracts of their country, which were +converted into a desert, they swarmed into Armenia and Persia in quest +of new pasture-lands for their flocks and cattle. Like the in-coming +tide, they swept everything before them, and finally overwhelmed, not +only Asia Minor, but also Egypt and Northern Africa.</p> + +<p>Converted at an early stage of their history to the Mahomedan faith, +they propagated it wherever they went, and, under the leadership of the +Sultans of the Seljuk dynasty, they established themselves in Konia, and +advanced their rule to the gates of the Byzantine Empire. But it was +reserved for a kindred tribe under Ertogrul to be the successors of the +Seljuks and establish the Ottoman dynasty which still holds sway over +Turkey.</p> + +<p>The events leading up to it were as follows: Ertogrul, with a band of +400 followers, was wandering about Asia Minor, and accidentally came +across a conflicting Mongolian and Seljuk army in the neighbourhood of +Angora. He dashed into the fray in support of the latter, and changed +impending defeat into a brilliant victory. In reward for this timely +assistance the Seljuk Sultan awarded to Ertogrul the district of +Anatolia, which bounded the Greek or Byzantine Empire, the capital of +which Empire was then Constantinople.</p> + +<p>During the summer the new-comers drove their flocks to the mountains, +and during the winter they withdrew them to the plains, but, growing +bolder and more powerful, Ertogrul waged war against the Greeks. Success +followed upon success, until at last, in 1326, under the leadership of +Othman, the son of Ertogrul, Nicea, noted for its Council which drew up +the Nicean Creed, fell to the sword of the Moslem. Brusa also was taken, +and there Othman enthroned himself as Sultan of the dynasty thenceforth +known as the Ottoman.</p> + +<p>Before proceeding further it might be interesting to relate an incident +which pictures the primitive character and frugality of the founders of +this dynasty. When the mighty Othman died, the only possessions he left +behind were a salt-bowl, the symbol of hospitality, a spoon, his sword +and standards, his cloak and white turban, a pair of horses, a yoke of +oxen, and his flock of sheep. His sword is still preserved in +Constantinople, and each successive Sultan is invested with it on his +coronation. The descendants of his flock of sheep are still the heritage +of the reigning Sultan, and still browse on the ranges of Bithynian +Olympus, and supply butter and cheeses for the royal household.</p> + +<p>The victories of the Ottoman Turks were followed by the incorporation of +the Seljuks, and drew into their ranks crowds of recruits thirsting for +blood and plunder. The Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus were ravaged +with sword and fire, and shortly afterward (in 1453) Constantinople was +invested and stormed, and the last of the Byzantine Emperors slain.</p> + +<p>Driving everything before them, the victorious Turks marched northwards +into Europe, devastating, burning, plundering, slaying, and making +captives of women and children, until at last they reached the walls of +Vienna, and at one moment it looked as if all Europe would fall to their +sway.</p> + +<p>But this was the limit of their Northern conquests, and, like the tide +which recedes after it has reached its fulness, so this assault on +Vienna and its repulse marks the high tide and first ebb of Turkey's +greatness.</p> + +<p>One by one they lost their possessions in Europe, such as Hungary, +Roumania, Greece, Servia, and Bulgaria, and now only a comparatively +small strip of country remains to them in Europe. In Asia also large +tracts of country have been wrenched from Turkey by Russia; and in +Africa, Egypt and Tunis are Turkish only in name.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>ROUMELI HISSAR.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The splendid conquests of the Turks were due to the hardihood of a race +brought up in frugality and nomadic pursuits. Their strength and courage +were amazing, and their religious zeal made them reckless of their +lives. Their early Sultans, too, were men of extraordinary energy and +sagacity, and were the first among the Turks to organize regular +soldiers. A famous corps was that of the Janissaries, who were +selected from the strongest and most beautiful Christian youth forced +away from their parents or captured in battle. Confined all their lives +in barracks, and daily drilled in the arts of war, they grew to be as +invincible as Cromwell's Ironsides.</p> + +<p>But as discipline relaxed they became insubordinate, dethroning Sultans +and nominating others, until one day, in 1826, Sultan Mahmoud IV. had +them secretly surrounded in their barracks and annihilated. A venerable +planetree may yet be seen in the old Palace grounds where the survivors +were hanged. Its hollow trunk ultimately served as the shop of a +shoemaker.</p> + +<p>The decline of the Ottoman Empire was due to the corruption of the Turks +that followed acquisition of wealth. They lost their hardihood, and +their Sultans became profligate and luxurious. They filled their harems +with wives and numberless slaves, and addicted themselves to pleasure +instead of duty. They became tyrants, and their jealousies and fears of +being supplanted made them so cruel that it became customary for a +Sultan ascending the throne to kill all his brothers or near male +relatives. This was usually done by strangling them with a bow-string, +or sewing them in bags and drowning them in the Bosphorus, as one would +an undesirable litter of puppies.</p> + +<p>Recent Sultans, it is true, have not dared to commit such deeds openly +in the face of growing public opinion, but, with few exceptions, they +have been equally selfish and corrupt. Indeed, in the reign of the +recent ex-Sultan Abdul Hamid, rightly styled "the Great Assassin" by Mr. +Gladstone, corruption and villainy reached unheard-of enormity. He +planned and carried out wholesale massacres against his Armenian +subjects, and spirited away thousands of innocent Mussulmans and +Christians at the instigation of the army of spies whom he employed, and +who enriched themselves with the bribes he offered.</p> + +<p>At last matters reached such a pitch that life in Turkey became +unbearable, and in sheer desperation he was dethroned in 1908 by his +army, led by patriotic officers who styled themselves Young Turks.</p> + +<p>In his stead they appointed his brother, Murad V., to be Sultan, and +proclaimed a Constitution; that is, a form of Government like our own, +with a Parliament consisting of representatives of the people.</p> + +<p>Turkey is now doing its best to reform itself, and we wish it all +success, but naturally, after so many years of misrule and corruption, +it will take time before the Turks can set their house in proper order.</p> + +<p>For now more than twenty years Turkey has been connected with Western +Europe by rail, trains starting from Vienna and crossing the Danube at +Belgrade. Shortly after, the main line branches off and one portion +proceeds through Bulgaria to Constantinople, while the other terminates +at Salonica. The journey from London to Constantinople occupies three +and a half days, but may be accelerated.</p> + +<p>There is no railway bridge over the Bosphorus, but a railway line, of +recent construction, runs from its Asiatic entrance into Asia Minor as +far as Konia, the Iconium of Scripture. This line is now being extended +to reach Bagdad in Mesopotamia, and will be prolonged thence to the +Persian Gulf, and doubtless, ultimately, to India, and will perhaps +enable us to visit our friends there within a week's journey from +London.</p> + +<p>Another railway crosses the Lebanon mountains from Beyrout, and proceeds +to Damascus, and thence extends, keeping to the east of the Jordan, to +Mecca, in Arabia, the Holy City of the Moslems. This line is called the +Sacred or Pilgrim railway, because it conveys large numbers of pilgrims +to their shrine. It was built nearly entirely out of the contributions +of the faithful, both in money and in free labour.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>ALBANIANS, POMAKS, TARTARS, AND BULGARIANS</h3> + + +<p>Having briefly narrated the history of the rise and decline of the +Ottoman Empire, it may be interesting to have a peep at the various +races and nationalities which at present constitute it.</p> + +<p>Beginning with Turkey in Europe, we have the Albanians, who occupy the +mountainous country north of Greece, and also Albania and Epirus on the +eastern shore of the Adriatic. They are a brave, haughty, +liberty-loving, but turbulent people, whom some maintain to be the +descendants of the ancient Pelasgi, who originally occupied Greece. They +boast of having given Alexander the Great to the world. The Albanians +were never properly conquered by the Turks, and, excepting those +inhabiting the lowlands, they do very much what they please, and even at +this moment they are defying the Turkish troops sent to disarm them, and +bring them under subjection. Some are Mahomedans, others are Roman +Catholics, and others belong to the Greek Church. They have a language +of their own, but until quite recently they had no alphabet for it, and +it was only within the last forty years that a Scotsman, the agent of +the British and Foreign Bible Society, endowed them with one, and +printed the Scriptures in their tongue. It is this alphabet that the +Turks are now trying to suppress by substituting the Arabic, and the +Albanians are fighting to maintain. The national dress of the Albanians +is a white kilted petticoat coming down to their knees, with a scarlet +or purple embroidered vest, and a corresponding sleeveless jacket worn +over a white shirt with wide sleeves. The waist is girded with a broad +silken band folded many times round the body. Embroidered leggings, +corresponding in colour with the jacket, protect the legs, and a red +cap, called a <i>fez</i>, with a silken blue tassel, covers the head.</p> + +<p>So attached are they to their national costume that an attempt made by +Sultan Mahmoud to forbid it led to an insurrection in the same way that +the edict in 1747 to do away with the kilts and tartans in the Scottish +Highlands created the troubles which followed the rebellion. Naturally, +the peasants cannot afford costly material, and their dress consists of +a closely-woven, home-spun tweed called <i>shayiak</i>, which is very warm +and enduring. They wear a skull-cap of the same material, <i>shayiak</i> +knickers and leggings, and sandals instead of shoes. Over this girdle +they wear a broad cartridge-belt, which bristles with old-fashioned +pistols and formidable daggers.</p> + +<p>The Albanians are a nation of clans, implacable in their hatred and +constant in their friendships. Their covenant of friendship is cemented +by tasting a drop of each other's blood, and from that moment they +consider themselves blood kinsmen, and sworn to befriend, defend, or +avenge each other.</p> + +<p>Like the Israelites of old, the blood avenger pursues the murderer of +his friend or clansman until he finds him, and if he should fail to do +so during his lifetime, his children are bound to act on his behalf. You +can thus understand that in accordance with this law of "vendetta," as +they call it, whole families become sometimes exterminated.</p> + +<p>Another peculiar method of establishing friendships is by securing the +assent of an influential person to stand as godfather to children at +baptism. It involves no spiritual obligations, as may be seen from the +fact that these godfathers are frequently Mussulmans, but is recognized +as a social rite whereby the two families become relations. Albania +being a poor country, a large number of its Moslem population join the +Turkish army as soldiers or officers, this vocation being congenial with +their tastes. Others go to Constantinople or other large towns, and +engage in an occupation very different from that of warriors—namely, +that of manufacturing and selling cakes, called <i>simits</i>, and an +Albanian speciality of confection called <i>halva</i>. It resembles nougat, +and is prepared with walnuts or sesame seeds. These commodities are +temptingly arranged on large circular trays, which they poise very +adroitly on their heads by means of a small cushion resembling a quoit. +You will see, under the heading of "Simitji," a picture of this kind of +tray, and the tripod upon which it is rested. The seller in the picture +is not, however, an Albanian, but a Turk from Anatolia.</p> + +<p>These <i>halvagis</i>, as they are called, are great favourites of boys and +girls, and of grown-up persons too, and are to be met with at every +gathering of people. Albanians also go out as vegetable-gardeners and +fruit-sellers, and deal in the remarkably beautiful apple which grows so +splendidly in their native country.</p> + +<p>The Turks call the Albanians <i>Arnaouts</i>, and many a village occupied by +them has in consequence been named Arnaoutkioy, the village of the +Albanian.</p> + +<p>Another occupation in which they engage is that of shepherds, and among +some of this craft I may mention those of the Sultan's flock of sheep on +Mount Olympus, to which I have already alluded. They keep huge fierce +dogs, which are a terror not only to wolves and bears, but also to human +beings whom they may encounter. So daring and powerful are shepherd-dogs +of this description that they have been known to tear riders down from +the saddle. The writer might once have undergone this fate were it not +for the powerful dog-whip which he carried on the occasion of an attack, +and to the fact that his horse finally bolted with him until he was some +miles from the field of danger.</p> + +<p>To shoot one of these dogs is at the peril of your life, for the +Albanian law of vendetta seems to extend to avenging their dogs. There +is a strong suspicion that an Englishman, who made the ascent of Olympus +some twenty years ago, was murdered by these shepherds for shooting one +of these creatures in self-defence. On another occasion the captain of +one of our ironclads, while shooting in that neighbourhood, had occasion +to kill a dog which attacked him, whereupon he was himself felled to the +ground by the axe of the shepherd.</p> + +<p>Turkish shepherd-dogs, though savage and powerful, have none of the +finer instincts of our collies; they will not bring round the sheep in +accordance with the shepherd's directions; they are only fighters, and +often turn and rend their masters.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to watch, as I have done, the yearly migrations of the +Albanian shepherds to and from Olympus. My home lay at the foot of the +mountain, and one summer's night, when the moon was full, I was waked by +the sound of sonorous voices, and the barking of dogs, and bleating of +rams. Gradually the sounds became louder, and I could hear the tinkling +of bells and finally the tramp of thousands of little feet pattering +past my door. To the bleating of the rams was added the shriller cry of +the ewes and the feebler notes of the lambs, and, rushing to the window, +I could see the whole procession—sheep and shepherd—winding its way +upwards. It was a weird sight, those shepherds in their heavy capotes of +sheepskin, and their shadows reflected on the mountain, and gave one the +impression of so many spectres gliding in the moonlight. The procession +passed along, the bleating, the tinkling, the barking, the shouting +became fainter, and finally the mountain returned to its silence +primeval, and when I awoke in the morning I could not help wondering if +it had not all been a dream.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A SIMITDJI.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Bordering on Albania and Epirus, and east of them, you will find a +district marked on the map as Macedonia. It is inhabited principally by +Tartars, Bulgarians, and Greeks, with a large sprinkling of Jews in its +seaport towns, specially in Salonica, the Thessalonica of Scripture. The +Bulgarians belong to the Slav family, and are mostly Christians. Some, +however, have turned Moslems, and are generally known under the name of +Pomaks. The Pomaks have intermarried and fused with Tartars, who +migrated to Macedonia, as well as to other parts of Turkey, in large +numbers when their native lands—the Crimea, Bessarabia, Roumania, and +Bulgaria—passed under the sovereignty of Christian rulers. They have +high cheekbones, broad flat faces, globular noses, and sunken eyes. They +are fanatical, ignorant, and naturally embittered against Christians, +and many, as the authors of the so-called Bulgarian atrocities, have +fled to escape the punishment they deserved.</p> + +<p>During the time of the Russo-Turkish War in 1879, I remember witnessing +the wholesale flight of thousands of them to Constantinople. Many +arrived in ox-drawn waggons laden with their families, their goods and +chattels, and driving before them their cattle, which they disposed of +for a mere song in the market. Others were conveyed in railway-trucks, +packed close like sheep in a pen, and seemed as bewildered. A peculiar +sight was a truck-load of children packed among sacks and bedding, from +which they emerged on the arrival of the train, like ants issuing from +an ant-hill. The city swarmed with these immigrants, the courts of the +mosques were converted into refuge houses, and the utmost misery +prevailed until Government had quartered them in different villages in +Asiatic Turkey. There they still may be found, and their location +recognized by their wretched wooden shanties and their squalor. But in +many cases change of environment has not occasioned change of +disposition, and I am assured that during the time of the Armenian +massacres (1896) Pomaks quartered in Brusa sharpened their knives and +armed themselves to a man to kill and plunder the Christians, and they +were only prevented from carrying out this nefarious deed by the armed +interposition of the humane Turkish Governor.</p> + +<p>In dress Pomaks differ but little from the ordinary Turk; in habits they +are perhaps more industrious, and it may be put down to their credit +that they introduced into Constantinople and elsewhere a new and light +form of carriage which is now extensively used for picnics and +excursions into the country.</p> + +<p>In addition to the half-caste Tartars of Macedonia there are the pure +Tartars who for several centuries past have inhabited the highlands of +Asia Minor, and who are credited with great trustworthiness. This +quality, in addition to their capacity for long and rapid riding, has +obtained for them the practical monopoly of the postal service in the +interior of Turkey, and the word <i>tartar</i> has come to be synonymous with +postillion, or mounted postman. There are relays of horses at stated +intervals, but the same rider travels over the whole distance. His +saddle is capacious, with broad stirrups in the form of an open shoe. +The saddle has, moreover, a hump on which the rider can support his +arms, and an arrangement for fixing a short rod, with a crescent-shaped +top or cushion, on which the rider rests his chin and sleeps during +night travelling. Letters and parcels are placed in saddle-bags, which +are thrown astride the saddle in the same way as paniers are with us. +They are made of leather, of carpet, or camel's-hair, and the opening is +closed through a series of loops running into each other. There is +usually great excitement at the arrival of the Tartar, and the letters, +where no post office exists, are strewn on the floor of a room of the +<i>conak</i>, or Governor's house, and applicants asked to pick out any +addressed to them.</p> + +<p>Money is also conveyed from province to province by these Tartars, when, +if the amount is large, several horses are strung together, and are +escorted by mounted police. The currency in the interior being silver +coins of the size of our five-shilling pieces, the jolting and friction +occasioned by the drive are likely to tear ordinary bags, so the latter +are enclosed in a special rope-bag, which is neatly and compactly +knitted over them. Gold coin is put up in leather, which is puckered up +to form a bag, and tied and sealed on the top.</p> + +<p>The Christian Bulgarians of Macedonia, having been brought up more or +less under servitude, are of a much meeker character than the Pomaks, +but, judging from the strides which have been made by the other +Bulgarian races in Turkey since their independence from Turkish rule, we +may infer that their Macedonian brethren are also capable of great +development. On the whole they are poor, and live in thatched hovels, +plastered both within and without with a mixture of clay, cow-dung, and +straw. The interior is divided into three rooms—a public room, a family +bedroom, and one for keeping provisions. The floor is of clay, beaten +hard, and is covered with coarse rugs and cushions large enough to serve +as beds. A small oil-lamp burns in a corner under the <i>icon</i>, or +picture, of some grim patron saint. Outside the house is an oven, +resembling an ant-hill, and accommodation for hens, pigs, and cattle, +and the whole is enclosed with a wall and guarded by dogs.</p> + +<p>The Bulgarians are frugal in their habits, and live principally on beans +seasoned with vinegar and red pepper, and they have a great partiality +for garlic. Their principal occupation is agriculture and sheep-farming.</p> + +<p>The men's dress somewhat resembles the Albanian, but their vests and +jackets are generally made from sheepskins, with the wool turned +inwards, and they wear on their heads the <i>calpak</i>, or low cap, made +from black lamb-skins, with the wool turned outwards. This <i>calpak</i> is +as much the national characteristic of the Bulgarian as the fez is of +the Turk. The women's dress is pleasing—green and red being very +conspicuous—and when in gala dress their persons are weighted down with +ponderous silver ornaments worn on the head, round the neck, waist, and +wrists.</p> + +<p>Their national music is the bagpipe, but the music is very primitive, +and does not soar to the heights of the pibrochs of Scotland, and their +dance is heavy and uncouth, and apparently modelled from the bear. +Indeed, in one of these dances the principal dancer puts on a real +bearskin, and, led about by a young girl, performs all sorts of antics, +much to the enjoyment of the spectators, who at the close of the +performance all join in hooting and pursuing the dancer.</p> + +<p>Formerly large bands of Bulgarian dancers used to come to Constantinople +during the Easter festivities, and march through the streets with +inflated bagpipes, or resort to the field of sports. Their bear-dance +ended, they would fling their caps heavily to the ground, then pick them +up, and walk round with them to the crowd for the collection of coppers.</p> + +<p>But the Bulgar is no longer popular, either with the Turk or the Greek, +and they now seldom grace the festivals in the capital with their +presence and their antics.</p> + +<p>The Greek population of Macedonia is not large, but is inimical to the +Bulgarian, both from feeling of racial antipathy and from religious +discord. Both, it is true, belong to what is called the Greek or +Orthodox Church, but a few years ago a dispute arose regarding the +language in which services should be conducted in Bulgarian churches. +The Patriarch and heads of the Greek Church insisted that it should be +Greek, whereas the Bulgarians, who do not understand Greek, claimed that +it should be Bulgarian, the language of the people. The dispute led to a +disruption, and now the Bulgarian Church is governed by a Bulgarian +Exarch, and the priests and language are Bulgarian, but the Greek Church +considers them schismatics, and will have no ecclesiastical dealings +with them.</p> + +<p>Further reference to Greeks will be made in Chapter V.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>CIRCASSIANS, LAZES, AND KURDS</h3> + + +<p>Passing over to Asia Minor, we come across groups of a very interesting +race called the Circassian.</p> + +<p>Inhabiting originally the belt of lofty mountains which run from the +Black Sea to the Caspian, they were conquered in 1864 by the Russians, +after nearly a century of resistance, and no less than half a million +were expelled, and received hospitality in Turkey.</p> + +<p>This welcome was extended, not only because the exiles were Moslems, but +also because that country, remarkable for the beauty of its women, had +hitherto supplied the Turkish slave-market with wives for the Palace and +the Grandees. The vendors were their own fathers or guardians, who by +this method secured, not only a substantial profit for themselves, but +also provided comfortable homes and even royalty for their daughters.</p> + +<p>With so much Circassian blood in their veins, it was natural that the +Turks should show themselves sympathetic toward these poor fugitives, +and find settlements for them in various parts of their dominion. +Moreover, in doing so they kept up the market for wives; for although +slavery is officially abolished in Turkey, there is still an underhand +commerce with the Circassian colonists for the disposal of their +daughters as aforesaid. However revolting this transaction may appear +to us, it is consistent with the customs prevalent in Circassia itself, +where a suitor is expected to buy his intended from her father. But +there, at least, he must further arrange to run away with her, an +undertaking which is not so easy if the young lady does not consent.</p> + +<p>The characteristics of Circassians are their small and beautifully +shaped hands and feet, the grace and agility of their movements, and +their clear complexion.</p> + +<p>They are temperate in their habits, and frugal, their national meal +consisting of millet boiled in mutton fat.</p> + +<p>The Circassians are splendid horsemen, but are rather lax about their +perception of what is mine or thine; indeed, their Tartar name, +<i>tcherkes</i>, implies a "robber." They are entirely uneducated.</p> + +<p>The following pretty Circassian custom came under my personal notice. It +was an application made by one of their chiefs to my father for +intervention on his behalf with Government for the extension of a grant +of land. The letter in question was addressed to "Pasta Baba"—<i>i.e.</i>, +the father of bread—a name by which my father was known through +distributing charitable subscriptions raised in Great Britain; it was +sent by a special messenger, and was attached to the wings of a +snow-white pigeon. A gift of a few geese of spotless purity accompanied +it. The petition was duly transmitted to Government, and the request +granted.</p> + +<p>There is a Turkish saying that the Almighty assigned the sovereignty of +the land to the Moslem, but that of the sea to the Giaours, or Infidels.</p> + +<p>But among the subject races of Turkey there is one which has +distinguished itself for its intrepidity on the water and the +fearlessness with which it navigates the Black Sea—a sea well deserving +its sinister epithet. The Lazes occupy the eastern and south-eastern +shores of the Black Sea, and their sailing-boats and ships do the +coasting trade between these regions and Constantinople. Like all +mariners of olden days, they cease navigating the seas during the +winter, and draw up their lighter boats on the beach, and anchor their +heavier ones in harbours. The lighter boats are styled <i>tchektermes</i>, +and are from 30 to 50 feet in length, with sharp, beaky prow and stern. +They carry a long bowsprit, with one or two jib-sails hoisted from a +short mast, placed nearer the bows than the stern. A long boom, attached +obliquely to the mast, serves to support an enormous sail, which, when +the boat is on the tack, bellies out to such a remarkable extent that it +resembles the section of a balloon. Yet notwithstanding this departure +from the principles of sailing, <i>tchektermes</i> can run close up to the +eye of the wind, and are very swift in their movements. A faint idea of +this sort of sail is given in the picture of the lighter in the +illustration of "The Bridge from Galata" in the frontispiece.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A STAMBOUL BEGGAR.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The <i>tchektermes</i> are only partially decked, a covered stern and bow +serving for cabins for the crew. The undecked sides are heightened by 2 +or 3 feet, with a tarred awning, which protects from surf and spray.</p> + +<p>The larger ships used by the Lazes are from 200 to 300 tons; they are +very quaint, and resemble ancient galleons. There is very little +discipline among the crew, and everyone has a say and advice to give to +the captain, who is much on the same level as his men.</p> + +<p>A large number of Lazes come to Constantinople, and engage in the +shipping trade or as stevedores, but others form into guilds for digging +and carrying on operations in connection with housebuilding, and are +very industrious and hard-working. Their hours of labour often extend +during the summer season from five in the morning till eight at night. +They, in common with all labourers in the East, are not engaged by time, +as with us, but, like those labourers mentioned in Scripture, at a fixed +charge for the day.</p> + +<p>Another people strongly resembling the Lazes in appearance, but +inhabiting the mountainous regions to the south of them, all the way up +to and into Persia, are the Kurds, of whom you have probably heard a +good deal in connection with the Armenian massacres. Their country is +called Kurdistan, and is drained by the tributaries of the Euphrates and +the Tigris. Several of its mountains rise to the height of 6,000 to +7,000 feet. Kurds are also to be found in all the hilly districts of +Armenia and Mesopotamia. They are a sinewy, dark, well-formed race, with +a fierce look which betrays an equally ferocious character. They owe +but slight allegiance to the Turkish Empire, and are under the rule of +chiefs, more or less independent, who organize robber bands to plunder +or blackmail caravans.</p> + +<p>They possess remarkably fine horses, which are greatly in demand for the +Turkish cavalry. The Kurds themselves are great riders, and with their +long javelins, bows, or muskets, are a terror to their neighbours. They +are also experts in the use of the sling. During the recent Armenian +massacres they were allowed a free hand, and their cruelty and rapacity +were such as to defy description. The ex-Sultan, Abdul Hamid, +incorporated a number of them into a division of cavalry, commanded by +their own officers, which constituted his bodyguard, and he paid them +largely, and dressed them handsomely, but since his dethronement they +have been disbanded as too insubordinate.</p> + +<p>It is the boast of the Kurds that their country gave birth to the great +Saladdin, who in the twelfth century fought against our Richard Cœur +de Lion in the Holy Land.</p> + +<p>Most of the Kurds are migratory in their habits, but others reside in +villages, where they sow their fields with seed in spring-time, and then +quit them in order to pasture their flocks in the mountains. In autumn +they return to their villages, and reap their harvest. Those residing in +the plains are of a more peaceful disposition, and exercise much +ingenuity and show much taste in the manufacture of carpets. These are +entirely of wool, and are of that light description known as <i>kilims</i>, +used in this country for portières. Occasionally some of the women +working at them weave in locks or tresses of their own hair, which is +supposed to add to the value of the carpet. It certainly adds to its +quaintness.</p> + +<p>A peculiar product of the Kurdish forests is manna, a sweet exudation on +the oak-leaf. These leaves are beaten down from the trees, and collected +on sheets, and then pressed into lumps and eaten, either in their +natural condition, or used as a sweetening ingredient. Manna has a +sweet, pleasant taste, and is called by the Kurds the "divine +sweetmeat." It is sold in the courts of the mosques in Constantinople +during the sacred month of Ramazzan.</p> + +<p>Lake Van, on the confines of Kurdistan, is about 70 miles long and 28 +miles broad. Its waters are salt, but brackish near the streams, and +when evaporated produce a kind of soap used in the country. The lake +abounds in a peculiar kind of carp (<i>Cyprinus Tarachi</i>), locally known +as <i>Dareg</i>, which is said to exist nowhere else, and which is dried and +eaten extensively in the neighbourhood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>ARMENIANS</h3> + + +<p>Adjoining Kurdistan lies Armenia, but it is difficult to determine where +the one begins and the other ends, as during the time of the Armenian +troubles the Sultan decreed that no such place as Armenia should exist, +and vast stretches of country inhabited by Armenians were officially +incorporated in the villayets, or provinces, of Kurdistan and others.</p> + +<p>So determined was the Sultan to blot out the name he hated that the +censors were ordered to prohibit or deface all books having reference to +Armenia, and the writer of these lines had unpleasant experiences at the +Custom-house where a number of his books were mutilated; Keith +Johnston's book on "Geography," for instance, had ten pages torn out.</p> + +<p>But in spite of Imperial edicts, Armenia still exists, and will continue +to do so as long as Mount Ararat stands as a monument in the land to +proclaim an antiquity claimed to be coeval with Noah.</p> + +<p>The traditions of the Deluge are still cherished by the Armenians, who +yearly celebrate the exit from the Ark, and symbolize it in their +national pudding, called the <i>anoosh aboor</i>, or sweet pudding. This +consists of as many varieties of dried fruits as they can collect, which +they mix together and stew, in imitation, it is alleged, of Noah, who +did the same with the remnants of the provisions he had stored in the +Ark. On this occasion they also sprinkle water on each other's faces, to +denote the flood, and liberate captive doves and make cakes to represent +birds.</p> + +<p>Tradition also maintains that it was in Armenia, on the southern slopes +of Ararat, still rich in vines and olive-yards, that Noah planted the +first vineyard. A withered root of one of the plants is still exhibited +to show the result of the Divine malediction on the vine which +occasioned his drunkenness.</p> + +<p>Armenia has passed through a number of vicissitudes, and frequently +changed masters, and, owing to its geographical position, has often been +the highway for the passage of opposing armies. It was the first country +that officially embraced Christianity, their Sovereign, Tigranes, having +been converted at the end of the third century by Gregory the +Illuminator, and the Armenian Church has since been called the +Gregorian. Armenia fell under the sword of the Moslem powers, and many +of its inhabitants were compelled to turn Mahomedans, but as a whole +they bravely maintained their faith and worship, notwithstanding +persecutions. They have a language and an alphabet of their own, the +latter consisting of thirty-eight letters, and expressing so many sounds +that it is often used with advantage in writing Turkish also. The +language spoken by the people principally is Turkish, while that used in +the Church services is Ancient Armenian, which is not understood by the +illiterate, but efforts are now made to revive the use of Modern +Armenian, and it is being taught in their schools, and spoken more +extensively.</p> + +<p>Armenia is to-day portioned between Russia, Persia, and Turkey, the +latter ruling over the largest share. The population of the Turkish +section is probably about 1,000,000, but about as many, if not more, +are spread about other portions of the Empire, and Constantinople holds +150,000.</p> + +<p>The Armenians are of medium height, but broad-shouldered and of powerful +build; their complexion is swarthy, their hair black, and they can grow +magnificent beards. Their eyes are black, and their nose aquiline, or +eagle-beaked. This latter characteristic is very marked, and can be +traced back to the coins of Tigranes, and of their earliest sovereigns. +Their habits are indolent, and years of servitude have made them timid, +and until quite recently they appeared so infatuated with their masters +that their highest ambition seemed to be to ape them. They have been +described as "having no high feeling, no emulation, no enthusiasm, no +longing for a place among nations, no aspirations after the bright and +the beautiful." But now all this has changed—at least with the educated +people—and ecclesiastically, as well as socially, they have aspirations +for an improvement in their condition. They have great business +capacities, and show some aptitude in the arts, especially in weaving +and embroidery, but have little initiative. They are naturally devout +and kind-hearted, especially to animals, and ill-treatment of the latter +is considered as deserving ecclesiastical censure, a case being on +record where a priest imposed a fast of twenty years upon a woman for +killing her cat.</p> + +<p>Villagers and Armenians from the interior are remarkable for their +honesty, and have been entrusted for generations with the guardianship +of merchants' offices, banks, shops, and the surveillance of public +establishments.</p> + +<p>Their inducements to faithfulness are strengthened by their conviction +that honesty is the best policy, for as a result of their proverbial +trustworthiness their functions have come to be regarded as hereditary, +and when one servant dies or returns to his family, he is replaced by +his son, or brother, or near relative. There is thus solidarity between +the members of a family, and even between the citizens of a town, for +there are some towns—Mush, for instance—that hold the palm for the +integrity of its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>An occupation, akin to the previous one, held by Armenians, in common +with Turks of Asia Minor, is that of porterage, an institution of the +greatest importance, especially in Constantinople, where the narrowness +or steepness of the streets often prevents wheeled conveyance.</p> + +<p>These porters, known under the name of <i>hamals</i>, carry their burden on +their back by means of a leather cushion, which is strapped over their +shoulders, and called a <i>semer</i>, or saddle (see illustration, "In the +Grand Bazaar," Chapter IV.), and it is extraordinary what weight and +bulk they can carry. The object to be carried, if heavy, is lifted by +one or two companions, and rested on the <i>semer</i>, while the wearer +stoops forward to receive it.</p> + +<p>Great care is necessary to poise and balance it properly, as the secret +of lifting lies in the correct adjustment—an art which with the +<i>hamals</i> seems instinctive. A short rope is then thrown over the burden, +and the ends are held by the porter so as to prevent the burden from +slipping as he proceeds on his way with heavy but steady steps. Should +the road be steep, he will generally find resting-stones, which have +been placed at regular intervals, where he can lean his burden without +removing it, and obtain a brief repose. The placing of these +resting-stones is considered a meritorious act among Moslems, and finds +its equivalent in the Rest-and-be-Thankful Stones to be met with in many +places in this country, where the weary traveller sits and blesses the +donor.</p> + +<p>It is an interesting study to watch the muscles of the <i>hamal's</i> legs +distend and his veins dilate as, nearly bent in two, he treads leisurely +along, groaning under a weight which it would take two ordinary men to +carry.</p> + +<p>Conveying a piano, for instance, is no unusual occurrence, and on one +occasion the writer had coals conveyed to his house, situated on a hill, +and about three miles from the ship, at the same price as they would +have been conveyed by horses, each <i>hamal</i> carrying half a horseload. A +<i>hamal's</i> carrying capacity may therefore be expressed, after this +experience, as equal to a half horse-power.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus5" id="illus5"></a> +<img src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>IN THE GRAND BAZAAR.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>If the object to be conveyed is a very heavy one, it is suspended on a +long pole, and carried between two <i>hamals</i>, the rounded ends of the +poles resting on their shoulders, with perhaps a leather pad between to +protect the bone.</p> + +<p>Should the weight be heavier still, say a large bale of merchandise or a +pig of lead, four, six, or eight <i>hamals</i> combine, each pair carrying a +separate pole. As they march swinging and staggering along, with their +right hand resting on their neighbours' left shoulder, and occupying +half the street, they shout <i>Varda!</i> which means "Make room!" and +everybody has to clear out and rush to the sidewalk, or run the risk of +being thrown over.</p> + +<p><i>Hamals</i> form themselves into Guilds, allotting themselves special +spheres of work or districts, and are very jealous of interference by +outsiders in what they consider their monopoly.</p> + +<p>In addition to the porterage of goods they also undertake the hewing of +wood, such as is used for warming purposes in the East. They begin by +conveying it on their backs in lengths of 5 or 6 feet, in which it +arrives from the forests, and, throwing it in a heap in front of your +door, they proceed forthwith to chop it with their axes into lengths of +12 to 14 inches, and then store it. In the meanwhile half the street is +occupied by the hewers, and chips fly right and left, endangering the +eyes and faces of passers-by.</p> + +<p>Up to the time of the Armenian massacres, Armenian <i>hamals</i> had nearly +the entire monopoly of the Constantinople Custom-house porterage, but +the majority were slaughtered in cold blood or had to flee, and Kurds +(many of whom were their murderers) were engaged in their place.</p> + +<p>But the latter had neither the experience, nor the skill, nor the +obliging manners of the Armenians, and for a long time business was +disorganized, and merchants were discontented.</p> + +<p>Before dismissing the subject of the <i>hamals</i>, reference may be made to +a peculiar contrivance they adopt for preventing water conveyed in open +barrels from spilling, through the vibration. It simply consists in +floating a disc of wood on the surface, and this seems as effectual as +the sailors' device of throwing oil over the troubled waters. Anyone may +try it and see the result.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to depict the habits of a people in a country so +widespread as Armenia, but I may briefly allude to the houses they +inhabit in Erzerum, the principal town of Armenia, and one which, +according to Armenian tradition, stands on the site of the Garden of +Eden! In any case, the climate has changed since those blissful days, +for owing to its high latitude of 5,000 feet above the sea, that +district is bitterly cold during the winter and hot during the summer. +Indeed, for six months of the year, and more, snow is said to lie in the +streets of Erzerum. The houses are in consequence low and small, +consisting generally of a ground-floor only, with a flat roof over it. +They are built of stone against the sides of a hill, and each room +stands with a separate roof. As these roofs or terraces are connected +with steps, one can walk a very considerable way over them. During the +summer they are overgrown with grass, and are the favourite resort of +women and children, the latter taking with them their lambs to browse +over the grass and flowers. Each room of these houses has a fireplace, +where cow-dung fuel is consumed. The furniture is very simple, and +consists of a raised divan round three sides of the room, on which the +family sit during the day, and often sleep at night. Only few houses +possess chairs and tables. Meals are served on a round tray placed on a +stool, around which the family squat and partake from a common dish. The +characteristic feature of the house is the stable for oxen, one portion +of which has a raised platform, with divans and carpets, and is used as +the men's reception-room. The breath of the cattle helps to keep it warm +and cosy, and underneath the platform the dogs lie and sleep, while on +the divan, resting along with the men, are lovely silken-haired cats, +many of which have their tails dyed red with henna.</p> + +<p>In winter the houses can hardly be distinguished under the snow, and the +town is described as a great rabbit-warren, with the passages leading to +the doors of the houses like so many burrows.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>GREEKS AND VLACHS</h3> + + +<p>In our account of the races ruled over by the Turks we must not forget +the Greeks, those enterprising colonists who, long before the Christian +era, settled along the coast of the Black Sea, and all along the +sea-line which now fringes the Ottoman Empire, as well as in its +islands, and who also founded commercial stations in the interior. In +earliest times we find them connected with such expeditions as the +Argonautic, in quest of the Golden Fleece, and returning, not only with +rich trophies, but with wonderful legends regarding the lands they +visited. I could entertain you at great length on their adventures in +the countries I am describing, but this is not the object of this book, +and my reference to the past must only be to show you that the present +Greeks in Turkey are much the same people as their ancestors, with the +same love for commerce, the same love for the beautiful and the same +glowing imagination. Yet they differ in this respect, that they are now +a subject instead of an independent people. They also differ in not +calling themselves Hellenes, but Romei—<i>i.e.</i>, Romans—an appellation +which, strange to say, applies only to members of the Greek Church. +Roman Catholics contemptuously refuse to be called Romei, and style +themselves Latins.</p> + +<p>Intermarriages have somewhat tainted the purity of their blood, and in +many cases they have lost the use of their mother-tongue, and can only +speak Turkish, but still they are Greeks to all intents and purposes, +and mostly members of the Greek or Orthodox Church.</p> + +<p>The Greek type of face is much the same as what we see in the statuary +in our museums. The forehead is broad but rather low, the nose and +profile straight, the eyes large, the lips full, the chin firm, and the +neck rounded. They are tall and stately, and graceful in their +movements, and have small hands and feet.</p> + +<p>In character they are highly imaginative, superficial, and shrewd, but +make excellent husbands and wives, and inspire their children with a +love for home and respect for their parents.</p> + +<p>In education the wealthier classes are advanced, but the peasantry are +still backward. The Greek spoken by the latter is very corrupt, and has +a large admixture of Turkish and Italian, but the efforts of School +Boards and of the local newspapers are tending to purify and elevate it. +At present even the New Testament Greek is above the average man's +comprehension.</p> + +<p>The Greeks, as of yore, have much of the heroic in their character, and +their ballads are full of the noble deeds, both of men and of women, in +their defence against their oppressors.</p> + +<p>Their usual method of vindicating their rights and protecting themselves +consisted in forming bands of <i>Armatolæ</i>, or <i>Kleptæ</i>, and occupying +strongholds in the mountains, from which they would sweep down +unexpectedly and avenge themselves, or carry away some wealthy Pacha as +captive until he was ransomed.</p> + +<p>These bands were looked up to by the people as heroes and +deliverers—the Jephthas and Gideons of their captivity.</p> + +<p>But unfortunately their exploits were not resorted to for the cause of +freedom and justice alone, and have often degenerated into sheer acts of +brigandage. A series of them were recently enacted in Macedonia, and on +one occasion an Englishman was surprised, surrounded, and carried to the +mountains. A messenger was sent down with a demand for his ransom, and +with a threat that unless this was produced within a stated time, or if +pursuit was made, his life would be forfeited. The sum fixed upon was +the captives' weight in gold, and as he unfortunately happened to be a +heavy man, the amount represented £12,000. The ransom was duly paid, +but the money afterwards recovered from the Turkish Government.</p> + +<p>As an instance of the strange mixture of superstition and depravity +among some of these brigand bands, it is related that on one occasion a +band plundered a church, and then, seizing the priest, the <i>Kleptæ</i> put +a sword to his throat until he absolved them from the offence.</p> + +<p>Acts of brigandage are not, however, limited to Greeks, though they are +the chief offenders, but are shared with Albanians and Turks. Nor have +Macedonia and Greece had the monopoly, but Smyrna and the hill-country +near Constantinople have given scope for their activities. Their spies +and agents in these towns supplied them with information, and the +villagers and shepherds about their districts being in full sympathy, +kept them in supplies and ammunition.</p> + +<p>From the bandit it is pleasant to turn to the agricultural and pastoral +life of the Greeks in Turkey, and describe the assistance that boys and +girls give to their parents.</p> + +<p>When the wheat or barley has been harvested, the sheaves are spread on +the threshing-floor, which has previously been carefully prepared with +clay and stones beaten down into a smooth surface. A broad wooden sledge +is then provided, with sharp flint-stones firmly embedded into the under +portion. One or two horses are attached to the sledge and a boy or girl, +seated on a stool on the sledge, seizes the reins, and whip in hand, +drives the horses at full gallop round and round the threshing-floor. +The sharp flints, acting as knives, soon cut up the long stalks into +straw, and separate the grain. Then a windy day is selected, and with +long wooden forks the straw is tossed up into the air, the wind carrying +the chaff and straw to a short distance, and leaving the heavier grain +at the winnower's feet. The winnowed grain is then shovelled up into a +heap, and there it must remain until the tax-gatherer has come and +removed one-tenth on behalf of the Government. The harvest-festival +follows, when, attired in their best clothes and with flowers on their +heads and sheaves of golden grain in their hands, the harvesters proceed +to the towns, and dance and sing before the doors of their patrons.</p> + +<p>One of their favourite dances is the old classical <i>syrto</i>, or +long-drawn dance, performed on the village green. The youths and maidens +don their picturesque gala costumes, and prepare for the dance, while +the elderly men group themselves round the coffee-house, smoking their +pipes and sipping coffee, and the matrons, with little ones, sit under +the trees and gossip. A musician, with fiddle, pipe, or viol, sits on a +barrel, while each youth produces his coloured handkerchief, and, +holding it by one corner, presents the other to the girl at his side. +She in her turn presents her own to the dancer next to her; a long line +or circle is formed, and the dance is proceeded with, the youths and +maidens responding to each other in the words of a song.</p> + +<p>The dress of the girls differs very much according to the locality where +they reside. That of the villages near Constantinople consists of a +loose, bright-coloured bodice, worn over a blouse open at the neck, and +a coloured kerchief twisted round the head, from under the folds of +which the hair hangs down the back in rich plaited tresses. The trousers +are loose, baggy, and voluminous, and are fastened with a cord round the +waist.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus6" id="illus6"></a> +<img src="images/illus6.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A SHEKERDJIS' SHOP.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Over the bodice a bright zouave is worn, richly embroidered in gold or +silver, and strings of gold or silver coins hang round the head, or as a +necklace round the throat, while on the wrists are heavy bracelets.</p> + +<p>In other places it is described as consisting of "a skirt woven in +stripes of silk and woollen, reaching to the ankles, with a +tight-fitting bodice of the same, a cloth jacket braided or embroidered +round the borders in gold thread and lined with fur, and in some +districts a bright-coloured apron ornamented with needlework" (L. +Garnett, "Women in Turkey").</p> + +<p>The same writer reports that in the islands a favourite amusement on +these occasions is for the girls to suspend a rope across a narrow +street from the wall of their own house to that of a neighbour, and +every youth who wishes to pass by must pay toll in the form of a small +coin, and give one of the girls a swing, while he sings the following +verse:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O swing the clove-carnation red,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The gold and silver shining:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And swing the girl with golden hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For love of her I'm pining."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>To which the maiden replies:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O say what youth is swinging me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">What do you call him, girls?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For I a fez will broider him,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With fairest, whitest pearls."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Vlachs that inhabit Macedonia follow principally pastoral and +agricultural pursuits. They spend the winter in their mountain +villages, but during the summer they lead a nomadic life in quest of +pastures, and move about, gipsy-like, in caravans.</p> + +<p>The care of their father's flock is committed to the charge of the +daughters, whose beauty has often been extolled in many an amorous +folklore song. Their duties are to milk the sheep and goats, churn the +milk into butter, or convert it into cheese, bleach and spin the wool, +and weave garments for the use of the family. A loom occupies the corner +of every dwelling, and every spare moment is given to twisting thread +with a spindle.</p> + +<p>There is considerable dislike among the Greeks to let their daughters go +out to service, but this feeling is not shared by the inhabitants of the +Greek islands. On the contrary, they supply the main stock of domestic +servants, and recognized agents sail to and from the islands to find +them occupation and attend to their interests. These Greek servants are +generally very ignorant, can seldom write, and depend on the agent or +some kind friend both for reading and writing their letters. They do not +draw their pay monthly or quarterly, but prefer to allow it to +accumulate with their masters, and withdraw it in a lump sum. After +having stayed for some years in service, the girls are greatly in demand +with their countrymen, and return to their islands and marry, but only +to go back to service when their lazy husbands have expended their +savings. Many of them return in the capacity of wet-nurses, a vocation +greatly in demand in the East, where children are seldom brought up on +the bottle. They are highly paid, and, moreover, receive presents on +such important occasions as the child's cutting its first tooth and the +like.</p> + +<p>Their social position is also different from that of other servants, for +as foster-mothers they have a say in the child's upbringing, and their +own children can claim kinship as foster-brothers or foster-sisters. +Strange and incongruous connections are often the result, as, for +instance, in the case of an acquaintance of mine in Smyrna, a British +subject and manager of a bank. His foster-brother, a Greek, took to the +mountains, and was known as the famous brigand, Caterdjee Yiani, and +many a time the latter escaped detection and arrest by hiding in the +house of his British milk-kinsman.</p> + +<p>Wet-nurses in the Sultan's palace are, it is stated, invariably +Circassians, and their own children become playmates with the Crown +Princes, and are not forgotten in after life. The foster-mother enjoys a +title of courtesy, and often her influence in the palace comes next to +that of the reigning Sultan's mother. In the case of the wet-nurse of +Sultan Abdul Aziz, her power was such that frequently the appointment or +dismissal of Governors and other State officials depended on her +good-will.</p> + +<p>Greek servants are as a rule honest, but very slovenly, and at first +very raw and unused to the ways of civilized life. They love to go +about barefooted, or shuffle in slippers. Their hair is seldom combed, +and their garments hang loosely about them. Their head-dress is a +printed kerchief, called a <i>fakiol</i>, which they wear both indoors and +out of doors, but the more advanced wear hats, and consider it such a +distinction, that a man-servant of mine, who wanted to get married, +could not describe his intended to me in more flattering terms than by +saying that "she wears the <i>capello</i>" (hat).</p> + +<p>On Sundays they put on their finery and are very keen to go to church, +and gossip with their fellow-servants in the women's gallery. It was +probably to similar tittle-tattling, so common in Eastern churches, that +St. Paul referred when forbidding women to "speak in the churches."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Factories are so seldom to be seen in Turkey that women have few +opportunities of employment as factory-girls, but in the silk-spinning +factories in Brusa Greek, Armenian, and Turkish girls work side by side. +Their great ambition is to be possessed of and wear gold coins about +their persons, but specially a five-lira piece, representing about £4 +10s. of our money. Too eager to wait until their savings enable them to +buy that coin, they go to a money-changer and receive one immediately on +credit, paying him weekly a stipulated instalment, and interest at 12 +per cent. a year in addition. The result is that when they have paid off +the debt they find that the coin has cost them at least £6 or £7; but +in the meanwhile their feminine vanity has been gratified, and the coin +displayed three or four years earlier than otherwise.</p> + +<p>A curious class of people to be found in nearly every village in Turkey, +and even in the interior of Arabia, Egypt, and Khartoum, is that of the +<i>bakals</i>, or grocers, who are Greeks from Kaisarieh, in Karamania (Asia +Minor). Fat, dumpy, and oily, with dirty, baggy trousers, greasy vests +and shining countenances, they are as like one another as two peas. They +have practically the monopoly of the retail grocery business, and their +shops contain everything you can imagine in the way of Eastern articles +of diet—bread, cheese, black olives, salted anchovies, sardines, +curdled milk called <i>yiaourt</i>, oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, rice, +sausages, and dried meats, honey, butter, dried fruits, tallow candles, +matches, etc.</p> + +<p>Their little boys—chips of the old block—go round every house, calling +out "<i>Bakalis</i>" and catering for orders, or bringing them back in +conical bags of brown paper. Nearly everybody buys on credit, and an +account is run up (not always too honestly) which, after a short time, +becomes formidable, and credit is stopped till an instalment is paid.</p> + +<p>The <i>bakals'</i> book-keeping is of the most primitive type, and will +baffle the sharpest chartered accountant; but mistakes are seldom on the +wrong side.</p> + +<p>A peculiar method for recording the number of loaves of bread +distributed in each house is that of the <i>tchetoula</i>, and consists in +cutting a notch on a piece of stick for every loaf taken. The +householder retains the stick, and receives a new one when the amount is +paid. Another method is to make a chalk-mark on the door, and efface it +on payment.</p> + +<p>With a community living from hand to mouth like the Eastern, it is +difficult to know what they would do without the ubiquitous <i>bakal</i>. +Besides making himself useful in the catering-line, he frequently is the +only man in his village who can read, and is resorted to both for +reading and writing letters. His correspondence is carried on in Turkish +words, but with Greek characters, full of conventional signs and +contractions, and is next to impossible to decipher.</p> + +<p>Stray newspapers sometimes reach him, and the news of the day is +conveyed by him to clients; and should there be a Christian church in +his village, he is sure to be one of its dignitaries, and as <i>psaltis</i>, +or precentor, preside over the singing.</p> + +<p>Another curious product, if I may so call it, of the Greek market is a +class of beggars known as the <i>Volitziani</i>. They come from villages in +Thessaly, and are young women who put aside their best garments, and don +an old black skirt and black jacket, so as to assume an air of abject +poverty. When about to start they receive from their community a +beggar's staff, as a badge or passport of their functions, and they +proceed to Constantinople, or any other town where begging offers +advantageous prospects. On their arrival they borrow or hire two or +three children, one of which is an infant, and which they drug and cause +to sleep on a handkerchief spread out in a corner of the street. The +beggar sits beside it, putting on her most tearful looks, and when any +likely passer-by approaches, she raises her voice in supplication, and +sends the other children to pull at his coat-tails. These <i>Volitziani</i> +frequent the neighbourhood of churches, and their appeal is: "Give for +the sake of the souls of the departed." The result is a plentiful +harvest of coins, which enables them to return with a bagful to their +country. The beggar's staff is then hung behind the door as a trophy. +Should they desire to proceed on another begging expedition, a second +staff is given them, and so on, and at each successive return the staff +that has done service is deposited behind the door. Sometimes as many as +seven make up the trophy. Young men desiring to find wives with money +pry behind the door, and form an approximate idea of the fortune of the +owner, the one with seven staffs taking, of course, the palm.</p> + +<p>Constantinople was once the great resort of beggars of all descriptions, +and lines of them used to exhibit on the Galata Bridge (see +frontispiece) all manners of deformities to elicit sympathy, but one of +the reforming measures of the Young Turks was to expel them from the +city. In illustration facing Chapter III. you will see one of these +wayside beggars.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>JEWS—SUPERSTITIONS</h3> + + +<p>We read in the New Testament of Jews scattered all over the Roman +Empire. The same is true of them to-day in Turkey. Their principal +resorts are Constantinople, Smyrna, Salonica, and the other great towns.</p> + +<p>Some are original colonists, principally from Palestine; others are +exiles from Spain in 1493. Common vicissitudes with the Moors, who had +also been ejected from Spain, created sympathy for them in the Moslem +world, and, to the honour of the Turk let it be told, they were offered +a shelter and a home. These immigrants introduced with them the jargon +which they had employed in Spain, and which consists of a mixture of +Hebrew and Spanish, and is known as Judeo-Spanish. To it have been +grafted a number of Italian and Turkish words, and it has been adopted +as the common vernacular of both classes of Jews above mentioned.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus7" id="illus7"></a> +<img src="images/illus7.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A CEMETERY BY THE BOSPHORUS.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Another division is that of Hebrews from Russia, Poland, and Austria. +These do not understand Judeo-Spanish, but speak corrupt Russian and +German, and differ from their southern brethren in features and customs; +they all adhere to the law of Moses, and accept the teaching of the +Prophets. There exists also a sect of Jews called <i>Dunmés</i>, or +turncoats, who are both Mahomedans and Jews. Ostensibly they are the +former, and observe all Moslem rites, but secretly they practise those +of the Hebrews also.</p> + +<p>The Dunmés give their children two names, one a Turkish, such as +Mustapha, and the other a Hebrew, such as Jacob.</p> + +<p>They reside chiefly in Salonica, and are very fanatical, and were the +ringleaders of a riot against the Christians in 1870. On the other hand, +several have distinguished themselves recently by joining the Reform +Party in Turkey, known as Young Turks, who overthrew Sultan Hamid, and +introduced the Constitution.</p> + +<p>Perhaps they are the only class of Jews who are seamen, and it is +interesting to watch their flotilla of small boats board the steamers +that arrive in Salonica. From their screams and shouts, you would think +yourself in pandemonium. The originator of the sect was a certain +Sabbatai Levy, who proclaimed himself the Messiah in 1648, but +afterwards accepted Mahomedanism to save his life. His adherents believe +in his return, and it is stated that one of their number always awaits +the arrival of the railway-train in Salonica to offer him a welcome.</p> + +<p>Jews in Turkey are not relegated to ghettos, as in several European +cities, but all the same they live in separate quarters, as, indeed, do +all the other nationalities. Their quarters may be recognized by their +malodorous smells, their filth, and the numerous families residing in +the houses, and also from the babel of tongues, and the shrill, +discordant voices of women or children shouting to each other or +quarrelling.</p> + +<p>Jews in the East engage principally in commerce, banking, +money-changing, pawnbrokerage, dealings on the Stock Exchange, +watchmaking, and shopkeeping.</p> + +<p>A feature among them is the early age at which boys commence earning +their daily bread. As young as six or seven you may see them going about +with trays containing cigarette-papers, pins, matches, and similar cheap +articles. Boys in this country will marvel at the ease and rapidity with +which mere tots can work calculations mentally in the course of their +business.</p> + +<p>When they grow up to manhood many engage in window-cleaning, an +occupation which has come to be a Jewish speciality, and which an +Eastern servant will resent if called upon to undertake. Others go about +riveting or cementing broken china, or, with a small charcoal brazier +and soldering irons, as tinkers; others sell a special kind of sand for +cleaning pots and pans, which they hawk about under its Latin name of +<i>arena</i>. Some make a speciality of buying, washing, and sorting empty +bottles, which they afterwards re-sell with profit; others, of course, +buy up old clothes, or, with a capacious wooden box slung over their +back, go about selling all those little articles which are indispensable +to ladies. When called to a house they spread out all their +paraphernalia, and the bargaining, which Easterns take such a delight +in, begins—buyer and seller trying to outwit and deceive each +other—the housewife feeling happy and virtuous all day if she has +beaten down the Jew to one-third of his demands, and the Jew unhappy +because he had not charged more.</p> + +<p>Hebrew marriages in the East occur at an early period of life, fifteen +with girls and eighteen with boys, and even earlier in Palestine. The +result is large families and much destitution, but with all that one +seldom sees any Jewish beggars, their system for relief of poverty being +so admirable. They are frugal in their habits, living largely on bread, +salt-fish, leeks, and onions, and, during the season, on fruits. The +produce sold in their shambles is, moreover, of the cheapest and most +inferior quality, yet, notwithstanding all this, the Jews are the +longest lived and healthiest of the Eastern races.</p> + +<p>The dress of those in Constantinople consists of two or three long +gowns, open below the knees; the sleeves are long. Their head-dress is +the Turkish fez. In winter they wear long furs over their gowns. Married +women cover their hair with a sort of bag-like embroidered kerchief, +called <i>yemeni</i>, which is painted with flowers and ornamented with lace +and seed-pearls.</p> + +<p>Within recent years much has been done, both by the Jewish Alliance and +the Scottish and English Mission Schools, to educate boys and girls, and +there is certainly a great improvement.</p> + +<p>Jews are fatalists, and are convinced that the decrees of fate are +unalterable, yet they imagine that Providence may be cheated and thus +deterred from its purposes. Accordingly, if Joseph happens to fall ill, +and there is a likelihood of his dying, they forthwith change his name +into, we will say, Benjamin, and they expect that when the Angel of +Death arrives to fulfil his mission he will think he has made a mistake, +and gone to the wrong house. So everyone in the room keeps addressing +the invalid as Benjamin, and, should he recover, they all congratulate +themselves on their masterly deception.</p> + +<p>Another expedient, but principally connected with children's ailments, +is to trap the malevolent demon who has induced the sickness, and this +they profess to do by laying a trail of sugar from the child's sick-bed +to a well. The greedy demon follows the track, and gets drowned!</p> + +<p>Dread of the evil-eye is as prevalent with the Jews as with the other +races in Turkey. They believe that there are certain malignant spirits +in existence who are envious of men's happiness and do all they can to +destroy it, especially when any self-praise or praise by others has been +expressed by the lips. This power, it is further believed, is not +restricted to demons, but is also shared by individuals, especially +those possessing blue eyes. Quite an elaborate series of antidotes or +prophylactics are adopted as a preservative against such influence, the +most potent of which is to prefix to each commendation the magic +spell-word <i>Mashalla</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, "In the name of God." To this may be +added the power of the blue bead, the evil spirit having a great +predilection for that colour. Hence, if you praise a child for its +beauty, and it happens to wear blue beads, the spirit's attention will +be so absorbed with the bead that it will not hear your remarks. Another +preservative is garlic, which has a repellent effect on the evil spirit.</p> + +<p>As a consequence, everything in Turkey that has to be protected from the +evil-eye is decorated either with the one or the other, and you seldom +see a horse, a draught ox, or even a donkey, that has not a string of +blue beads about its neck. Children wear these charms on their caps; and +the prows of boats, the roofs of houses, cages of birds, and even hovels +have a bunch of garlic suspended with strings. It is even stated that +bouquets of flowers formed of spices, and in the centre of which garlic +is nestled, are sent as a present to the mother of a new-born infant, as +a safeguard both to herself and the child.</p> + +<p>Suspended along with the garlic on the gables of Turkish houses framed +texts from the Koran are often to be seen, and on the doorposts of +Hebrew houses a small tablet with the word <i>Shadai</i> (the Almighty). +Jewish houses have also imprinted on the walls the impress of a man's +hand, with the five fingers outstretched. In Christian houses the +prophylactic takes the form of a cross, which frequently is nailed on +the eaves during the process of building.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>GIPSIES—SUPERSTITIONS</h3> + + +<p>A people resembling the Jews in that, like them, they are "found +scattered toward all the four winds of heaven, and there is no nation +whither these outcasts have not come," are the gipsies. They are to be +met with in every part of the Sultan's dominions, and in physical +appearance, manners, and character they are very similar to those in our +country.</p> + +<p>Moslems and Christians vie with each other in holding them in +execration, and they are branded by the former as the <i>Kitabsis</i>, or +"bookless" nation, because of the unwritten form of their beliefs and +worship. Yet the presence of gipsy-girls at weddings and other +ceremonies is much in demand, in order to amuse the guests with their +dancing and singing, to the accompaniment of the tambourine or the +flute.</p> + +<p>The men are frequently blacksmiths, or they rear horses and donkeys +(besides stealing them), and frequently earn something by the sale of +asses' milk, which is considered beneficial for chest complaints. The +she-ass is led early in the morning to the patient's door, and the +newly-drawn milk taken while quite warm and frothy.</p> + +<p>The children, of course, beg and steal, but the most fruitful occupation +of the women is that of fortune-telling, the usual methods employed +being the reading of the palm of the hand and cards. A little mirror +placed in the bottom of a small box is also consulted.</p> + +<p>But divination and fortune-telling is not limited to gipsies; tall +negro-women, with great rolling eyes, may be seen seated on the ground +in public squares, with groups of inquirers of both sexes around them. +They divine by means of beans or black pebbles (see illustration facing +Chapter VII.).</p> + +<p>There is another class of soothsayers who profess to recover lost +property, and see or show the face of the thief reflected in the water +of a deep well. A valuable ring was once lost in a house, and no clue or +evidence could be obtained as to the culprit, so the services of a +diviner were requisitioned. He arrived at night, bringing in a bag a red +cock, which he professed would crow the instant the guilty party touched +it. The inmates of the house were all ordered to squat in a circle on +the ground; the cock was placed in their midst, and all lights were +extinguished. "Now," said the diviner, "let everybody rest their hands +on the cock." They all apparently did so, and lights were called for, +and an exhibition of hands was demanded. A red stain was visible on +every hand except one—that of the guilty maid-servant, who had not +touched the cock for fear of being betrayed.</p> + +<p>Residents in Turkey have inherited many of the superstitions of the +Greeks and Romans, such as augury from the flight of birds, and the +entrails of newly-slaughtered animals, and faith in astrology. The +Sultan keeps a royal astrologer, who publishes yearly a list of the +lucky and unlucky days, and no one will think of undertaking a journey, +marrying a wife, or commencing business without consulting it.</p> + +<p>At the birth of a child a horoscope is made out for his benefit, +indicating under what constellation he was born, and laying down rules +accordingly for his guidance.</p> + +<p>On a certain day in March a peculiar kind of sweet, resembling and +tasting like spiced toffy, but coloured red and with a sheet of +gold-leaf stuck on it, is sent round to all palace officials. The +elegant bowl that contains it is fastened in bright muslin, and is tied +with coloured ribbons and sealed, and has to be opened and the contents +eaten at the specified moment indicated by the astrologer, in order to +secure wealth and felicity during the year.</p> + +<p>When troubled with dreams or otherwise apprehensive of impending +misfortune, Turks believe that by hanging shreds of rags on the railings +of the tomb of an old saint the danger may be averted. The consequence +is that some of these shrines are literally covered and disfigured with +rags.</p> + +<p>Dogs are also considered excellent subjects to which disease may be +transferred. The patient can effect this by feeding them.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus8" id="illus8"></a> +<img src="images/illus8.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A FORTUNE-TELLER.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>A popular remedy for illness of any kind is to obtain from the <i>imam</i>, +or priest, a written text of the Koran and swallow it, and I have known +of doctors' prescriptions being taken the same way, and doubtless +with similar effect.</p> + +<p>Another superstition is that, if a person has had a fall, water poured +on the spot will prevent its repetition.</p> + +<p>A curious method for arresting the spread of infectious disease is to +surround the patient with a circle of some disinfectant, and during a +cholera scare I saw it applied to a man on the Galata bridge who had an +apoplectic stroke. The case was considered suspicious, and his body was +removed, but a circle of whitewash, like the markings of a tennis-court, +was drawn round the place where he had fallen, and the infection thus +imprisoned!</p> + +<p>Scraps of paper thrown in the street are held in reverence and removed +by pious Moslems, because the Name of God may be written on them and +profaned if trodden upon; but another version is that all scraps not +thus collected by the Moslem will be scattered over the burning soil +through which he is to pass, after death, on the way to Paradise, and +will make his passage more painful.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>SYRIANS, DRUSES, MARONITES, AND BEDOUINS</h3> + + +<p>An account of Palestine having been given in "Peeps at the Holy Land," I +will not allude specially to it, although it belongs to Turkey. Arabic +is the language also spoken in Syria, which lies north of Palestine, +and in Mesopotamia, which is to the east.</p> + +<p>Of the ancient towns of Tyre and Sidon, once famous as the capitals of +Phœnicia, nothing now remains but ruins on which fishermen dry their +nets. The inhabitants in the surrounding regions, however, still keep up +many of their ancient customs and superstitions, and, in a modified way, +Baal and Astarte are still worshipped.</p> + +<p>The slopes of the Lebanon adjoining Beyrout are inhabited by the Druses +and the Maronites, who, since the year 1860, have obtained +semi-independence, and are ruled by a Christian Governor appointed by +the Sultan.</p> + +<p>The Lebanon Ranges are very beautiful; they abound in aromatic flowers, +and bees yield an enormous production of excellent honey. They are also +the home of the cedar.</p> + +<p>As already stated, a railway, starting from Beyrout, crosses the Lebanon +and connects it with Damascus, one of the most ancient cities of the +world. Damascus is also one of the most beautiful, the plain on which it +stands being a continuous garden, over fifty miles in circuit, rich in +oranges, lemons, pomegranates, mulberries, figs, plums, apricots, +walnuts, pears, quinces, etc. The town, through which flows a river, +contains several magnificent structures, including a splendid mosque, +which was once a Christian church, but the streets of the city are +squalid and dirty. One of the most interesting is that called Straight, +which St. Paul traversed.</p> + +<p>Damascus has a large manufacturing industry, and among other articles +produces beautiful silks. It formerly produced those remarkable Damascus +swords, inimitable for hardness, elasticity, sharpness, and tenacity, as +well as for the beauty of their ornamentation. It gives its name to the +plums which we call "damsons."</p> + +<p>Damascus is a great centre for the conveyance of merchandise to Bagdad +and Persia by means of camel caravans—those fleets of the desert. They +are accompanied by armed escorts, as their journey lies through a long +stretch of desert, inhabited by numerous Bedouins or Arab tribes, ever +ready to blackmail the caravan.</p> + +<p>These tribes inhabit the Hauran during the spring, and move to the +desert in autumn. They own camels, asses, and sheep, and rear +magnificent horses, which are justly considered the most beautiful in +the world.</p> + +<p>The Bedouins live in tents made of black goat's-hair, and their camp +looks from a distance like a number of grazing cattle. The tent of their +<i>sheik</i>, or chief, is distinguished by its greater size, and round it +are those of the members of the family. Before the tent-doors the horses +are tethered.</p> + +<p>Family life among them is patriarchal, the sheik being priest, judge, +and ruler. With some tribes women occupy a high social position, and +menial work is done mostly by the men.</p> + +<p>The Arabs subsist chiefly on dates, which they gather and store in +October, but when in the desert they live to some extent on the produce +of the chase, which comprises an abundance of gazelles, hares, and +quails.</p> + +<p>These they hunt with greyhounds or with trained hawks. The latter, when +they see their quarry, swoop upon it, and pick at its eyes until the +hunter arrives.</p> + +<p>The Bedouins live also on bread, which they bake in thin flat cakes, and +on milk, specially in its fermented condition, which they call <i>leben</i>. +Their butter they have to keep in summer in jars, as, owing to the heat, +it is then as liquid as oil.</p> + +<p>The great province of Mesopotamia, where formerly stood Babylon and +Nineveh, forms the south-eastern limit of the Turkish Empire. Watered by +the Euphrates and the Tigris, it was once a magnificent agricultural +district, but the incompetency of its rulers has allowed the network of +canals, which distributed the waters of these rivers, to dry up, and the +country is now largely a wilderness.</p> + +<p>Its population, the remnant of the Chaldeans, has also decreased, and is +poor. The houses are made with sun-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen. +The roofs are flat, and the lower rooms are underground, and are used +during the summer months as bedrooms, owing to the excessive heat.</p> + +<p>The navigation of the upper reaches of the Euphrates is by means of +rafts, underneath which are inflated skins of oxen. On this raft the +traveller's tent is pitched, and he drifts leisurely down the river, +while the boatmen help it along with long poles.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>TURKS</h3> + + +<p>Having summarized the customs of some of the people under Ottoman rule, +I must say something of the Turks themselves.</p> + +<p>When a Turkish baby comes to this world no dainty embroidered linen and +warm bath await it, but it is dressed in a plain cotton shirt and a +cotton, quilted dressing-gown. Its limbs are then tightly wrapped in a +long shroud, so that it cannot move them. Frequently a cushion is put +between its legs before shrouding, and this probably accounts for so +many children being bandy-legged. The child is then rolled into a +quilted blanket, which is strapped up into a shapeless bundle, from +which a little head appears, wearing a red cap, copiously studded with +blue beads and seed pearls, as a protection from the evil-eye. The baby +is then laid in a wooden rocking-cradle, which has a bar connecting its +two raised ends, by means of which the cradle is lifted. Some of these +cradles are very beautiful, and are inlaid with ivory and +mother-of-pearl, and they bear appropriate inscriptions, carved in +Arabic characters on the woodwork, such as "Under the Shadow of the +Almighty," etc.</p> + +<p>Among poorer people a canvas hammock takes the place of the cradle, and +in it the baby is carried out of doors, and the hammock swung between +two trees, while the mother attends to her duties.</p> + +<p>On the third day after birth it is washed and presented to its father, +who shouts thrice in its ear the name by which it is to be known.</p> + +<p>A festive reception is then held by the mother in her room, and streams +of women-visitors come to compliment her and peep at the infant. But the +poor little thing does not receive the baby-worship and adulation +bestowed in this country. On the contrary, it is addressed in insulting +language, and called ugly, and a wretch, and a monster, and is +deliberately spat upon—and all this in order to ward off the influence +of the evil-eye.</p> + +<p>It is quite exceptional for a babe to be brought up in the East on the +bottle; should its mother be unable to nurse it a wet-nurse is procured.</p> + +<p>Both mothers and nurses are singularly ignorant in the question of +upbringing, and many an infant dies through injudicious feeding after it +is weaned.</p> + +<p>The love of Turkish parents for their children is excessive to a fault. +A characteristic story is related of a Turk who was so distressed at the +indisposition of his grandchild that he would neglect his business and +hasten constantly to the patient's room to inquire as to his condition; +and when the doctor ordered strict diet for a fortnight the anxious +grandfather compelled his whole household, including himself, to submit +to the same fare, for fear that the patient might be disappointed in not +sharing the food of the family.</p> + +<p>To such extent do Turks carry their love for children that they will +adopt those of others, and bring them up with the same tenderness as +their own, and will provide for them in after-life.</p> + +<p>Children, on the other hand, are exemplary in their respect for their +parents, and kiss their hands, and will not sit down, unless invited, in +their presence. Even when they have reached mature age their mother is +consulted, confided in, and listened to with respect. "My wives die," +says the Osmanlee, "and I replace them; my children perish, and others +are born to me; but who shall restore to me the mother who has passed +away?"</p> + +<p>Nor is this regard limited to the humbler classes; it is conspicuous in +the case of the Sultan, who, on his accession to the throne, elevates +his mother to the rank of Valide Sultana, or Queen-Mother, and requires +all persons belonging to his harem to swear allegiance to her. Her rule +is absolute, and even the Sultan's wives cannot leave their apartments, +or go out for drives, or shopping, without her permission.</p> + +<p>The early childhood of both boys and girls among Turks is spent in the +harem—that is, the section of the house reserved for the women—but +until the age of twelve, girls are not subject to the restraints of +grown-up women, nor required to wear the veil, and they often accompany +their fathers in excursions or join the boys in their play. They even +attend the same elementary school, and, sitting cross-legged with them +on a mat, repeat the alphabet, or recite texts from the Koran given out +to them by the <i>imam</i>, or priest, of the mosque with which the school is +connected. These recitations are carried on in a monotonous drawling +tone, and the body is swung forwards and backwards, the <i>imam</i> himself +setting the time by his own rhythmical nodding.</p> + +<p>On their return home they frequently join their mothers and other +inmates of the harem in an afternoon's stroll. The Turks are great +lovers of Nature, and have a keen appreciation of the beautiful, but +prefer sitting down to walking, and generally spend their afternoons +resting under the shade of a great tree, or near the water's edge, +making <i>kef</i>, or, in other words, doing nothing.</p> + +<p>They invariably carry with them a <i>boktcha</i>, or bundle, containing a rug +and picnic requisites, while one of the party carries a red clay +pitcher, with water. Water is an indispensable requisite with Turks, and +they will enjoy drinking it from the pitcher as much as from a glass.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus9" id="illus9"></a> +<img src="images/illus9.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A TURKISH LADY IN OUTDOOR DRESS.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>The rug spread out, the party will all sit cross-legged upon it, and as +other groups of women also congregate in the same place, dressed in +garments of variegated colours, you would imagine yourself amid beds +of many-coloured tulips, while the boys and girls playing around suggest +fluttering butterflies.</p> + +<p>The enjoyment of the women consists in smoking cigarettes, and gazing +between each puff at the glorious scenery. Vendors of all sorts of +eatables surround them, and, we will say, a <i>shekerdgi</i>, or dealer in +sweeties, answers to their call, and places his circular tray, which he +carries on his head, on the tripod-stand which he rests on the ground. +The children flock around him, puzzled what to choose in that array of +Turkish delight and <i>shekers</i> of every kind and colour. At last a choice +is made, and the sweets are placed in a brown-paper bag shaped like a +cone, and shared by the party. Shortly afterwards an Albanian selling +<i>halva</i> as described in Chapter II., is called to contribute his wares. +Then walnuts, pistachios, and peanuts come in for their turn, then ices, +maybe, and something more solid in the shape of <i>simits</i>, or ring-cakes, +as shown in the illustration in Chapter II. At sunset the <i>boktchas</i> are +made up, and the party wends its way home to partake of a more +substantial meal.</p> + +<p>But should the night be bright, with moonlight, the party often start +out again, and prolong their enjoyment until late hours, or until a +policeman or old Turk passing by reminds them it is time to retire. It +is amusing, in connection with these moonlight promenades, to see the +women walking about or sitting with open sunshades to protect +themselves from the lunar rays, imagining, no doubt, that they occasion +lunacy.</p> + +<p>Sometimes a too close proximity to the Bosphorus is selected for +spreading the family rug, and an unusually large wash from a steamer +passing by breaks unexpectedly on the shore, showering clouds of spray +over the women's heads. The cold douche sets them all on their feet, +screaming, and the bed of tulips now looks like one dashed by a storm.</p> + +<p>But sometimes the ladies are more enterprising; a picnic to some distant +part is decided upon, and <i>arabas</i>, or carts, drawn by oxen or +buffaloes, are engaged. These conveyances are springless, and about 9 +feet long by 4 feet wide. Those intended for excursion purposes have +highly ornamented boards of carved, gilt, and painted wood on the two +long sides, and an arched awning overhead, made usually of crimson +cloth, with gilt or silver fringes.</p> + +<p>The yoke attached to the oxen's necks has also an arched projection over +it, on which tassels of various colours, and sometimes bells, are +suspended in two or more tiers.</p> + +<p>The driver, in baggy trousers, short jacket (often dispensed with), and +a red fez, walks leisurely alongside the oxen, with a goad in his hand +to direct them.</p> + +<p>The cart has no seats, but the occupants provide themselves with carpets +and cushions. The jolting on bad roads is, of course, tremendous, but +this is considered part of the fun of the excursion.</p> + +<p>Packed as closely as possible, with the children to fill up odd corners, +the cart proceeds on its way groaning and creaking, while its inmates +roar with continued laughter, especially when an unusually big jolt has +jostled them together.</p> + +<p>Having arrived at their destination, the carpets are spread out, and +while some prepare and lay out the appetizing viands, others disport +themselves in the fields, and return laden with flowers and with great +yellow marigolds stuck in their hair.</p> + +<p>The repast may consist of such <i>hors-d'œuvres</i> as salted sardines, +black olives, caviar, and salad of <i>tchiros</i>, or dried mackerel. This +mackerel is the fish that in spring-time migrates from the +Mediterranean, where it has spawned, into the Black Sea, and is in such +an emaciated condition that the expression "thin as a <i>tchiros</i>" is used +in Turkey to designate a person of extreme leanness. Nevertheless, it is +caught and dried in the sun in such large quantities that the fields +over which they are suspended look blue from a distance. They are sold +by the pair, or "married couples," as the vendors cry out, and are +grilled, shredded, and prepared into salad with oil and vinegar, and the +tender leaves of the cummin (<i>tereot</i>).</p> + +<p>Next to the <i>hors-d'œuvres</i> follow <i>dolmaz</i> or rissoles of rice, +raisins, and pine-nuts, seasoned with oil, and wrapped and boiled in +vine-leaves. <i>Keftez</i> or meat rissoles come next, and then the fruits of +the season, such as strawberries, cherries, and plums, or, should it be +autumn, grapes, peaches, melons, water-melons, figs, etc. Cheese is +frequently eaten with these fruits. <i>Hoshaf</i>, or the sweetened water in +which fruit has been stewed, is generally drunk during meals, and when +the humble repast is over, coffee is prepared, and served round in +little cups which will barely hold an ounce.</p> + +<p>Turkish coffee owes its excellence to the beans being newly roasted and +newly ground. The grinding is done with a small machine, which +pulverizes the beans very finely. The coffee is prepared in a special +brass pot, the bottom of which is wider than the top. A teaspoonful is +put in for every cup required, and the water is gently brought to a +simmer over a slow fire. The coffee is allowed to rise thrice, and after +resting the pot for a minute for the grounds to settle, it is poured out +into the cups and drunk while quite hot, with or without sugar. The cups +containing a creamy foam are the most recherché. The dregs are not +drunk. The illustration on the cover of this book shows a Kafedji in the +act of preparing coffee.</p> + +<p>Before and after partaking of food, hands are washed, and this is all +the more necessary, as meals are eaten with the fingers, the party +sitting round a low tray, and dipping into a common dish. Should the +hostess desire to confer a special attention on a guest, she takes up a +dainty morsel in her fingers, and exclaiming <i>Buyrum</i> (Welcome), places +it gently into the guest's mouth. It would be the grossest insult to +refuse. Cigarettes invariably follow, and then comes the lounging and +the sleeping, and the return home with the lingering rays of the setting +sun.</p> + +<p>Accompanying the <i>Arabas</i> large parties of Turkish women and children +may often be seen riding astride on donkeys, with donkey-drivers at +their heels. No Oriental or Turkish lady would think of riding +otherwise, and it is reported that quite a sensation was created when a +European lady was first seen riding on a side-saddle. The conclusion was +that the unfortunate creature had lost a leg, and people wondered how +she could keep on with only the other.</p> + +<p>But perhaps the pleasantest method of locomotion is by <i>caik</i>—that +daintiest of all boats that float on the surface of the waters. Slender +and tapering, its side view may be compared to a half-bent long-bow, and +when looked upon from above to two such bows lying opposite each other, +string to string. A picture of a heavy sort of <i>caik</i>, used for ferrying +passengers across the Golden Horn, may be seen in the frontispiece. A +<i>caik</i> is about 20 feet long by 4 feet broad in the middle; it is +constructed with slender boards, and is only decked at the bows and the +stern. The boatman sits on a seat in the middle of the boat, and its two +to four passengers on cushions in the bottom, while a servant sits +cross-legged on the raised stern. The oars are long and slender, with a +peculiar bulge at the upper extremity to balance them. They are fixed to +the rowlock peg by leather thongs, which the boatman continually +greases. He is clad in a shirt of transparent gauze, with long hanging +sleeves, and bordered round the open chest with a scalloping of +needlework. His feet are bare, his ample trousers are of white cotton, +and his shaven head is only partially covered by a red fez with tassels +of purple silk. At each stroke of the oars the arrowy boat flies and +skims the waters like a thing of life. Yet, though swift and graceful, +the <i>caik</i> is not so safe nor commodious as an ordinary boat, and in +this practical age the <i>barka</i> is rapidly replacing it.</p> + +<p>Friday, the Turkish Sunday, is <i>par excellence</i> the day for excursions +during the summer to Geuk-sou or the Heavenly Waters, a lovely spot on +the Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus. A rivulet there discharges itself +into the latter, and hundreds of boats may be seen shooting towards it +from all directions. A vast concourse of people meet and sit on rugs or +low stools, making <i>kef</i> under the shade of superb Oriental plane-trees +which abound on that spot, and while sipping coffee or smoking +hubble-bubbles, they watch the various performances going on for their +benefit. Here is a Punch and Judy show, called <i>cara-geuz</i>, or the black +eye, closely resembling our own, and equally popular with the children. +There goes a <i>Pomak</i> with a huge Olympian bear, fastened through the +nose with a ring; it has been trained to dance at the sound of a +tambourine played by its master, and then to go round with it for +coppers. Children are always delighted with the bear-show, but the +street-dogs set up a tremendous barking, and their cry of alarm is so +peculiar and distinctive that one can always tell from the sound when a +bear is in sight.</p> + +<p>There is frequently also on these occasions an open-air theatrical +performance on an improvised stage, but the acting is coarse and vulgar, +and admission is generally limited to men.</p> + +<p>Of course at this, as at every open-air gathering, vendors of eatables +and temperance drinks abound.</p> + +<p>Among them I may enumerate <i>yiaourtgis</i> or sellers of that curdled milk, +resembling curds, which is now so largely advocated in this country for +promoting longevity. It is sold in little bowls, carried in two wooden +trays, which are suspended like a pair of scales on either side of a +yoke thrown over the shoulders. <i>Dondulmagis</i> or ice-cream vendors, who +also carry their burden over the shoulders, one side containing the +ice-cream box wrapped in folds and folds of snow-white sheeting, and the +other a polished brass receptacle for spoons, cups, and saucers, and +water to wash them after use.</p> + +<p>A brazier with live coal may also be seen, on which heads of Indian corn +are roasted, and greedily munched by the purchasers. <i>Hoshaf</i> and +<i>sherbet</i>, or syrup vendors, are also there, with a stand for bottles +and glasses, and an ingenious contrivance for revolving, by means of +dropping water, a small wheel or paddle, the flaps of which strike +against a glass and produce a merry jingling sound which draws +attention.</p> + +<p>The charm of this concourse of people is the primitive orderly enjoyment +of outdoor life, without the disgraceful accompaniments of drunkenness.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE FAITH OF ISLAM</h3> + + +<p>A peep at Turkey cannot be complete without a passing reference to the +religious beliefs of its people, but space will only allow me to mention +those of Mahomedans.</p> + +<p>Broadly speaking, without counting Arabia, there are 13,000,000 +Mahomedans or Moslems, as they are also called; 12,000,000 Christians; +and 1,000,000 Jews and members of other persuasions. In Asiatic Turkey, +Mahomedans form the majority, but only the minority in European Turkey.</p> + +<p>Moslems are the followers of Mahomet, who was born in Mecca, Arabia, in +the year 569 of our era, and declared himself to be the Prophet of God, +sent to introduce a fuller revelation of Him, which was to supersede +Judaism and Christianity.</p> + +<p>The Koran, which was the great book of his faith, was declared to have +been revealed to him by the Archangel Gabriel. The Koran claims to be +the completion of the Law and the Gospel, and it proclaims Mahomet to be +the last and greatest of the line of prophets, among whom is included +Jesus Christ, but whose divinity is denied.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus10" id="illus10"></a> +<img src="images/illus10.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AHMED I.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>The new faith, which received the name of Islam, implying submission to +God, was a protest against the heathenish practices of his countrymen in +Arabia, and the worship of the Saints and the Virgin Mary among the +Christians. The corner-stone was the unity of God, and its leading dogma +was expressed in the formula, "<i>La illah il Allah</i>" ("There is no God +but God"), to which was added, "<i>Mohamet Resoul Allah</i>" ("Mahomet is the +Prophet of God").</p> + +<p>In addition to the unity of God, Moslems believe in the existence of +good and evil spirits, in the efficacy of prayer, and in a future life +with its rewards or punishments.</p> + +<p>Prayer with them is homage which the worshippers are required to offer +five times a day, according to a fixed ritual, with prescribed +genuflections, prostrations, and touching of the ground with the +forehead.</p> + +<p>When the hour of prayer arrives they will suspend their occupations, +spread a rug facing Mecca, and pray wherever they happen to be, shaming +Christians by their disregard of ridicule.</p> + +<p>The summons to pray or to attend the mosque is made by the <i>muezzim</i> or +crier, who ascends the minaret or tower, attached to the mosque (see +frontispiece), and from its balcony proclaims the Unity of God, and +invites believers to prayer, as follows: "Come to prayers, come to +prayers. God is great. There is no God but God." To which, at dawn of +day, the exhortation is added: "Prayer is better than sleep, prayer is +better than sleep."</p> + +<p>Before prayer Turks wash their hands, feet, and faces, and remove the +shoes from off their feet. Lines of fountains are found outside the +mosques for these ablutions. The head of the worshipper remains covered.</p> + +<p>Among the observances enjoined upon Moslems are those of charity, +fasting, and pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>They are bidden to lay aside one-tenth of their income for religious or +charitable purposes. Their fasting takes place during the holy month of +Ramazan, and lasts from morning twilight to sunset. Abstinence from +food, drink, and smoking must be total. At sunset a gun announces that +the day is over, and feasting commences and lasts all night. The day is +thus transformed to night, and the night to day.</p> + +<p>The pilgrimage enjoined is to Mecca, and has to be performed by every +Moslem at least once in his lifetime, either in person or by proxy. He +then acquires the title of <i>Hadji</i>, or Pilgrim, which he prefixes to his +name. The shrine or temple visited at Mecca is called the <i>Caaba</i>, and +tradition records that it was there Hagar discovered the well Zem Zem, +which saved Ishmael's life, and that the latter, assisted by Abraham, +built a tabernacle. An angel brought the corner-stone, which all +pilgrims go and kiss. It was originally of crystalline whiteness, but is +now coal-black, owing to its absorption of the sins of worshipping +pilgrims. On the Day of Judgment it will testify in favour of those who +kissed it, whether men or women.</p> + +<p>The first mosque was built by Mahomet in Medina, and was of a very +simple structure. But as his successors grew wealthier and more +powerful, they vied with one another in the magnificence of the +buildings erected for God's worship. They were more or less on the model +of the Greek churches around them, lofty, and surmounted with a circular +dome imitating the canopy of the sky. The dome is covered with lead and +on the spike that crowns it is a gilt crescent. The apex of each minaret +is also covered with lead and tipped with gold. The dome and the +minarets standing side by side remind one of the umbrella pine-tree and +the cypress—so characteristic of an Eastern landscape.</p> + +<p>The interior of a mosque is a mixture of simplicity and grandeur. The +dome is supported by columns, which, in the case of the mosque of Sultan +Achmet, represented in the illustration facing this chapter, are inlaid +with coloured tiles, and decorated with verses from the Koran. The +sunlight streams in from the numerous windows encircling the dome, or +from those on the walls of the mosque, many of which are of beautiful +stained glass, but without figures of any kind, as Moslems consider this +would be breaking the commandment relating to images.</p> + +<p>All mosques point toward Mecca, and at the Mecca end stands a <i>mihrab</i>, +or niche, from which the <i>imam</i> conducts the devotions. Beside it, +supported by pillars, is a terrace for the choir, which consists +entirely of men. They chant, seated cross-legged on rugs. South of the +<i>mihrab</i> is the <i>minber</i>, or pulpit, from which prayers and addresses +are delivered on Fridays. The pulpit in Sultan Achmet's mosque (see +illustration) is a masterpiece in marble, and a copy of that in Mecca. +Stands for Korans, shaped like the letter X, and inlaid with +tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl, are placed about the building for +public reading, and from the roof hang chandeliers on which are attached +numerous lamps fed with olive oil. Interspersed among the lamps are +ostrich-eggs and glass-ball ornaments.</p> + +<p>Mosques are not seated, but mats and carpets are laid on the stone floor +for the use of the faithful. "The luxurious inhabitant of the East, who +in his <i>selamlik</i> is wont to recline on cushions, does not pass into the +House of God to tenant a crimson-lined and well-padded pew; he takes his +place among the crowd—the <i>effendi</i> stands beside the water-carrier, +the <i>bey</i> near the charcoal-vendor—he is but one item among many; he +arrogates to himself no honour in the temple where all men are as one +family."</p> + +<p>There is a mistaken idea that Moslems consider that women have no souls, +and need not perform devotions. The Koran is explicit to the contrary. +They may not worship in the mosques with the men, but groups of them are +met, worshipping apart, and during the Ramazan special services are held +for women.</p> + +<p>Among the various Orders of Dervishes, or Moslem Monks, are those of the +Ruffai Order, or Howlers, illustrated in Chapter XI. They are the most +fanatical, and meet in a rectangular building to perform their +devotions, the idea being to produce such an ecstasy of the soul as will +separate it from the body and enable it to contemplate God.</p> + +<p>Their sheik, or chief, takes his seat on a carpet, while his followers +sit in front of him and repeat passages from the Koran. They then stand +and repeat their formula of faith, "<i>La illah</i>," etc., bending forward +and backward at each syllable. This recital, which is at first slow, +becomes more and more rapid, until you can only distinguish the +syllables <i>il</i> and <i>lah</i>. The sheik then stamps his foot, and the +Dervishes, growing frantic, quicken their swinging motion, shouting +<i>lah</i>, and interposing every now and then the exclamation <i>Hu yia hu</i>, +implying "He, O He" (is God). The ninety-nine names or attributes of God +are then recited, while the sheik counts the ninety-nine beads of his +chaplet.</p> + +<p>When the last bead is reached their fury knows no bounds, and, holding +each other's hands in a circle, they swing forwards and backwards until +they foam at the mouth, and, falling exhausted to the ground, lie in an +apparent trance. This they claim to be spiritual ecstasy!</p> + +<p>Another sect, the Mevlevis, find this ecstasy in whirling until they +sink exhausted. The third Order the Bektashis, who are the most +tolerant, maintain that the contemplation of God can be best attained by +their carrying out their motto, "Keep thy tongue, thy hand, and thy +heart," and by the observance of His precepts.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>GAMES</h3> + + +<p>The Turk is too indolent by nature to care for any sports requiring +physical exertion, and he would rather be a spectator than take an +active part in them. There is, besides, a feeling among those that have +reached the age of manhood, especially if they are holding some +Government office, that their dignity would be lowered if they were seen +engaged at play.</p> + +<p>A very interesting and pretty sport is the <i>djirat</i>. Two companies of +horsemen, armed with muffled lances, or in some places the stalks of +palm-leaves, give each other chase. The pursuers hurl their missiles +when at full speed, and those assailed endeavour to avoid the stroke or +to capture the weapon.</p> + +<p>Watching ram-fights is a favourite recreation, and crowds gather round +the village green to witness these huge creatures, with their long +crumpled horns, dashing at each other at full speed. Their heads strike +with a resounding thud, and you expect that a skull or two will be +broken, but no, it is only fun, and the rams caper gracefully back, to +return again to the charge.</p> + +<p>Cock-fights are likewise in repute, and in Cyprus a spur is grafted on +to the crest of the bird, giving it the appearance of a sort of winged +unicorn.</p> + +<p>Professional wrestling is much enjoyed. The two contending parties or +<i>pehlivans</i>, as they are called, are frequently a negro and a white man; +their attire is nothing but a leather pair of drawers. Their bodies are +smeared over and made slippery with abundance of olive-oil. The struggle +commences by their measuring distances and touching each other's +shoulders; then they manœuvre about and dodge each other, and finally +come to grips, until the stronger forces his opponent to the ground. +Turkish wrestlers are so celebrated that they often find their way to +this country.</p> + +<p>Another entertainment is the "Shadow Pantomime." This performance +consists in throwing shadows of little cardboard figures against a +curtain, on the other side of which the spectators are seated. The +exhibitors, carefully hidden from sight, work their marionettes with +strings and wires, and are clever in making them move and bow, strike +each other, and perform all sorts of feats and somersaults, while a +ventriloquist makes them carry on the most animated conversation.</p> + +<p>Horse-racing is seldom indulged in in Turkey, except among European +residents. An effort made several years ago to introduce racing failed, +because, it is alleged, foreign jockeys dared to allow their horses to +beat the Sultan's stud. Occasionally, however, Turks get up children's +races; they strap the youngsters to the saddle, give them the reins, and +speed the horses off with a tremendous swipe.</p> + +<p>Fox-hunting is not only unheard of, but is prohibited as cruel, and a +Spanish bull-fight was attempted last year for the first time, only on +the understanding that no blood would be shed.</p> + +<p>Football has recently come somewhat into fashion, but it is only +occasionally that the real game is played. Departure from rule is +preferred to its observance, and often the game consists of mere kicking +of the ball from one to another. This is done with great swagger and +conceit, but without any of the true sporting dash.</p> + +<p>Tennis is played to some extent, and bicycling is fairly popular, but +principally because it allows the rider to show off.</p> + +<p>There are some keen sportsmen among the Turks; and hunting the wild boar +offers lively sport coupled with a zest of danger, as these savage +animals, if not killed outright, often turn and rip their assailants +with their powerful tusks.</p> + +<p>The "gentle art" of fishing is largely indulged in as a recreation, and +the Bosphorus yields excellent sport. The favourite fishing there is +that of the <i>lufer</i>, which weighs from 1 to 3 pounds, and is caught by +night, with bright lamps throwing down a beam of light from the boat +into the water. A peculiar hook, soldered to a sinker, which is +brightened with mercury, is used. Gourmet fishers often take a brazier, +with live coals, in the boat, and grill and eat the fish as soon as +it is secured.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus11" id="illus11"></a> +<img src="images/illus11.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A HOWLING DERVISH.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>Chess—that most antiquated of games—is known under the name of +<i>satrach</i>, and differs somewhat from our own, but is as highly +scientific. However sceptical we may be about the story in the "Arabian +Nights" of the monkey which played chess with a Grand Vizier, I can +vouch for the accuracy of one regarding an Armenian banker who played it +with Sultan Aziz. The stakes were properties belonging to the Crown, and +so successful was the banker that, finally, his landed possessions +extended from the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.</p> + +<p>Backgammon is a favourite game; draughts differs slightly from our own, +and there is a peculiar form of it played with pebbles, on a checkered +board traced on a stone.</p> + +<p>Cards are played to some extent, but as gambling and games of chance are +forbidden by the Koran, cards are looked upon with suspicion, and their +use discouraged. So also is betting, which ensnares young and old in our +own country.</p> + +<p>Among games for boys I may mention top-spinning. Turkish tops are made +from hard wood, turned in a lathe, and painted with bands of various +colours. They are spun with the thumb and the finger, or with a string, +and then kept in motion with a whip and cord. A point in the game is to +direct the top so that it should bump against the opponent's, and topple +it over.</p> + +<p>Kite-flying is popular, and in early spring hundreds of kites may be +seen flying from the terraces over the house-tops. They are shaped like +our own, and are made with bright-coloured paper, with long tails of +paper strips. Little splints of wood or cane are attached to the tail +for the purpose of entangling and capturing other kites. This is done by +manœuvring them about, letting them drop momentarily or rise +suddenly, so as to swoop over their adversary and capture it. When these +air-ships have boarded, both the fliers pull in the string as rapidly as +possible, and it sometimes happens that the vanquished kite is after all +the victor.</p> + +<p>Hop-scotch is as ancient as the hills, and is played in Turkey in much +the same way as with us. So also are marbles and tip-cat, with the same +risks, in the case of tip-cat, to the eyes of beholders as in this +country.</p> + +<p>Walnuts enter largely into the composition of boys' games. One of these +consists in rolling them down a sloping board, each boy playing in turn. +The person who hits any of the nuts on the floor appropriates all he can +gather. The game goes on, each player retiring when his stock of walnuts +is exhausted. Another game is that of placing the walnuts in a ring, and +throwing (not rolling) other nuts at them from a distance. All displaced +walnuts belong to the displacer.</p> + +<p>Knifey, or <i>bitchak</i>, as it is called in Turkey, is popular among girls +as well as boys. They sit in a circle on the village green, and, placing +an open pocket-knife on the back of their hand, throw it up in the air +so that it shall on descending stick in the ground. Knuckle-bones is +allied to the above, and is played with five bones, as with us, and with +much the same variations.</p> + +<p><i>Pendavola</i>, or five pebbles, is the Greek name of knuckle-bones, when +played with stones instead of bones. Both the above games date back to +remote antiquity, and exist in some form with every nation.</p> + +<p>A practice indulged in by boys and young men is that of bird-catching by +means of nets, snares, or bird-lime twigs.</p> + +<p>In autumn, when Nature shows the first hectic flushes of decay, and +birds know that winter will soon be upon them, innumerable flocks +traverse the regions around Constantinople on their way south. Quails +arrive by scores of thousands, and, exhausted with their flight over the +Black Sea, they alight near the mouth of the Bosphorus, and are easily +caught in nets, and served on the tables of even the poorest +inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Smaller birds also, such as bullfinches, goldfinches, and other finches, +linnets and the like, are on the wing, and to secure them bird-lime +twigs are placed on an isolated tree, or one improvised for the +occasion, and a booth is constructed near it, in which boys hide and +watch unobserved. Some half-dozen birds of various kinds are tied by the +leg to a long string, one end of which is held by the occupants of the +booth, and when a flock of birds is seen in the air these decoys are +made to rise. Their chirping attracts the attention of the birds +overhead, and, alighting on the tree, the great majority are glued to +the twigs. The best are put in cages and sold as song-birds; the +remainder are killed, and strung with twine through their bills, they +are sold for food. Roasted and mixed with <i>pillaf</i>, the national rice +dish, they are most savoury.</p> + +<p>In contrast to this inhospitable reception of Nature's winged songsters +while travelling through the land, it it pleasant to visit the +bird-market, and there see venerable Turks opening their purses and +buying as many of these captives as they can afford. They then throw +open the prison-doors, and as the birds fly skyward with chirps of +delight, the faces of the liberators grow radiant with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>My list of games and sports is by no means exhausted, but I must close +it by referring to stone-throwing, which, although not exactly a game, +is in universal practice among boys, and even girls. To such an extent +is it carried that dogs attacking you will often disregard a stick, but, +remembering their sad experiences with stones, will take to their heels +when you stoop to pick up one.</p> + +<p>The writer himself still carries a lively impression of a fight carried +on with these missiles. The scene of this skirmish, which took place +when he was a boy, was near the seashore of a village on the Bosphorus, +where he and one or two English boys met a squad of Turkish children. +The latter took refuge behind a row of Turkish houses, and stones were +thrown by both parties over the roofs. They fell fast and thick from the +unseen foe, until at last one, doubtless thrown "at a venture," hit the +writer on the head, and made the impression already referred to.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>DOGS</h3> + + +<p>Everybody has heard of Turkish dogs, and I am sure you will consider +this book incomplete if I pass them over in silence.</p> + +<p>Their origin is shrouded in mystery, but naturalists would probably find +them allied to the wolf and the jackal.</p> + +<p>Tradition, however, has it that they originated in Tartary, and followed +the Mongolians and Turks across the steppes, gorging themselves on the +carnage of a thousand battle-fields, and finally settling down with the +conquerors.</p> + +<p>How much truth there is in this gruesome legend it is impossible to say, +but the fact remains that wherever the Turk is found, there, too, the +ubiquitous <i>kiopek</i>, or <i>skilo</i>, is seen. Nor does it seem to exist +north of Vienna—that outermost ring of Turkish invasion. Dogs, very +like <i>skilos</i>, are to be met in Hungary; you have no doubt of their +existence when you cross the Danube into Servia; they are numerous in +Bulgaria, and you fall into the thick of them when you reach +Constantinople, where until recently they were supposed to number +80,000.</p> + +<p>In size and appearance they resemble the short-haired Scotch collie, but +without the sharpness of nose, and their ears are shorter. With all the +instincts of the nomad—unkempt, unkept, and owning no master—their +home is the street, where they are born and die, a boon and a bane to +mankind. They are the former because they are the scavengers—sometimes +the only scavengers—that clean the streets of the refuse thrown into +them, and which would otherwise putrefy and breed disease. They are the +latter because they collect at night over refuse-heaps, and fight, bark, +and yell over the disputed possession of coveted morsels. Their noise +disturbs your slumbers and irritates your nerves. Then, lying as they do +in the street, you might in the darkness stumble against one, and +experience in return something hard and sharp, which would send you +howling in your turn.</p> + +<p>But <i>skilos</i> do not thrive on refuse alone; they hang about butchers' +shops, and are plentiful near the Sultan's palace-kitchens and soldiers' +barracks, where remains of food are dispensed to them. At the Ministry +of War, in Stamboul, a special man is employed to give them fragments of +the soldiers' bread. These he carries in a capacious hamper on his back, +and, holding a thick stick in his hand, he proceeds to the public +square, where hundreds of dogs await and surround him. His first action +is to clear a wide circle with his stick around him, and then he +suddenly empties the contents of his hamper. A rush and charge of +<i>skilos</i> follows. They tumble over one another in that hissing sea of +dogs, but do not seem to mind, provided they can seize a fragment of +bread and bolt away. There is strategy, however, even in dogdom, and +some, more cunning and fleet-footed than others, do not join in the +scrimmage, but quietly await the result at some point of vantage, and, +spotting any dog that retires laden with spoil, pursue it, and snatch +away its prize.</p> + +<p>Yet, with all their habits of the tramp, they seem imbued with a sense +of order, and come to an agreement among themselves as to what streets +groups of them are to occupy. Woe to the dog that dares to overstep the +assigned boundaries. On one condition alone is he allowed to cross +through another district—that of lowering his flag—<i>i.e.</i>, that he +puts his tail under his legs, keeps his head submissively low, and walks +in the middle of the street, while all the dogs of the quarter rend the +air with their barking.</p> + +<p>You must not conclude from what precedes that <i>skilos</i> are devoid of +finer feelings and even chivalry. The following incident, related by a +friend, regarding one with which I was acquainted, proves the contrary. +When a pup, Carabash (black head), as he was called, was picked up in +the street, and coddled in a comfortable home. On growing up, he was +provided with a kennel in the garden. One frosty morning, when the snow +was lying thick on the ground, Carabash was discovered sleeping outside +the kennel, which he had surrendered to an emaciated bitch. The intruder +was driven away, but next morning was again found in occupancy, and was +gruffly expelled. Carabash seemed vexed, and refused to eat his food. On +the third morning the strange dog was again found in the kennel, and was +this time thrashed out of the premises. She went, like Eve from +Paradise, but her Adam followed, took up his residence with her under +the shelter of an old tombstone in the Turkish Cemetery, and never again +returned to his comfortable home. Their descendants live in the cemetery +to this day.</p> + +<p>Such romantic incidents would doubtless have met with recognition on +behalf of the whole race of dogs in the days of Haroun-al-Raschid, or +other heroes of the "Arabian Nights," but the Young Turkey party of +to-day are not to be moved by such considerations. They are practical +men, and, desiring to cleanse the streets of Constantinople of a +recognized nuisance, they decreed the extermination of <i>skilos</i>. But, +taking into consideration the Moslem abhorrence of taking away animal +life, a curious compromise was made. They were to be banished to a large +enclosure at the city walls. A special forceps was invented for the +purpose of trapping them, and at dead of night municipal officers +gripped the sleeping dogs by the neck or the body, and pitched them into +a cart, which conveyed them to their so-called "hotel." Terrible fights +occurred there between dogs already in residency and new arrivals, but +it frequently happened that kind-hearted Turks waylaid the carts and +liberated the captives.</p> + +<p>Within their enclosure the dogs were fed and received water at the +expense of the State, a grant of £5,000 a year having been voted in +Parliament for their maintenance; but soon the space allotted them +proved inadequate, and their cries and smells became so horrible that it +was decided to move them to another locality.</p> + +<p>A little uninhabited island, called Oxya, about fifteen miles from the +city, was selected for the purpose, and 30,000 were transported to it. +But the island had no water, and the supply of bread was difficult and +irregular, and the result was that six months after their transportation +only one solitary dog, of which I have the photograph, survived to tell +the tale.</p> + +<p>Discouraged by their want of success, Government has, I understand, now +given up the attempt to exterminate the <i>skilos</i>, and any of my readers +who happen to visit Constantinople will probably have the pleasure of +forming their acquaintance.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE GALATA BRIDGE AND THE BAZAARS</h3> + + +<p>An attempt has been made in these pages to conduct the reader over the +domains of the Sultan of Turkey, and to introduce him to some of his +subjects, but there is perhaps no better place in the world for getting +a panoramic view of the various races depicted than on the bridge which +spans the Golden Horn, and joins Stamboul with the Galata quarter of +Constantinople (see frontispiece). Nor can you find the various products +of the Empire exhibited within a more suitable compass than in the +bazaars of Stamboul.</p> + +<p>It is computed that no less than twenty million persons pass over the +bridge in the course of a year—<i>i.e.</i>, about 50,000 daily. The races +there represented are too numerous to mention. Each wears its +distinctive dress, and foot and head gear, and the contrast of design +and colour is wonderful, and not limited to women, as in a European +crowd. Here comes an Albanian in white petticoats and crimson sash +bristling with pistols; there goes an Embassy <i>cavass</i> resplendent in +scarlet; there is an <i>Ulema</i>, or high ecclesiastic, with green turban +and flowing robes of white, and another dressed in magenta and a white +turban; soldiers in khaki or in pale blue come next, and Young Turk +officers all spick and span in new uniforms. A Whirling Dervish, with +tall, conical, brown head-dress then moves majestically along, followed +by a Bedouin, with camel-hair mantle over his shoulders, and silken +kerchief over his head. Alongside him is an M.P. from Arabia, with +flowing green coat, and white cap with green turban around it, +indicating consanguinity with Mahomet. As for representatives of the +other sex, you see groups shuffling along in soft yellow boots, and +dragging loose overshoes—overshoes which often prove serviceable +weapons of attack to any Turkish woman who has been insulted.</p> + +<p>The Turkish ladies' dress is frequently bright-coloured, and a white +veil is thrown over the head and face, but sometimes the dress itself is +used for that purpose. The fashion, however, is prevailing that black +should be used, and the women look like silhouettes flitting along.</p> + +<p>Should it happen to be a Friday, sounds of military music greet your +ear, and you hear the tramp of infantry as the Sultan's soldiers march +along to line the streets through which he must pass on his way to +mosque.</p> + +<p>Nothing can rival the physical appearance, dogged perseverance, and +power of endurance of the soldiers streaming before you, and the +prancing steeds ridden by the officers excite your admiration.</p> + +<p>But another sound, less musical, may disturb your ear, and a horde of +half-naked savages appear, carrying on poles what you would call a +garden-pump, but which is really a fire-engine. A man carrying the +hose-nozzle precedes, and as they tear along, shouting "<i>Sagh ol!</i>" +("Clear out"; literally, "Keep yourself uninjured!"), you imagine a band +of maniacs has been let loose.</p> + +<p>There is now a regular fire-brigade in Constantinople, available where +the streets are wide enough to permit its use, but you will not wonder +that under the old system conflagrations sometimes destroyed thousands +of houses at a time, and still do so in quarters where the streets are +too narrow and the houses of wood.</p> + +<p>Ambulating vendors of all sorts are also to be found on the bridge, +advertising their goods in loud falsetto notes, or sometimes singing +metrical eulogies over them. <i>Hamals</i>, and porters, too, of every +description, are there, conveying their burdens, and Turkish sailors, +whose duty it is to police the bridge, while at either end are men clad +in long white shirts, without pockets, to collect the toll, and not +pocket it. And as if to connect the new with the old order of +administration, a motorbus, with the words "Progres" emblazoned upon it, +traverses the bridge with passengers, while British-built steamers moor +on pontoons attached to the bridge, and convey travellers to the +villages of the Bosphorus and other suburbs.</p> + +<p>Crossing the bridge, you arrive at Stamboul, the Turkish quarter, and +enter into a long street, arched over, and with numerous windows. It is +called the <i>Missir Tcharchi</i>, or Egyptian Spice Bazaar, owing to the +drugs and spices sold in it. It is dark and badly ventilated; its +odours overpower you, but you see there a display of drugs and perfumes +never dreamt of before, and gathered from all parts of the empire. Each +shop within the bazaar is known by its special sign—a ship, a broom, a +bird's-cage, the model of a mosque, a flag, bows and arrows, and so +on—while its occupant sits, like a spider in his den, inviting you into +his parlour.</p> + +<p>Among the articles offered are musk and seraglio pastilles, +frankincense, cedar-wood, and other perfume-emitting substances which +Turks delight in throwing on the brazier to scent their apartments; otto +of roses, produced in Bulgaria, rose-water, patchuli, jessamine, and +other native fragrant oils, with which to perfume their person. Rouge, +native hair-dyes, and henna for improving the complexion, painting the +eyebrows until they meet, or staining the nails and finger-tips; +corrosive sublimate, that deadly poison, for giving a flash to the eye; +red and black pepper, and all sorts of condiments; seeds of the +"love-in-the-mist" to protect <i>yiaourt</i> and pastry from the evil-eye; +gum mastic from the island of Chio, which women love to chew and chew +for hours, and children to blow into bubbles; herbal and quack medicines +of all kinds, and even gall-stones from an ass to renew the vigour of +youth. Nearer the sea are several streets, roofed with glass, called the +<i>Yemish</i>, or fruit-bazaar, where dried fruits and nuts of every +description are to be found. Among its peculiarities are fruit-pastes of +plum, apricot, quince, mulberry, etc., which have been mashed, +sun-dried, and rolled into thin long sheets; grape-juice, thickened with +flour; unfermented grape-treacle; and honey from Angora, unrivalled for +the whiteness of its comb.</p> + +<p>The Wood-turners' bazaar gives you an insight into the native method of +turning, which is performed with a bow in one hand and a chisel in the +other, while the big toe supplies a third hand for holding the object in +position. The Brass-turners' bazaar provides you with <i>samovars</i>, or +special brass urns, for boiling water and preparing tea, and <i>mangals</i>, +or braziers, for holding ignited charcoal to warm houses.</p> + +<p>The main bazaars consist of a labyrinth of streets and alleys, arched +over with masonry, and pierced with numerous domes from which the light +enters. They extend over a surface of more than a mile, and their +windings are so intricate that a traveller may easily lose his way.</p> + +<p>Articles of every description, new and old, may be found there. Whole +streets, for instance, are reserved for boots, shoes, and slippers of +all kinds, shapes, and colours: soft yellow ones for Turkish women; +patent-leather ones, with overshoes, for men; red shoes with turned-up +points for Anatolians; sandals for Albanians; Parisian ones for those +dressed <i>à la Française</i>; slippers of softest native tanned leather; +slippers embroidered with seed-pearls and jewels, etc. Another street is +reserved for silks from Brusa, Damascus, Syria, etc., another for pipes, +hubble-bubbles, amber mouthpieces etc. Another, styled Manchester +Street, is stocked with cotton prints, of flashy colours and designs, +made specially for the East.</p> + +<p>In the heart of the bazaar is the <i>bezesten</i>, an inner bazaar, with +gorgeous carpets from all parts of the land, diamonds, pearls, +turquoises, and all manner of precious stones; old armour, antiquities, +curios, and relics of all kinds.</p> + +<p>But the <i>muezzim's</i> cry now reverberates through the bazaar; the sun is +setting, and the gates are to be closed. You rise to depart, but the +crowds, the sights, the colours, the noises, the smells, the various +costumes around—these will be there on the morrow as they have been in +the past, and they will still in the future allure and charm all those +who come in contact with the bewitching East.</p> + +<p class="center">BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center">LIST OF VOLUMES IN THE PEEPS AT MANY LANDS AND CITIES SERIES</p> + +<p class="center">EACH CONTAINING 12 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">BELGIUM<br /></span> +<span class="i0">BURMA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">CANADA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">CEYLON<br /></span> +<span class="i0">CHINA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">CORSICA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">DENMARK<br /></span> +<span class="i0">EDINBURGH<br /></span> +<span class="i0">EGYPT<br /></span> +<span class="i0">ENGLAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">FINLAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">FRANCE<br /></span> +<span class="i0">GERMANY<br /></span> +<span class="i0">GREECE<br /></span> +<span class="i0">HOLLAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">HOLY LAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">ICELAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">INDIA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">IRELAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">ITALY<br /></span> +<span class="i0">JAMAICA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">JAPAN<br /></span> +<span class="i0">KOREA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">MOROCCO<br /></span> +<span class="i0">NEW ZEALAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">NORWAY<br /></span> +<span class="i0">PARIS<br /></span> +<span class="i0">PORTUGAL<br /></span> +<span class="i0">RUSSIA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SCOTLAND<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SIAM<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SOUTH AFRICA<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SOUTH SEAS<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SPAIN<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SWITZERLAND<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="center">A LARGER VOLUME IN THE SAME STYLE</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD</p> + +<p class="center">Containing 37 full-page illustrations in colour</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK<br /></span> +<span class="i0">SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">AGENTS<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">64 & 66 Fifth Avenue,</span>, NEW YORK<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">AUSTRALASIA OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">205 Flinders Lane</span>, MELBOURNE<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">St. Martin's House, 70 Bond Street</span>, TORONTO<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Macmillan Building</span>, BOMBAY<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">309 Bow Bazaar Street</span>, CALCUTTA<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Turkey, by Julius R. 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Van Millingen + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Turkey + Peeps at Many Lands + +Author: Julius R. Van Millingen + +Illustrator: Warwick Goble + +Release Date: September 19, 2011 [EBook #37475] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURKEY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A KAFEDJI] + + + + + PEEPS AT MANY LANDS + + TURKEY + + BY JULIUS R. VAN MILLINGEN + + WITH TWELVE FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BY WARWICK GOBLE + + + LONDON + ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK + 1911 + + + + +[Illustration: THE BRIDGE FROM GALATA TO STAMBOUL.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 5 + + II. ALBANIANS, POMAKS, TARTARS, AND BULGARIANS 11 + + III. CIRCASSIANS, LAZES, AND KURDS 22 + + IV. ARMENIANS 27 + + V. GREEKS AND VLACHS 36 + + VI. JEWS--SUPERSTITIONS 48 + + VII. GIPSIES--SUPERSTITIONS 54 + + VIII. SYRIANS, DRUSES, MARONITES, AND BEDOUINS 57 + + IX. TURKS 61 + + X. THE FAITH OF ISLAM 72 + + XI. GAMES 78 + + XII. DOGS 85 + + XIII. THE GALATA BRIDGE AND THE BAZAARS 90 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THE BRIDGE FROM GALATA TO STAMBOUL _Frontispiece_ + + ROUMELI HISSAR (BOSPHORUS) 9 + + A SIMITDJI 16 + + A STAMBOUL BEGGAR 25 + + IN THE GRAND BAZAAR 32 + + A SHEKERDJI's SHOP 41 + + A CEMETERY BY THE BOSPHORUS 48 + + A FORTUNE-TELLER 57 + + A TURKISH LADY IN OUTDOOR DRESS 64 + + INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AHMED I. 73 + + A HOWLING DERVISH 80 + + A KAFEDJI _On the cover_ + + Sketch-Map of Turkey _page iv_ + + + + +[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP OF TURKEY.] + + + + +TURKEY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY + + +The Empire of Turkey, through which I propose to conduct you, stretches +over portions of Europe and Asia--the slender thread of the Bosphorus +and the Dardanelles being the division between the two continents. A +rapid current rushes through these channels, but in some places they are +so narrow that you can shout across from Europe to Asia, and it is no +uncommon thing to hear the dogs barking from the other side. + +Turkey in Europe spreads northwards from these points up to Bulgaria, +and consists of a long strip of country extending from the Black Sea to +the Adriatic. + +Turkey in Asia is more extensive, and stretches from the Black Sea to +the Persian Gulf. Persia lies to its east, and the Red Sea and blue +Mediterranean to its west. + +Turkey holds sway over some of earth's fairest lands, the homes of its +most ancient civilizations and lands familiar to us through Holy Writ +and profane history, and the sources of Jewish, Christian, Moslem, and +other beliefs. + +The rulers of Turkey are the Turks, originally a nomadic tribe from +Central Asia. Compelled to abandon their homes on account of the +desiccation or drying up of large tracts of their country, which were +converted into a desert, they swarmed into Armenia and Persia in quest +of new pasture-lands for their flocks and cattle. Like the in-coming +tide, they swept everything before them, and finally overwhelmed, not +only Asia Minor, but also Egypt and Northern Africa. + +Converted at an early stage of their history to the Mahomedan faith, +they propagated it wherever they went, and, under the leadership of the +Sultans of the Seljuk dynasty, they established themselves in Konia, and +advanced their rule to the gates of the Byzantine Empire. But it was +reserved for a kindred tribe under Ertogrul to be the successors of the +Seljuks and establish the Ottoman dynasty which still holds sway over +Turkey. + +The events leading up to it were as follows: Ertogrul, with a band of +400 followers, was wandering about Asia Minor, and accidentally came +across a conflicting Mongolian and Seljuk army in the neighbourhood of +Angora. He dashed into the fray in support of the latter, and changed +impending defeat into a brilliant victory. In reward for this timely +assistance the Seljuk Sultan awarded to Ertogrul the district of +Anatolia, which bounded the Greek or Byzantine Empire, the capital of +which Empire was then Constantinople. + +During the summer the new-comers drove their flocks to the mountains, +and during the winter they withdrew them to the plains, but, growing +bolder and more powerful, Ertogrul waged war against the Greeks. Success +followed upon success, until at last, in 1326, under the leadership of +Othman, the son of Ertogrul, Nicea, noted for its Council which drew up +the Nicean Creed, fell to the sword of the Moslem. Brusa also was taken, +and there Othman enthroned himself as Sultan of the dynasty thenceforth +known as the Ottoman. + +Before proceeding further it might be interesting to relate an incident +which pictures the primitive character and frugality of the founders of +this dynasty. When the mighty Othman died, the only possessions he left +behind were a salt-bowl, the symbol of hospitality, a spoon, his sword +and standards, his cloak and white turban, a pair of horses, a yoke of +oxen, and his flock of sheep. His sword is still preserved in +Constantinople, and each successive Sultan is invested with it on his +coronation. The descendants of his flock of sheep are still the heritage +of the reigning Sultan, and still browse on the ranges of Bithynian +Olympus, and supply butter and cheeses for the royal household. + +The victories of the Ottoman Turks were followed by the incorporation of +the Seljuks, and drew into their ranks crowds of recruits thirsting for +blood and plunder. The Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus were ravaged +with sword and fire, and shortly afterward (in 1453) Constantinople was +invested and stormed, and the last of the Byzantine Emperors slain. + +Driving everything before them, the victorious Turks marched northwards +into Europe, devastating, burning, plundering, slaying, and making +captives of women and children, until at last they reached the walls of +Vienna, and at one moment it looked as if all Europe would fall to their +sway. + +But this was the limit of their Northern conquests, and, like the tide +which recedes after it has reached its fulness, so this assault on +Vienna and its repulse marks the high tide and first ebb of Turkey's +greatness. + +One by one they lost their possessions in Europe, such as Hungary, +Roumania, Greece, Servia, and Bulgaria, and now only a comparatively +small strip of country remains to them in Europe. In Asia also large +tracts of country have been wrenched from Turkey by Russia; and in +Africa, Egypt and Tunis are Turkish only in name. + +[Illustration: ROUMELI HISSAR.] + +The splendid conquests of the Turks were due to the hardihood of a race +brought up in frugality and nomadic pursuits. Their strength and courage +were amazing, and their religious zeal made them reckless of their +lives. Their early Sultans, too, were men of extraordinary energy and +sagacity, and were the first among the Turks to organize regular +soldiers. A famous corps was that of the Janissaries, who were +selected from the strongest and most beautiful Christian youth forced +away from their parents or captured in battle. Confined all their lives +in barracks, and daily drilled in the arts of war, they grew to be as +invincible as Cromwell's Ironsides. + +But as discipline relaxed they became insubordinate, dethroning Sultans +and nominating others, until one day, in 1826, Sultan Mahmoud IV. had +them secretly surrounded in their barracks and annihilated. A venerable +planetree may yet be seen in the old Palace grounds where the survivors +were hanged. Its hollow trunk ultimately served as the shop of a +shoemaker. + +The decline of the Ottoman Empire was due to the corruption of the Turks +that followed acquisition of wealth. They lost their hardihood, and +their Sultans became profligate and luxurious. They filled their harems +with wives and numberless slaves, and addicted themselves to pleasure +instead of duty. They became tyrants, and their jealousies and fears of +being supplanted made them so cruel that it became customary for a +Sultan ascending the throne to kill all his brothers or near male +relatives. This was usually done by strangling them with a bow-string, +or sewing them in bags and drowning them in the Bosphorus, as one would +an undesirable litter of puppies. + +Recent Sultans, it is true, have not dared to commit such deeds openly +in the face of growing public opinion, but, with few exceptions, they +have been equally selfish and corrupt. Indeed, in the reign of the +recent ex-Sultan Abdul Hamid, rightly styled "the Great Assassin" by Mr. +Gladstone, corruption and villainy reached unheard-of enormity. He +planned and carried out wholesale massacres against his Armenian +subjects, and spirited away thousands of innocent Mussulmans and +Christians at the instigation of the army of spies whom he employed, and +who enriched themselves with the bribes he offered. + +At last matters reached such a pitch that life in Turkey became +unbearable, and in sheer desperation he was dethroned in 1908 by his +army, led by patriotic officers who styled themselves Young Turks. + +In his stead they appointed his brother, Murad V., to be Sultan, and +proclaimed a Constitution; that is, a form of Government like our own, +with a Parliament consisting of representatives of the people. + +Turkey is now doing its best to reform itself, and we wish it all +success, but naturally, after so many years of misrule and corruption, +it will take time before the Turks can set their house in proper order. + +For now more than twenty years Turkey has been connected with Western +Europe by rail, trains starting from Vienna and crossing the Danube at +Belgrade. Shortly after, the main line branches off and one portion +proceeds through Bulgaria to Constantinople, while the other terminates +at Salonica. The journey from London to Constantinople occupies three +and a half days, but may be accelerated. + +There is no railway bridge over the Bosphorus, but a railway line, of +recent construction, runs from its Asiatic entrance into Asia Minor as +far as Konia, the Iconium of Scripture. This line is now being extended +to reach Bagdad in Mesopotamia, and will be prolonged thence to the +Persian Gulf, and doubtless, ultimately, to India, and will perhaps +enable us to visit our friends there within a week's journey from +London. + +Another railway crosses the Lebanon mountains from Beyrout, and proceeds +to Damascus, and thence extends, keeping to the east of the Jordan, to +Mecca, in Arabia, the Holy City of the Moslems. This line is called the +Sacred or Pilgrim railway, because it conveys large numbers of pilgrims +to their shrine. It was built nearly entirely out of the contributions +of the faithful, both in money and in free labour. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ALBANIANS, POMAKS, TARTARS, AND BULGARIANS + + +Having briefly narrated the history of the rise and decline of the +Ottoman Empire, it may be interesting to have a peep at the various +races and nationalities which at present constitute it. + +Beginning with Turkey in Europe, we have the Albanians, who occupy the +mountainous country north of Greece, and also Albania and Epirus on the +eastern shore of the Adriatic. They are a brave, haughty, +liberty-loving, but turbulent people, whom some maintain to be the +descendants of the ancient Pelasgi, who originally occupied Greece. They +boast of having given Alexander the Great to the world. The Albanians +were never properly conquered by the Turks, and, excepting those +inhabiting the lowlands, they do very much what they please, and even at +this moment they are defying the Turkish troops sent to disarm them, and +bring them under subjection. Some are Mahomedans, others are Roman +Catholics, and others belong to the Greek Church. They have a language +of their own, but until quite recently they had no alphabet for it, and +it was only within the last forty years that a Scotsman, the agent of +the British and Foreign Bible Society, endowed them with one, and +printed the Scriptures in their tongue. It is this alphabet that the +Turks are now trying to suppress by substituting the Arabic, and the +Albanians are fighting to maintain. The national dress of the Albanians +is a white kilted petticoat coming down to their knees, with a scarlet +or purple embroidered vest, and a corresponding sleeveless jacket worn +over a white shirt with wide sleeves. The waist is girded with a broad +silken band folded many times round the body. Embroidered leggings, +corresponding in colour with the jacket, protect the legs, and a red +cap, called a _fez_, with a silken blue tassel, covers the head. + +So attached are they to their national costume that an attempt made by +Sultan Mahmoud to forbid it led to an insurrection in the same way that +the edict in 1747 to do away with the kilts and tartans in the Scottish +Highlands created the troubles which followed the rebellion. Naturally, +the peasants cannot afford costly material, and their dress consists of +a closely-woven, home-spun tweed called _shayiak_, which is very warm +and enduring. They wear a skull-cap of the same material, _shayiak_ +knickers and leggings, and sandals instead of shoes. Over this girdle +they wear a broad cartridge-belt, which bristles with old-fashioned +pistols and formidable daggers. + +The Albanians are a nation of clans, implacable in their hatred and +constant in their friendships. Their covenant of friendship is cemented +by tasting a drop of each other's blood, and from that moment they +consider themselves blood kinsmen, and sworn to befriend, defend, or +avenge each other. + +Like the Israelites of old, the blood avenger pursues the murderer of +his friend or clansman until he finds him, and if he should fail to do +so during his lifetime, his children are bound to act on his behalf. You +can thus understand that in accordance with this law of "vendetta," as +they call it, whole families become sometimes exterminated. + +Another peculiar method of establishing friendships is by securing the +assent of an influential person to stand as godfather to children at +baptism. It involves no spiritual obligations, as may be seen from the +fact that these godfathers are frequently Mussulmans, but is recognized +as a social rite whereby the two families become relations. Albania +being a poor country, a large number of its Moslem population join the +Turkish army as soldiers or officers, this vocation being congenial with +their tastes. Others go to Constantinople or other large towns, and +engage in an occupation very different from that of warriors--namely, +that of manufacturing and selling cakes, called _simits_, and an +Albanian speciality of confection called _halva_. It resembles nougat, +and is prepared with walnuts or sesame seeds. These commodities are +temptingly arranged on large circular trays, which they poise very +adroitly on their heads by means of a small cushion resembling a quoit. +You will see, under the heading of "Simitji," a picture of this kind of +tray, and the tripod upon which it is rested. The seller in the picture +is not, however, an Albanian, but a Turk from Anatolia. + +These _halvagis_, as they are called, are great favourites of boys and +girls, and of grown-up persons too, and are to be met with at every +gathering of people. Albanians also go out as vegetable-gardeners and +fruit-sellers, and deal in the remarkably beautiful apple which grows so +splendidly in their native country. + +The Turks call the Albanians _Arnaouts_, and many a village occupied by +them has in consequence been named Arnaoutkioy, the village of the +Albanian. + +Another occupation in which they engage is that of shepherds, and among +some of this craft I may mention those of the Sultan's flock of sheep on +Mount Olympus, to which I have already alluded. They keep huge fierce +dogs, which are a terror not only to wolves and bears, but also to human +beings whom they may encounter. So daring and powerful are shepherd-dogs +of this description that they have been known to tear riders down from +the saddle. The writer might once have undergone this fate were it not +for the powerful dog-whip which he carried on the occasion of an attack, +and to the fact that his horse finally bolted with him until he was some +miles from the field of danger. + +To shoot one of these dogs is at the peril of your life, for the +Albanian law of vendetta seems to extend to avenging their dogs. There +is a strong suspicion that an Englishman, who made the ascent of Olympus +some twenty years ago, was murdered by these shepherds for shooting one +of these creatures in self-defence. On another occasion the captain of +one of our ironclads, while shooting in that neighbourhood, had occasion +to kill a dog which attacked him, whereupon he was himself felled to the +ground by the axe of the shepherd. + +Turkish shepherd-dogs, though savage and powerful, have none of the +finer instincts of our collies; they will not bring round the sheep in +accordance with the shepherd's directions; they are only fighters, and +often turn and rend their masters. + +It is interesting to watch, as I have done, the yearly migrations of the +Albanian shepherds to and from Olympus. My home lay at the foot of the +mountain, and one summer's night, when the moon was full, I was waked by +the sound of sonorous voices, and the barking of dogs, and bleating of +rams. Gradually the sounds became louder, and I could hear the tinkling +of bells and finally the tramp of thousands of little feet pattering +past my door. To the bleating of the rams was added the shriller cry of +the ewes and the feebler notes of the lambs, and, rushing to the window, +I could see the whole procession--sheep and shepherd--winding its way +upwards. It was a weird sight, those shepherds in their heavy capotes of +sheepskin, and their shadows reflected on the mountain, and gave one the +impression of so many spectres gliding in the moonlight. The procession +passed along, the bleating, the tinkling, the barking, the shouting +became fainter, and finally the mountain returned to its silence +primeval, and when I awoke in the morning I could not help wondering if +it had not all been a dream. + +[Illustration: A SIMITDJI.] + +Bordering on Albania and Epirus, and east of them, you will find a +district marked on the map as Macedonia. It is inhabited principally by +Tartars, Bulgarians, and Greeks, with a large sprinkling of Jews in its +seaport towns, specially in Salonica, the Thessalonica of Scripture. The +Bulgarians belong to the Slav family, and are mostly Christians. Some, +however, have turned Moslems, and are generally known under the name of +Pomaks. The Pomaks have intermarried and fused with Tartars, who +migrated to Macedonia, as well as to other parts of Turkey, in large +numbers when their native lands--the Crimea, Bessarabia, Roumania, and +Bulgaria--passed under the sovereignty of Christian rulers. They have +high cheekbones, broad flat faces, globular noses, and sunken eyes. They +are fanatical, ignorant, and naturally embittered against Christians, +and many, as the authors of the so-called Bulgarian atrocities, have +fled to escape the punishment they deserved. + +During the time of the Russo-Turkish War in 1879, I remember witnessing +the wholesale flight of thousands of them to Constantinople. Many +arrived in ox-drawn waggons laden with their families, their goods and +chattels, and driving before them their cattle, which they disposed of +for a mere song in the market. Others were conveyed in railway-trucks, +packed close like sheep in a pen, and seemed as bewildered. A peculiar +sight was a truck-load of children packed among sacks and bedding, from +which they emerged on the arrival of the train, like ants issuing from +an ant-hill. The city swarmed with these immigrants, the courts of the +mosques were converted into refuge houses, and the utmost misery +prevailed until Government had quartered them in different villages in +Asiatic Turkey. There they still may be found, and their location +recognized by their wretched wooden shanties and their squalor. But in +many cases change of environment has not occasioned change of +disposition, and I am assured that during the time of the Armenian +massacres (1896) Pomaks quartered in Brusa sharpened their knives and +armed themselves to a man to kill and plunder the Christians, and they +were only prevented from carrying out this nefarious deed by the armed +interposition of the humane Turkish Governor. + +In dress Pomaks differ but little from the ordinary Turk; in habits they +are perhaps more industrious, and it may be put down to their credit +that they introduced into Constantinople and elsewhere a new and light +form of carriage which is now extensively used for picnics and +excursions into the country. + +In addition to the half-caste Tartars of Macedonia there are the pure +Tartars who for several centuries past have inhabited the highlands of +Asia Minor, and who are credited with great trustworthiness. This +quality, in addition to their capacity for long and rapid riding, has +obtained for them the practical monopoly of the postal service in the +interior of Turkey, and the word _tartar_ has come to be synonymous with +postillion, or mounted postman. There are relays of horses at stated +intervals, but the same rider travels over the whole distance. His +saddle is capacious, with broad stirrups in the form of an open shoe. +The saddle has, moreover, a hump on which the rider can support his +arms, and an arrangement for fixing a short rod, with a crescent-shaped +top or cushion, on which the rider rests his chin and sleeps during +night travelling. Letters and parcels are placed in saddle-bags, which +are thrown astride the saddle in the same way as paniers are with us. +They are made of leather, of carpet, or camel's-hair, and the opening is +closed through a series of loops running into each other. There is +usually great excitement at the arrival of the Tartar, and the letters, +where no post office exists, are strewn on the floor of a room of the +_conak_, or Governor's house, and applicants asked to pick out any +addressed to them. + +Money is also conveyed from province to province by these Tartars, when, +if the amount is large, several horses are strung together, and are +escorted by mounted police. The currency in the interior being silver +coins of the size of our five-shilling pieces, the jolting and friction +occasioned by the drive are likely to tear ordinary bags, so the latter +are enclosed in a special rope-bag, which is neatly and compactly +knitted over them. Gold coin is put up in leather, which is puckered up +to form a bag, and tied and sealed on the top. + +The Christian Bulgarians of Macedonia, having been brought up more or +less under servitude, are of a much meeker character than the Pomaks, +but, judging from the strides which have been made by the other +Bulgarian races in Turkey since their independence from Turkish rule, we +may infer that their Macedonian brethren are also capable of great +development. On the whole they are poor, and live in thatched hovels, +plastered both within and without with a mixture of clay, cow-dung, and +straw. The interior is divided into three rooms--a public room, a family +bedroom, and one for keeping provisions. The floor is of clay, beaten +hard, and is covered with coarse rugs and cushions large enough to serve +as beds. A small oil-lamp burns in a corner under the _icon_, or +picture, of some grim patron saint. Outside the house is an oven, +resembling an ant-hill, and accommodation for hens, pigs, and cattle, +and the whole is enclosed with a wall and guarded by dogs. + +The Bulgarians are frugal in their habits, and live principally on beans +seasoned with vinegar and red pepper, and they have a great partiality +for garlic. Their principal occupation is agriculture and sheep-farming. + +The men's dress somewhat resembles the Albanian, but their vests and +jackets are generally made from sheepskins, with the wool turned +inwards, and they wear on their heads the _calpak_, or low cap, made +from black lamb-skins, with the wool turned outwards. This _calpak_ is +as much the national characteristic of the Bulgarian as the fez is of +the Turk. The women's dress is pleasing--green and red being very +conspicuous--and when in gala dress their persons are weighted down with +ponderous silver ornaments worn on the head, round the neck, waist, and +wrists. + +Their national music is the bagpipe, but the music is very primitive, +and does not soar to the heights of the pibrochs of Scotland, and their +dance is heavy and uncouth, and apparently modelled from the bear. +Indeed, in one of these dances the principal dancer puts on a real +bearskin, and, led about by a young girl, performs all sorts of antics, +much to the enjoyment of the spectators, who at the close of the +performance all join in hooting and pursuing the dancer. + +Formerly large bands of Bulgarian dancers used to come to Constantinople +during the Easter festivities, and march through the streets with +inflated bagpipes, or resort to the field of sports. Their bear-dance +ended, they would fling their caps heavily to the ground, then pick them +up, and walk round with them to the crowd for the collection of coppers. + +But the Bulgar is no longer popular, either with the Turk or the Greek, +and they now seldom grace the festivals in the capital with their +presence and their antics. + +The Greek population of Macedonia is not large, but is inimical to the +Bulgarian, both from feeling of racial antipathy and from religious +discord. Both, it is true, belong to what is called the Greek or +Orthodox Church, but a few years ago a dispute arose regarding the +language in which services should be conducted in Bulgarian churches. +The Patriarch and heads of the Greek Church insisted that it should be +Greek, whereas the Bulgarians, who do not understand Greek, claimed that +it should be Bulgarian, the language of the people. The dispute led to a +disruption, and now the Bulgarian Church is governed by a Bulgarian +Exarch, and the priests and language are Bulgarian, but the Greek Church +considers them schismatics, and will have no ecclesiastical dealings +with them. + +Further reference to Greeks will be made in Chapter V. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CIRCASSIANS, LAZES, AND KURDS + + +Passing over to Asia Minor, we come across groups of a very interesting +race called the Circassian. + +Inhabiting originally the belt of lofty mountains which run from the +Black Sea to the Caspian, they were conquered in 1864 by the Russians, +after nearly a century of resistance, and no less than half a million +were expelled, and received hospitality in Turkey. + +This welcome was extended, not only because the exiles were Moslems, but +also because that country, remarkable for the beauty of its women, had +hitherto supplied the Turkish slave-market with wives for the Palace and +the Grandees. The vendors were their own fathers or guardians, who by +this method secured, not only a substantial profit for themselves, but +also provided comfortable homes and even royalty for their daughters. + +With so much Circassian blood in their veins, it was natural that the +Turks should show themselves sympathetic toward these poor fugitives, +and find settlements for them in various parts of their dominion. +Moreover, in doing so they kept up the market for wives; for although +slavery is officially abolished in Turkey, there is still an underhand +commerce with the Circassian colonists for the disposal of their +daughters as aforesaid. However revolting this transaction may appear +to us, it is consistent with the customs prevalent in Circassia itself, +where a suitor is expected to buy his intended from her father. But +there, at least, he must further arrange to run away with her, an +undertaking which is not so easy if the young lady does not consent. + +The characteristics of Circassians are their small and beautifully +shaped hands and feet, the grace and agility of their movements, and +their clear complexion. + +They are temperate in their habits, and frugal, their national meal +consisting of millet boiled in mutton fat. + +The Circassians are splendid horsemen, but are rather lax about their +perception of what is mine or thine; indeed, their Tartar name, +_tcherkes_, implies a "robber." They are entirely uneducated. + +The following pretty Circassian custom came under my personal notice. It +was an application made by one of their chiefs to my father for +intervention on his behalf with Government for the extension of a grant +of land. The letter in question was addressed to "Pasta Baba"--_i.e._, +the father of bread--a name by which my father was known through +distributing charitable subscriptions raised in Great Britain; it was +sent by a special messenger, and was attached to the wings of a +snow-white pigeon. A gift of a few geese of spotless purity accompanied +it. The petition was duly transmitted to Government, and the request +granted. + +There is a Turkish saying that the Almighty assigned the sovereignty of +the land to the Moslem, but that of the sea to the Giaours, or Infidels. + +But among the subject races of Turkey there is one which has +distinguished itself for its intrepidity on the water and the +fearlessness with which it navigates the Black Sea--a sea well deserving +its sinister epithet. The Lazes occupy the eastern and south-eastern +shores of the Black Sea, and their sailing-boats and ships do the +coasting trade between these regions and Constantinople. Like all +mariners of olden days, they cease navigating the seas during the +winter, and draw up their lighter boats on the beach, and anchor their +heavier ones in harbours. The lighter boats are styled _tchektermes_, +and are from 30 to 50 feet in length, with sharp, beaky prow and stern. +They carry a long bowsprit, with one or two jib-sails hoisted from a +short mast, placed nearer the bows than the stern. A long boom, attached +obliquely to the mast, serves to support an enormous sail, which, when +the boat is on the tack, bellies out to such a remarkable extent that it +resembles the section of a balloon. Yet notwithstanding this departure +from the principles of sailing, _tchektermes_ can run close up to the +eye of the wind, and are very swift in their movements. A faint idea of +this sort of sail is given in the picture of the lighter in the +illustration of "The Bridge from Galata" in the frontispiece. + +[Illustration: A STAMBOUL BEGGAR.] + +The _tchektermes_ are only partially decked, a covered stern and bow +serving for cabins for the crew. The undecked sides are heightened by 2 +or 3 feet, with a tarred awning, which protects from surf and spray. + +The larger ships used by the Lazes are from 200 to 300 tons; they are +very quaint, and resemble ancient galleons. There is very little +discipline among the crew, and everyone has a say and advice to give to +the captain, who is much on the same level as his men. + +A large number of Lazes come to Constantinople, and engage in the +shipping trade or as stevedores, but others form into guilds for digging +and carrying on operations in connection with housebuilding, and are +very industrious and hard-working. Their hours of labour often extend +during the summer season from five in the morning till eight at night. +They, in common with all labourers in the East, are not engaged by time, +as with us, but, like those labourers mentioned in Scripture, at a fixed +charge for the day. + +Another people strongly resembling the Lazes in appearance, but +inhabiting the mountainous regions to the south of them, all the way up +to and into Persia, are the Kurds, of whom you have probably heard a +good deal in connection with the Armenian massacres. Their country is +called Kurdistan, and is drained by the tributaries of the Euphrates and +the Tigris. Several of its mountains rise to the height of 6,000 to +7,000 feet. Kurds are also to be found in all the hilly districts of +Armenia and Mesopotamia. They are a sinewy, dark, well-formed race, with +a fierce look which betrays an equally ferocious character. They owe +but slight allegiance to the Turkish Empire, and are under the rule of +chiefs, more or less independent, who organize robber bands to plunder +or blackmail caravans. + +They possess remarkably fine horses, which are greatly in demand for the +Turkish cavalry. The Kurds themselves are great riders, and with their +long javelins, bows, or muskets, are a terror to their neighbours. They +are also experts in the use of the sling. During the recent Armenian +massacres they were allowed a free hand, and their cruelty and rapacity +were such as to defy description. The ex-Sultan, Abdul Hamid, +incorporated a number of them into a division of cavalry, commanded by +their own officers, which constituted his bodyguard, and he paid them +largely, and dressed them handsomely, but since his dethronement they +have been disbanded as too insubordinate. + +It is the boast of the Kurds that their country gave birth to the great +Saladdin, who in the twelfth century fought against our Richard Coeur +de Lion in the Holy Land. + +Most of the Kurds are migratory in their habits, but others reside in +villages, where they sow their fields with seed in spring-time, and then +quit them in order to pasture their flocks in the mountains. In autumn +they return to their villages, and reap their harvest. Those residing in +the plains are of a more peaceful disposition, and exercise much +ingenuity and show much taste in the manufacture of carpets. These are +entirely of wool, and are of that light description known as _kilims_, +used in this country for portieres. Occasionally some of the women +working at them weave in locks or tresses of their own hair, which is +supposed to add to the value of the carpet. It certainly adds to its +quaintness. + +A peculiar product of the Kurdish forests is manna, a sweet exudation on +the oak-leaf. These leaves are beaten down from the trees, and collected +on sheets, and then pressed into lumps and eaten, either in their +natural condition, or used as a sweetening ingredient. Manna has a +sweet, pleasant taste, and is called by the Kurds the "divine +sweetmeat." It is sold in the courts of the mosques in Constantinople +during the sacred month of Ramazzan. + +Lake Van, on the confines of Kurdistan, is about 70 miles long and 28 +miles broad. Its waters are salt, but brackish near the streams, and +when evaporated produce a kind of soap used in the country. The lake +abounds in a peculiar kind of carp (_Cyprinus Tarachi_), locally known +as _Dareg_, which is said to exist nowhere else, and which is dried and +eaten extensively in the neighbourhood. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ARMENIANS + + +Adjoining Kurdistan lies Armenia, but it is difficult to determine where +the one begins and the other ends, as during the time of the Armenian +troubles the Sultan decreed that no such place as Armenia should exist, +and vast stretches of country inhabited by Armenians were officially +incorporated in the villayets, or provinces, of Kurdistan and others. + +So determined was the Sultan to blot out the name he hated that the +censors were ordered to prohibit or deface all books having reference to +Armenia, and the writer of these lines had unpleasant experiences at the +Custom-house where a number of his books were mutilated; Keith +Johnston's book on "Geography," for instance, had ten pages torn out. + +But in spite of Imperial edicts, Armenia still exists, and will continue +to do so as long as Mount Ararat stands as a monument in the land to +proclaim an antiquity claimed to be coeval with Noah. + +The traditions of the Deluge are still cherished by the Armenians, who +yearly celebrate the exit from the Ark, and symbolize it in their +national pudding, called the _anoosh aboor_, or sweet pudding. This +consists of as many varieties of dried fruits as they can collect, which +they mix together and stew, in imitation, it is alleged, of Noah, who +did the same with the remnants of the provisions he had stored in the +Ark. On this occasion they also sprinkle water on each other's faces, to +denote the flood, and liberate captive doves and make cakes to represent +birds. + +Tradition also maintains that it was in Armenia, on the southern slopes +of Ararat, still rich in vines and olive-yards, that Noah planted the +first vineyard. A withered root of one of the plants is still exhibited +to show the result of the Divine malediction on the vine which +occasioned his drunkenness. + +Armenia has passed through a number of vicissitudes, and frequently +changed masters, and, owing to its geographical position, has often been +the highway for the passage of opposing armies. It was the first country +that officially embraced Christianity, their Sovereign, Tigranes, having +been converted at the end of the third century by Gregory the +Illuminator, and the Armenian Church has since been called the +Gregorian. Armenia fell under the sword of the Moslem powers, and many +of its inhabitants were compelled to turn Mahomedans, but as a whole +they bravely maintained their faith and worship, notwithstanding +persecutions. They have a language and an alphabet of their own, the +latter consisting of thirty-eight letters, and expressing so many sounds +that it is often used with advantage in writing Turkish also. The +language spoken by the people principally is Turkish, while that used in +the Church services is Ancient Armenian, which is not understood by the +illiterate, but efforts are now made to revive the use of Modern +Armenian, and it is being taught in their schools, and spoken more +extensively. + +Armenia is to-day portioned between Russia, Persia, and Turkey, the +latter ruling over the largest share. The population of the Turkish +section is probably about 1,000,000, but about as many, if not more, +are spread about other portions of the Empire, and Constantinople holds +150,000. + +The Armenians are of medium height, but broad-shouldered and of powerful +build; their complexion is swarthy, their hair black, and they can grow +magnificent beards. Their eyes are black, and their nose aquiline, or +eagle-beaked. This latter characteristic is very marked, and can be +traced back to the coins of Tigranes, and of their earliest sovereigns. +Their habits are indolent, and years of servitude have made them timid, +and until quite recently they appeared so infatuated with their masters +that their highest ambition seemed to be to ape them. They have been +described as "having no high feeling, no emulation, no enthusiasm, no +longing for a place among nations, no aspirations after the bright and +the beautiful." But now all this has changed--at least with the educated +people--and ecclesiastically, as well as socially, they have aspirations +for an improvement in their condition. They have great business +capacities, and show some aptitude in the arts, especially in weaving +and embroidery, but have little initiative. They are naturally devout +and kind-hearted, especially to animals, and ill-treatment of the latter +is considered as deserving ecclesiastical censure, a case being on +record where a priest imposed a fast of twenty years upon a woman for +killing her cat. + +Villagers and Armenians from the interior are remarkable for their +honesty, and have been entrusted for generations with the guardianship +of merchants' offices, banks, shops, and the surveillance of public +establishments. + +Their inducements to faithfulness are strengthened by their conviction +that honesty is the best policy, for as a result of their proverbial +trustworthiness their functions have come to be regarded as hereditary, +and when one servant dies or returns to his family, he is replaced by +his son, or brother, or near relative. There is thus solidarity between +the members of a family, and even between the citizens of a town, for +there are some towns--Mush, for instance--that hold the palm for the +integrity of its inhabitants. + +An occupation, akin to the previous one, held by Armenians, in common +with Turks of Asia Minor, is that of porterage, an institution of the +greatest importance, especially in Constantinople, where the narrowness +or steepness of the streets often prevents wheeled conveyance. + +These porters, known under the name of _hamals_, carry their burden on +their back by means of a leather cushion, which is strapped over their +shoulders, and called a _semer_, or saddle (see illustration, "In the +Grand Bazaar," Chapter IV.), and it is extraordinary what weight and +bulk they can carry. The object to be carried, if heavy, is lifted by +one or two companions, and rested on the _semer_, while the wearer +stoops forward to receive it. + +Great care is necessary to poise and balance it properly, as the secret +of lifting lies in the correct adjustment--an art which with the +_hamals_ seems instinctive. A short rope is then thrown over the burden, +and the ends are held by the porter so as to prevent the burden from +slipping as he proceeds on his way with heavy but steady steps. Should +the road be steep, he will generally find resting-stones, which have +been placed at regular intervals, where he can lean his burden without +removing it, and obtain a brief repose. The placing of these +resting-stones is considered a meritorious act among Moslems, and finds +its equivalent in the Rest-and-be-Thankful Stones to be met with in many +places in this country, where the weary traveller sits and blesses the +donor. + +It is an interesting study to watch the muscles of the _hamal's_ legs +distend and his veins dilate as, nearly bent in two, he treads leisurely +along, groaning under a weight which it would take two ordinary men to +carry. + +Conveying a piano, for instance, is no unusual occurrence, and on one +occasion the writer had coals conveyed to his house, situated on a hill, +and about three miles from the ship, at the same price as they would +have been conveyed by horses, each _hamal_ carrying half a horseload. A +_hamal's_ carrying capacity may therefore be expressed, after this +experience, as equal to a half horse-power. + +[Illustration: IN THE GRAND BAZAAR] + +If the object to be conveyed is a very heavy one, it is suspended on a +long pole, and carried between two _hamals_, the rounded ends of the +poles resting on their shoulders, with perhaps a leather pad between to +protect the bone. + +Should the weight be heavier still, say a large bale of merchandise or a +pig of lead, four, six, or eight _hamals_ combine, each pair carrying a +separate pole. As they march swinging and staggering along, with their +right hand resting on their neighbours' left shoulder, and occupying +half the street, they shout _Varda!_ which means "Make room!" and +everybody has to clear out and rush to the sidewalk, or run the risk of +being thrown over. + +_Hamals_ form themselves into Guilds, allotting themselves special +spheres of work or districts, and are very jealous of interference by +outsiders in what they consider their monopoly. + +In addition to the porterage of goods they also undertake the hewing of +wood, such as is used for warming purposes in the East. They begin by +conveying it on their backs in lengths of 5 or 6 feet, in which it +arrives from the forests, and, throwing it in a heap in front of your +door, they proceed forthwith to chop it with their axes into lengths of +12 to 14 inches, and then store it. In the meanwhile half the street is +occupied by the hewers, and chips fly right and left, endangering the +eyes and faces of passers-by. + +Up to the time of the Armenian massacres, Armenian _hamals_ had nearly +the entire monopoly of the Constantinople Custom-house porterage, but +the majority were slaughtered in cold blood or had to flee, and Kurds +(many of whom were their murderers) were engaged in their place. + +But the latter had neither the experience, nor the skill, nor the +obliging manners of the Armenians, and for a long time business was +disorganized, and merchants were discontented. + +Before dismissing the subject of the _hamals_, reference may be made to +a peculiar contrivance they adopt for preventing water conveyed in open +barrels from spilling, through the vibration. It simply consists in +floating a disc of wood on the surface, and this seems as effectual as +the sailors' device of throwing oil over the troubled waters. Anyone may +try it and see the result. + +It is difficult to depict the habits of a people in a country so +widespread as Armenia, but I may briefly allude to the houses they +inhabit in Erzerum, the principal town of Armenia, and one which, +according to Armenian tradition, stands on the site of the Garden of +Eden! In any case, the climate has changed since those blissful days, +for owing to its high latitude of 5,000 feet above the sea, that +district is bitterly cold during the winter and hot during the summer. +Indeed, for six months of the year, and more, snow is said to lie in the +streets of Erzerum. The houses are in consequence low and small, +consisting generally of a ground-floor only, with a flat roof over it. +They are built of stone against the sides of a hill, and each room +stands with a separate roof. As these roofs or terraces are connected +with steps, one can walk a very considerable way over them. During the +summer they are overgrown with grass, and are the favourite resort of +women and children, the latter taking with them their lambs to browse +over the grass and flowers. Each room of these houses has a fireplace, +where cow-dung fuel is consumed. The furniture is very simple, and +consists of a raised divan round three sides of the room, on which the +family sit during the day, and often sleep at night. Only few houses +possess chairs and tables. Meals are served on a round tray placed on a +stool, around which the family squat and partake from a common dish. The +characteristic feature of the house is the stable for oxen, one portion +of which has a raised platform, with divans and carpets, and is used as +the men's reception-room. The breath of the cattle helps to keep it warm +and cosy, and underneath the platform the dogs lie and sleep, while on +the divan, resting along with the men, are lovely silken-haired cats, +many of which have their tails dyed red with henna. + +In winter the houses can hardly be distinguished under the snow, and the +town is described as a great rabbit-warren, with the passages leading to +the doors of the houses like so many burrows. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GREEKS AND VLACHS + + +In our account of the races ruled over by the Turks we must not forget +the Greeks, those enterprising colonists who, long before the Christian +era, settled along the coast of the Black Sea, and all along the +sea-line which now fringes the Ottoman Empire, as well as in its +islands, and who also founded commercial stations in the interior. In +earliest times we find them connected with such expeditions as the +Argonautic, in quest of the Golden Fleece, and returning, not only with +rich trophies, but with wonderful legends regarding the lands they +visited. I could entertain you at great length on their adventures in +the countries I am describing, but this is not the object of this book, +and my reference to the past must only be to show you that the present +Greeks in Turkey are much the same people as their ancestors, with the +same love for commerce, the same love for the beautiful and the same +glowing imagination. Yet they differ in this respect, that they are now +a subject instead of an independent people. They also differ in not +calling themselves Hellenes, but Romei--_i.e._, Romans--an appellation +which, strange to say, applies only to members of the Greek Church. +Roman Catholics contemptuously refuse to be called Romei, and style +themselves Latins. + +Intermarriages have somewhat tainted the purity of their blood, and in +many cases they have lost the use of their mother-tongue, and can only +speak Turkish, but still they are Greeks to all intents and purposes, +and mostly members of the Greek or Orthodox Church. + +The Greek type of face is much the same as what we see in the statuary +in our museums. The forehead is broad but rather low, the nose and +profile straight, the eyes large, the lips full, the chin firm, and the +neck rounded. They are tall and stately, and graceful in their +movements, and have small hands and feet. + +In character they are highly imaginative, superficial, and shrewd, but +make excellent husbands and wives, and inspire their children with a +love for home and respect for their parents. + +In education the wealthier classes are advanced, but the peasantry are +still backward. The Greek spoken by the latter is very corrupt, and has +a large admixture of Turkish and Italian, but the efforts of School +Boards and of the local newspapers are tending to purify and elevate it. +At present even the New Testament Greek is above the average man's +comprehension. + +The Greeks, as of yore, have much of the heroic in their character, and +their ballads are full of the noble deeds, both of men and of women, in +their defence against their oppressors. + +Their usual method of vindicating their rights and protecting themselves +consisted in forming bands of _Armatolae_, or _Kleptae_, and occupying +strongholds in the mountains, from which they would sweep down +unexpectedly and avenge themselves, or carry away some wealthy Pacha as +captive until he was ransomed. + +These bands were looked up to by the people as heroes and +deliverers--the Jephthas and Gideons of their captivity. + +But unfortunately their exploits were not resorted to for the cause of +freedom and justice alone, and have often degenerated into sheer acts of +brigandage. A series of them were recently enacted in Macedonia, and on +one occasion an Englishman was surprised, surrounded, and carried to the +mountains. A messenger was sent down with a demand for his ransom, and +with a threat that unless this was produced within a stated time, or if +pursuit was made, his life would be forfeited. The sum fixed upon was +the captives' weight in gold, and as he unfortunately happened to be a +heavy man, the amount represented L12,000. The ransom was duly paid, +but the money afterwards recovered from the Turkish Government. + +As an instance of the strange mixture of superstition and depravity +among some of these brigand bands, it is related that on one occasion a +band plundered a church, and then, seizing the priest, the _Kleptae_ put +a sword to his throat until he absolved them from the offence. + +Acts of brigandage are not, however, limited to Greeks, though they are +the chief offenders, but are shared with Albanians and Turks. Nor have +Macedonia and Greece had the monopoly, but Smyrna and the hill-country +near Constantinople have given scope for their activities. Their spies +and agents in these towns supplied them with information, and the +villagers and shepherds about their districts being in full sympathy, +kept them in supplies and ammunition. + +From the bandit it is pleasant to turn to the agricultural and pastoral +life of the Greeks in Turkey, and describe the assistance that boys and +girls give to their parents. + +When the wheat or barley has been harvested, the sheaves are spread on +the threshing-floor, which has previously been carefully prepared with +clay and stones beaten down into a smooth surface. A broad wooden sledge +is then provided, with sharp flint-stones firmly embedded into the under +portion. One or two horses are attached to the sledge and a boy or girl, +seated on a stool on the sledge, seizes the reins, and whip in hand, +drives the horses at full gallop round and round the threshing-floor. +The sharp flints, acting as knives, soon cut up the long stalks into +straw, and separate the grain. Then a windy day is selected, and with +long wooden forks the straw is tossed up into the air, the wind carrying +the chaff and straw to a short distance, and leaving the heavier grain +at the winnower's feet. The winnowed grain is then shovelled up into a +heap, and there it must remain until the tax-gatherer has come and +removed one-tenth on behalf of the Government. The harvest-festival +follows, when, attired in their best clothes and with flowers on their +heads and sheaves of golden grain in their hands, the harvesters proceed +to the towns, and dance and sing before the doors of their patrons. + +One of their favourite dances is the old classical _syrto_, or +long-drawn dance, performed on the village green. The youths and maidens +don their picturesque gala costumes, and prepare for the dance, while +the elderly men group themselves round the coffee-house, smoking their +pipes and sipping coffee, and the matrons, with little ones, sit under +the trees and gossip. A musician, with fiddle, pipe, or viol, sits on a +barrel, while each youth produces his coloured handkerchief, and, +holding it by one corner, presents the other to the girl at his side. +She in her turn presents her own to the dancer next to her; a long line +or circle is formed, and the dance is proceeded with, the youths and +maidens responding to each other in the words of a song. + +The dress of the girls differs very much according to the locality where +they reside. That of the villages near Constantinople consists of a +loose, bright-coloured bodice, worn over a blouse open at the neck, and +a coloured kerchief twisted round the head, from under the folds of +which the hair hangs down the back in rich plaited tresses. The trousers +are loose, baggy, and voluminous, and are fastened with a cord round the +waist. + +[Illustration: A SHEKERDJIS' SHOP.] + +Over the bodice a bright zouave is worn, richly embroidered in gold or +silver, and strings of gold or silver coins hang round the head, or as a +necklace round the throat, while on the wrists are heavy bracelets. + +In other places it is described as consisting of "a skirt woven in +stripes of silk and woollen, reaching to the ankles, with a +tight-fitting bodice of the same, a cloth jacket braided or embroidered +round the borders in gold thread and lined with fur, and in some +districts a bright-coloured apron ornamented with needlework" (L. +Garnett, "Women in Turkey"). + +The same writer reports that in the islands a favourite amusement on +these occasions is for the girls to suspend a rope across a narrow +street from the wall of their own house to that of a neighbour, and +every youth who wishes to pass by must pay toll in the form of a small +coin, and give one of the girls a swing, while he sings the following +verse: + + "O swing the clove-carnation red, + The gold and silver shining: + And swing the girl with golden hair, + For love of her I'm pining." + +To which the maiden replies: + + "O say what youth is swinging me, + What do you call him, girls? + For I a fez will broider him, + With fairest, whitest pearls." + +The Vlachs that inhabit Macedonia follow principally pastoral and +agricultural pursuits. They spend the winter in their mountain +villages, but during the summer they lead a nomadic life in quest of +pastures, and move about, gipsy-like, in caravans. + +The care of their father's flock is committed to the charge of the +daughters, whose beauty has often been extolled in many an amorous +folklore song. Their duties are to milk the sheep and goats, churn the +milk into butter, or convert it into cheese, bleach and spin the wool, +and weave garments for the use of the family. A loom occupies the corner +of every dwelling, and every spare moment is given to twisting thread +with a spindle. + +There is considerable dislike among the Greeks to let their daughters go +out to service, but this feeling is not shared by the inhabitants of the +Greek islands. On the contrary, they supply the main stock of domestic +servants, and recognized agents sail to and from the islands to find +them occupation and attend to their interests. These Greek servants are +generally very ignorant, can seldom write, and depend on the agent or +some kind friend both for reading and writing their letters. They do not +draw their pay monthly or quarterly, but prefer to allow it to +accumulate with their masters, and withdraw it in a lump sum. After +having stayed for some years in service, the girls are greatly in demand +with their countrymen, and return to their islands and marry, but only +to go back to service when their lazy husbands have expended their +savings. Many of them return in the capacity of wet-nurses, a vocation +greatly in demand in the East, where children are seldom brought up on +the bottle. They are highly paid, and, moreover, receive presents on +such important occasions as the child's cutting its first tooth and the +like. + +Their social position is also different from that of other servants, for +as foster-mothers they have a say in the child's upbringing, and their +own children can claim kinship as foster-brothers or foster-sisters. +Strange and incongruous connections are often the result, as, for +instance, in the case of an acquaintance of mine in Smyrna, a British +subject and manager of a bank. His foster-brother, a Greek, took to the +mountains, and was known as the famous brigand, Caterdjee Yiani, and +many a time the latter escaped detection and arrest by hiding in the +house of his British milk-kinsman. + +Wet-nurses in the Sultan's palace are, it is stated, invariably +Circassians, and their own children become playmates with the Crown +Princes, and are not forgotten in after life. The foster-mother enjoys a +title of courtesy, and often her influence in the palace comes next to +that of the reigning Sultan's mother. In the case of the wet-nurse of +Sultan Abdul Aziz, her power was such that frequently the appointment or +dismissal of Governors and other State officials depended on her +good-will. + +Greek servants are as a rule honest, but very slovenly, and at first +very raw and unused to the ways of civilized life. They love to go +about barefooted, or shuffle in slippers. Their hair is seldom combed, +and their garments hang loosely about them. Their head-dress is a +printed kerchief, called a _fakiol_, which they wear both indoors and +out of doors, but the more advanced wear hats, and consider it such a +distinction, that a man-servant of mine, who wanted to get married, +could not describe his intended to me in more flattering terms than by +saying that "she wears the _capello_" (hat). + +On Sundays they put on their finery and are very keen to go to church, +and gossip with their fellow-servants in the women's gallery. It was +probably to similar tittle-tattling, so common in Eastern churches, that +St. Paul referred when forbidding women to "speak in the churches." + + * * * * * + +Factories are so seldom to be seen in Turkey that women have few +opportunities of employment as factory-girls, but in the silk-spinning +factories in Brusa Greek, Armenian, and Turkish girls work side by side. +Their great ambition is to be possessed of and wear gold coins about +their persons, but specially a five-lira piece, representing about L4 +10s. of our money. Too eager to wait until their savings enable them to +buy that coin, they go to a money-changer and receive one immediately on +credit, paying him weekly a stipulated instalment, and interest at 12 +per cent. a year in addition. The result is that when they have paid off +the debt they find that the coin has cost them at least L6 or L7; but +in the meanwhile their feminine vanity has been gratified, and the coin +displayed three or four years earlier than otherwise. + +A curious class of people to be found in nearly every village in Turkey, +and even in the interior of Arabia, Egypt, and Khartoum, is that of the +_bakals_, or grocers, who are Greeks from Kaisarieh, in Karamania (Asia +Minor). Fat, dumpy, and oily, with dirty, baggy trousers, greasy vests +and shining countenances, they are as like one another as two peas. They +have practically the monopoly of the retail grocery business, and their +shops contain everything you can imagine in the way of Eastern articles +of diet--bread, cheese, black olives, salted anchovies, sardines, +curdled milk called _yiaourt_, oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, rice, +sausages, and dried meats, honey, butter, dried fruits, tallow candles, +matches, etc. + +Their little boys--chips of the old block--go round every house, calling +out "_Bakalis_" and catering for orders, or bringing them back in +conical bags of brown paper. Nearly everybody buys on credit, and an +account is run up (not always too honestly) which, after a short time, +becomes formidable, and credit is stopped till an instalment is paid. + +The _bakals'_ book-keeping is of the most primitive type, and will +baffle the sharpest chartered accountant; but mistakes are seldom on the +wrong side. + +A peculiar method for recording the number of loaves of bread +distributed in each house is that of the _tchetoula_, and consists in +cutting a notch on a piece of stick for every loaf taken. The +householder retains the stick, and receives a new one when the amount is +paid. Another method is to make a chalk-mark on the door, and efface it +on payment. + +With a community living from hand to mouth like the Eastern, it is +difficult to know what they would do without the ubiquitous _bakal_. +Besides making himself useful in the catering-line, he frequently is the +only man in his village who can read, and is resorted to both for +reading and writing letters. His correspondence is carried on in Turkish +words, but with Greek characters, full of conventional signs and +contractions, and is next to impossible to decipher. + +Stray newspapers sometimes reach him, and the news of the day is +conveyed by him to clients; and should there be a Christian church in +his village, he is sure to be one of its dignitaries, and as _psaltis_, +or precentor, preside over the singing. + +Another curious product, if I may so call it, of the Greek market is a +class of beggars known as the _Volitziani_. They come from villages in +Thessaly, and are young women who put aside their best garments, and don +an old black skirt and black jacket, so as to assume an air of abject +poverty. When about to start they receive from their community a +beggar's staff, as a badge or passport of their functions, and they +proceed to Constantinople, or any other town where begging offers +advantageous prospects. On their arrival they borrow or hire two or +three children, one of which is an infant, and which they drug and cause +to sleep on a handkerchief spread out in a corner of the street. The +beggar sits beside it, putting on her most tearful looks, and when any +likely passer-by approaches, she raises her voice in supplication, and +sends the other children to pull at his coat-tails. These _Volitziani_ +frequent the neighbourhood of churches, and their appeal is: "Give for +the sake of the souls of the departed." The result is a plentiful +harvest of coins, which enables them to return with a bagful to their +country. The beggar's staff is then hung behind the door as a trophy. +Should they desire to proceed on another begging expedition, a second +staff is given them, and so on, and at each successive return the staff +that has done service is deposited behind the door. Sometimes as many as +seven make up the trophy. Young men desiring to find wives with money +pry behind the door, and form an approximate idea of the fortune of the +owner, the one with seven staffs taking, of course, the palm. + +Constantinople was once the great resort of beggars of all descriptions, +and lines of them used to exhibit on the Galata Bridge (see +frontispiece) all manners of deformities to elicit sympathy, but one of +the reforming measures of the Young Turks was to expel them from the +city. In illustration facing Chapter III. you will see one of these +wayside beggars. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JEWS--SUPERSTITIONS + + +We read in the New Testament of Jews scattered all over the Roman +Empire. The same is true of them to-day in Turkey. Their principal +resorts are Constantinople, Smyrna, Salonica, and the other great towns. + +Some are original colonists, principally from Palestine; others are +exiles from Spain in 1493. Common vicissitudes with the Moors, who had +also been ejected from Spain, created sympathy for them in the Moslem +world, and, to the honour of the Turk let it be told, they were offered +a shelter and a home. These immigrants introduced with them the jargon +which they had employed in Spain, and which consists of a mixture of +Hebrew and Spanish, and is known as Judeo-Spanish. To it have been +grafted a number of Italian and Turkish words, and it has been adopted +as the common vernacular of both classes of Jews above mentioned. + +[Illustration: A CEMETERY BY THE BOSPHORUS.] + +Another division is that of Hebrews from Russia, Poland, and Austria. +These do not understand Judeo-Spanish, but speak corrupt Russian and +German, and differ from their southern brethren in features and customs; +they all adhere to the law of Moses, and accept the teaching of the +Prophets. There exists also a sect of Jews called _Dunmes_, or +turncoats, who are both Mahomedans and Jews. Ostensibly they are the +former, and observe all Moslem rites, but secretly they practise those +of the Hebrews also. + +The Dunmes give their children two names, one a Turkish, such as +Mustapha, and the other a Hebrew, such as Jacob. + +They reside chiefly in Salonica, and are very fanatical, and were the +ringleaders of a riot against the Christians in 1870. On the other hand, +several have distinguished themselves recently by joining the Reform +Party in Turkey, known as Young Turks, who overthrew Sultan Hamid, and +introduced the Constitution. + +Perhaps they are the only class of Jews who are seamen, and it is +interesting to watch their flotilla of small boats board the steamers +that arrive in Salonica. From their screams and shouts, you would think +yourself in pandemonium. The originator of the sect was a certain +Sabbatai Levy, who proclaimed himself the Messiah in 1648, but +afterwards accepted Mahomedanism to save his life. His adherents believe +in his return, and it is stated that one of their number always awaits +the arrival of the railway-train in Salonica to offer him a welcome. + +Jews in Turkey are not relegated to ghettos, as in several European +cities, but all the same they live in separate quarters, as, indeed, do +all the other nationalities. Their quarters may be recognized by their +malodorous smells, their filth, and the numerous families residing in +the houses, and also from the babel of tongues, and the shrill, +discordant voices of women or children shouting to each other or +quarrelling. + +Jews in the East engage principally in commerce, banking, +money-changing, pawnbrokerage, dealings on the Stock Exchange, +watchmaking, and shopkeeping. + +A feature among them is the early age at which boys commence earning +their daily bread. As young as six or seven you may see them going about +with trays containing cigarette-papers, pins, matches, and similar cheap +articles. Boys in this country will marvel at the ease and rapidity with +which mere tots can work calculations mentally in the course of their +business. + +When they grow up to manhood many engage in window-cleaning, an +occupation which has come to be a Jewish speciality, and which an +Eastern servant will resent if called upon to undertake. Others go about +riveting or cementing broken china, or, with a small charcoal brazier +and soldering irons, as tinkers; others sell a special kind of sand for +cleaning pots and pans, which they hawk about under its Latin name of +_arena_. Some make a speciality of buying, washing, and sorting empty +bottles, which they afterwards re-sell with profit; others, of course, +buy up old clothes, or, with a capacious wooden box slung over their +back, go about selling all those little articles which are indispensable +to ladies. When called to a house they spread out all their +paraphernalia, and the bargaining, which Easterns take such a delight +in, begins--buyer and seller trying to outwit and deceive each +other--the housewife feeling happy and virtuous all day if she has +beaten down the Jew to one-third of his demands, and the Jew unhappy +because he had not charged more. + +Hebrew marriages in the East occur at an early period of life, fifteen +with girls and eighteen with boys, and even earlier in Palestine. The +result is large families and much destitution, but with all that one +seldom sees any Jewish beggars, their system for relief of poverty being +so admirable. They are frugal in their habits, living largely on bread, +salt-fish, leeks, and onions, and, during the season, on fruits. The +produce sold in their shambles is, moreover, of the cheapest and most +inferior quality, yet, notwithstanding all this, the Jews are the +longest lived and healthiest of the Eastern races. + +The dress of those in Constantinople consists of two or three long +gowns, open below the knees; the sleeves are long. Their head-dress is +the Turkish fez. In winter they wear long furs over their gowns. Married +women cover their hair with a sort of bag-like embroidered kerchief, +called _yemeni_, which is painted with flowers and ornamented with lace +and seed-pearls. + +Within recent years much has been done, both by the Jewish Alliance and +the Scottish and English Mission Schools, to educate boys and girls, and +there is certainly a great improvement. + +Jews are fatalists, and are convinced that the decrees of fate are +unalterable, yet they imagine that Providence may be cheated and thus +deterred from its purposes. Accordingly, if Joseph happens to fall ill, +and there is a likelihood of his dying, they forthwith change his name +into, we will say, Benjamin, and they expect that when the Angel of +Death arrives to fulfil his mission he will think he has made a mistake, +and gone to the wrong house. So everyone in the room keeps addressing +the invalid as Benjamin, and, should he recover, they all congratulate +themselves on their masterly deception. + +Another expedient, but principally connected with children's ailments, +is to trap the malevolent demon who has induced the sickness, and this +they profess to do by laying a trail of sugar from the child's sick-bed +to a well. The greedy demon follows the track, and gets drowned! + +Dread of the evil-eye is as prevalent with the Jews as with the other +races in Turkey. They believe that there are certain malignant spirits +in existence who are envious of men's happiness and do all they can to +destroy it, especially when any self-praise or praise by others has been +expressed by the lips. This power, it is further believed, is not +restricted to demons, but is also shared by individuals, especially +those possessing blue eyes. Quite an elaborate series of antidotes or +prophylactics are adopted as a preservative against such influence, the +most potent of which is to prefix to each commendation the magic +spell-word _Mashalla_--_i.e._, "In the name of God." To this may be +added the power of the blue bead, the evil spirit having a great +predilection for that colour. Hence, if you praise a child for its +beauty, and it happens to wear blue beads, the spirit's attention will +be so absorbed with the bead that it will not hear your remarks. Another +preservative is garlic, which has a repellent effect on the evil spirit. + +As a consequence, everything in Turkey that has to be protected from the +evil-eye is decorated either with the one or the other, and you seldom +see a horse, a draught ox, or even a donkey, that has not a string of +blue beads about its neck. Children wear these charms on their caps; and +the prows of boats, the roofs of houses, cages of birds, and even hovels +have a bunch of garlic suspended with strings. It is even stated that +bouquets of flowers formed of spices, and in the centre of which garlic +is nestled, are sent as a present to the mother of a new-born infant, as +a safeguard both to herself and the child. + +Suspended along with the garlic on the gables of Turkish houses framed +texts from the Koran are often to be seen, and on the doorposts of +Hebrew houses a small tablet with the word _Shadai_ (the Almighty). +Jewish houses have also imprinted on the walls the impress of a man's +hand, with the five fingers outstretched. In Christian houses the +prophylactic takes the form of a cross, which frequently is nailed on +the eaves during the process of building. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GIPSIES--SUPERSTITIONS + + +A people resembling the Jews in that, like them, they are "found +scattered toward all the four winds of heaven, and there is no nation +whither these outcasts have not come," are the gipsies. They are to be +met with in every part of the Sultan's dominions, and in physical +appearance, manners, and character they are very similar to those in our +country. + +Moslems and Christians vie with each other in holding them in +execration, and they are branded by the former as the _Kitabsis_, or +"bookless" nation, because of the unwritten form of their beliefs and +worship. Yet the presence of gipsy-girls at weddings and other +ceremonies is much in demand, in order to amuse the guests with their +dancing and singing, to the accompaniment of the tambourine or the +flute. + +The men are frequently blacksmiths, or they rear horses and donkeys +(besides stealing them), and frequently earn something by the sale of +asses' milk, which is considered beneficial for chest complaints. The +she-ass is led early in the morning to the patient's door, and the +newly-drawn milk taken while quite warm and frothy. + +The children, of course, beg and steal, but the most fruitful occupation +of the women is that of fortune-telling, the usual methods employed +being the reading of the palm of the hand and cards. A little mirror +placed in the bottom of a small box is also consulted. + +But divination and fortune-telling is not limited to gipsies; tall +negro-women, with great rolling eyes, may be seen seated on the ground +in public squares, with groups of inquirers of both sexes around them. +They divine by means of beans or black pebbles (see illustration facing +Chapter VII.). + +There is another class of soothsayers who profess to recover lost +property, and see or show the face of the thief reflected in the water +of a deep well. A valuable ring was once lost in a house, and no clue or +evidence could be obtained as to the culprit, so the services of a +diviner were requisitioned. He arrived at night, bringing in a bag a red +cock, which he professed would crow the instant the guilty party touched +it. The inmates of the house were all ordered to squat in a circle on +the ground; the cock was placed in their midst, and all lights were +extinguished. "Now," said the diviner, "let everybody rest their hands +on the cock." They all apparently did so, and lights were called for, +and an exhibition of hands was demanded. A red stain was visible on +every hand except one--that of the guilty maid-servant, who had not +touched the cock for fear of being betrayed. + +Residents in Turkey have inherited many of the superstitions of the +Greeks and Romans, such as augury from the flight of birds, and the +entrails of newly-slaughtered animals, and faith in astrology. The +Sultan keeps a royal astrologer, who publishes yearly a list of the +lucky and unlucky days, and no one will think of undertaking a journey, +marrying a wife, or commencing business without consulting it. + +At the birth of a child a horoscope is made out for his benefit, +indicating under what constellation he was born, and laying down rules +accordingly for his guidance. + +On a certain day in March a peculiar kind of sweet, resembling and +tasting like spiced toffy, but coloured red and with a sheet of +gold-leaf stuck on it, is sent round to all palace officials. The +elegant bowl that contains it is fastened in bright muslin, and is tied +with coloured ribbons and sealed, and has to be opened and the contents +eaten at the specified moment indicated by the astrologer, in order to +secure wealth and felicity during the year. + +When troubled with dreams or otherwise apprehensive of impending +misfortune, Turks believe that by hanging shreds of rags on the railings +of the tomb of an old saint the danger may be averted. The consequence +is that some of these shrines are literally covered and disfigured with +rags. + +Dogs are also considered excellent subjects to which disease may be +transferred. The patient can effect this by feeding them. + +[Illustration: A FORTUNE-TELLER] + +A popular remedy for illness of any kind is to obtain from the _imam_, +or priest, a written text of the Koran and swallow it, and I have known +of doctors' prescriptions being taken the same way, and doubtless +with similar effect. + +Another superstition is that, if a person has had a fall, water poured +on the spot will prevent its repetition. + +A curious method for arresting the spread of infectious disease is to +surround the patient with a circle of some disinfectant, and during a +cholera scare I saw it applied to a man on the Galata bridge who had an +apoplectic stroke. The case was considered suspicious, and his body was +removed, but a circle of whitewash, like the markings of a tennis-court, +was drawn round the place where he had fallen, and the infection thus +imprisoned! + +Scraps of paper thrown in the street are held in reverence and removed +by pious Moslems, because the Name of God may be written on them and +profaned if trodden upon; but another version is that all scraps not +thus collected by the Moslem will be scattered over the burning soil +through which he is to pass, after death, on the way to Paradise, and +will make his passage more painful. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SYRIANS, DRUSES, MARONITES, AND BEDOUINS + + +An account of Palestine having been given in "Peeps at the Holy Land," I +will not allude specially to it, although it belongs to Turkey. Arabic +is the language also spoken in Syria, which lies north of Palestine, +and in Mesopotamia, which is to the east. + +Of the ancient towns of Tyre and Sidon, once famous as the capitals of +Phoenicia, nothing now remains but ruins on which fishermen dry their +nets. The inhabitants in the surrounding regions, however, still keep up +many of their ancient customs and superstitions, and, in a modified way, +Baal and Astarte are still worshipped. + +The slopes of the Lebanon adjoining Beyrout are inhabited by the Druses +and the Maronites, who, since the year 1860, have obtained +semi-independence, and are ruled by a Christian Governor appointed by +the Sultan. + +The Lebanon Ranges are very beautiful; they abound in aromatic flowers, +and bees yield an enormous production of excellent honey. They are also +the home of the cedar. + +As already stated, a railway, starting from Beyrout, crosses the Lebanon +and connects it with Damascus, one of the most ancient cities of the +world. Damascus is also one of the most beautiful, the plain on which it +stands being a continuous garden, over fifty miles in circuit, rich in +oranges, lemons, pomegranates, mulberries, figs, plums, apricots, +walnuts, pears, quinces, etc. The town, through which flows a river, +contains several magnificent structures, including a splendid mosque, +which was once a Christian church, but the streets of the city are +squalid and dirty. One of the most interesting is that called Straight, +which St. Paul traversed. + +Damascus has a large manufacturing industry, and among other articles +produces beautiful silks. It formerly produced those remarkable Damascus +swords, inimitable for hardness, elasticity, sharpness, and tenacity, as +well as for the beauty of their ornamentation. It gives its name to the +plums which we call "damsons." + +Damascus is a great centre for the conveyance of merchandise to Bagdad +and Persia by means of camel caravans--those fleets of the desert. They +are accompanied by armed escorts, as their journey lies through a long +stretch of desert, inhabited by numerous Bedouins or Arab tribes, ever +ready to blackmail the caravan. + +These tribes inhabit the Hauran during the spring, and move to the +desert in autumn. They own camels, asses, and sheep, and rear +magnificent horses, which are justly considered the most beautiful in +the world. + +The Bedouins live in tents made of black goat's-hair, and their camp +looks from a distance like a number of grazing cattle. The tent of their +_sheik_, or chief, is distinguished by its greater size, and round it +are those of the members of the family. Before the tent-doors the horses +are tethered. + +Family life among them is patriarchal, the sheik being priest, judge, +and ruler. With some tribes women occupy a high social position, and +menial work is done mostly by the men. + +The Arabs subsist chiefly on dates, which they gather and store in +October, but when in the desert they live to some extent on the produce +of the chase, which comprises an abundance of gazelles, hares, and +quails. + +These they hunt with greyhounds or with trained hawks. The latter, when +they see their quarry, swoop upon it, and pick at its eyes until the +hunter arrives. + +The Bedouins live also on bread, which they bake in thin flat cakes, and +on milk, specially in its fermented condition, which they call _leben_. +Their butter they have to keep in summer in jars, as, owing to the heat, +it is then as liquid as oil. + +The great province of Mesopotamia, where formerly stood Babylon and +Nineveh, forms the south-eastern limit of the Turkish Empire. Watered by +the Euphrates and the Tigris, it was once a magnificent agricultural +district, but the incompetency of its rulers has allowed the network of +canals, which distributed the waters of these rivers, to dry up, and the +country is now largely a wilderness. + +Its population, the remnant of the Chaldeans, has also decreased, and is +poor. The houses are made with sun-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen. +The roofs are flat, and the lower rooms are underground, and are used +during the summer months as bedrooms, owing to the excessive heat. + +The navigation of the upper reaches of the Euphrates is by means of +rafts, underneath which are inflated skins of oxen. On this raft the +traveller's tent is pitched, and he drifts leisurely down the river, +while the boatmen help it along with long poles. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TURKS + + +Having summarized the customs of some of the people under Ottoman rule, +I must say something of the Turks themselves. + +When a Turkish baby comes to this world no dainty embroidered linen and +warm bath await it, but it is dressed in a plain cotton shirt and a +cotton, quilted dressing-gown. Its limbs are then tightly wrapped in a +long shroud, so that it cannot move them. Frequently a cushion is put +between its legs before shrouding, and this probably accounts for so +many children being bandy-legged. The child is then rolled into a +quilted blanket, which is strapped up into a shapeless bundle, from +which a little head appears, wearing a red cap, copiously studded with +blue beads and seed pearls, as a protection from the evil-eye. The baby +is then laid in a wooden rocking-cradle, which has a bar connecting its +two raised ends, by means of which the cradle is lifted. Some of these +cradles are very beautiful, and are inlaid with ivory and +mother-of-pearl, and they bear appropriate inscriptions, carved in +Arabic characters on the woodwork, such as "Under the Shadow of the +Almighty," etc. + +Among poorer people a canvas hammock takes the place of the cradle, and +in it the baby is carried out of doors, and the hammock swung between +two trees, while the mother attends to her duties. + +On the third day after birth it is washed and presented to its father, +who shouts thrice in its ear the name by which it is to be known. + +A festive reception is then held by the mother in her room, and streams +of women-visitors come to compliment her and peep at the infant. But the +poor little thing does not receive the baby-worship and adulation +bestowed in this country. On the contrary, it is addressed in insulting +language, and called ugly, and a wretch, and a monster, and is +deliberately spat upon--and all this in order to ward off the influence +of the evil-eye. + +It is quite exceptional for a babe to be brought up in the East on the +bottle; should its mother be unable to nurse it a wet-nurse is procured. + +Both mothers and nurses are singularly ignorant in the question of +upbringing, and many an infant dies through injudicious feeding after it +is weaned. + +The love of Turkish parents for their children is excessive to a fault. +A characteristic story is related of a Turk who was so distressed at the +indisposition of his grandchild that he would neglect his business and +hasten constantly to the patient's room to inquire as to his condition; +and when the doctor ordered strict diet for a fortnight the anxious +grandfather compelled his whole household, including himself, to submit +to the same fare, for fear that the patient might be disappointed in not +sharing the food of the family. + +To such extent do Turks carry their love for children that they will +adopt those of others, and bring them up with the same tenderness as +their own, and will provide for them in after-life. + +Children, on the other hand, are exemplary in their respect for their +parents, and kiss their hands, and will not sit down, unless invited, in +their presence. Even when they have reached mature age their mother is +consulted, confided in, and listened to with respect. "My wives die," +says the Osmanlee, "and I replace them; my children perish, and others +are born to me; but who shall restore to me the mother who has passed +away?" + +Nor is this regard limited to the humbler classes; it is conspicuous in +the case of the Sultan, who, on his accession to the throne, elevates +his mother to the rank of Valide Sultana, or Queen-Mother, and requires +all persons belonging to his harem to swear allegiance to her. Her rule +is absolute, and even the Sultan's wives cannot leave their apartments, +or go out for drives, or shopping, without her permission. + +The early childhood of both boys and girls among Turks is spent in the +harem--that is, the section of the house reserved for the women--but +until the age of twelve, girls are not subject to the restraints of +grown-up women, nor required to wear the veil, and they often accompany +their fathers in excursions or join the boys in their play. They even +attend the same elementary school, and, sitting cross-legged with them +on a mat, repeat the alphabet, or recite texts from the Koran given out +to them by the _imam_, or priest, of the mosque with which the school is +connected. These recitations are carried on in a monotonous drawling +tone, and the body is swung forwards and backwards, the _imam_ himself +setting the time by his own rhythmical nodding. + +On their return home they frequently join their mothers and other +inmates of the harem in an afternoon's stroll. The Turks are great +lovers of Nature, and have a keen appreciation of the beautiful, but +prefer sitting down to walking, and generally spend their afternoons +resting under the shade of a great tree, or near the water's edge, +making _kef_, or, in other words, doing nothing. + +They invariably carry with them a _boktcha_, or bundle, containing a rug +and picnic requisites, while one of the party carries a red clay +pitcher, with water. Water is an indispensable requisite with Turks, and +they will enjoy drinking it from the pitcher as much as from a glass. + +[Illustration: A TURKISH LADY IN OUTDOOR DRESS.] + +The rug spread out, the party will all sit cross-legged upon it, and as +other groups of women also congregate in the same place, dressed in +garments of variegated colours, you would imagine yourself amid beds +of many-coloured tulips, while the boys and girls playing around suggest +fluttering butterflies. + +The enjoyment of the women consists in smoking cigarettes, and gazing +between each puff at the glorious scenery. Vendors of all sorts of +eatables surround them, and, we will say, a _shekerdgi_, or dealer in +sweeties, answers to their call, and places his circular tray, which he +carries on his head, on the tripod-stand which he rests on the ground. +The children flock around him, puzzled what to choose in that array of +Turkish delight and _shekers_ of every kind and colour. At last a choice +is made, and the sweets are placed in a brown-paper bag shaped like a +cone, and shared by the party. Shortly afterwards an Albanian selling +_halva_ as described in Chapter II., is called to contribute his wares. +Then walnuts, pistachios, and peanuts come in for their turn, then ices, +maybe, and something more solid in the shape of _simits_, or ring-cakes, +as shown in the illustration in Chapter II. At sunset the _boktchas_ are +made up, and the party wends its way home to partake of a more +substantial meal. + +But should the night be bright, with moonlight, the party often start +out again, and prolong their enjoyment until late hours, or until a +policeman or old Turk passing by reminds them it is time to retire. It +is amusing, in connection with these moonlight promenades, to see the +women walking about or sitting with open sunshades to protect +themselves from the lunar rays, imagining, no doubt, that they occasion +lunacy. + +Sometimes a too close proximity to the Bosphorus is selected for +spreading the family rug, and an unusually large wash from a steamer +passing by breaks unexpectedly on the shore, showering clouds of spray +over the women's heads. The cold douche sets them all on their feet, +screaming, and the bed of tulips now looks like one dashed by a storm. + +But sometimes the ladies are more enterprising; a picnic to some distant +part is decided upon, and _arabas_, or carts, drawn by oxen or +buffaloes, are engaged. These conveyances are springless, and about 9 +feet long by 4 feet wide. Those intended for excursion purposes have +highly ornamented boards of carved, gilt, and painted wood on the two +long sides, and an arched awning overhead, made usually of crimson +cloth, with gilt or silver fringes. + +The yoke attached to the oxen's necks has also an arched projection over +it, on which tassels of various colours, and sometimes bells, are +suspended in two or more tiers. + +The driver, in baggy trousers, short jacket (often dispensed with), and +a red fez, walks leisurely alongside the oxen, with a goad in his hand +to direct them. + +The cart has no seats, but the occupants provide themselves with carpets +and cushions. The jolting on bad roads is, of course, tremendous, but +this is considered part of the fun of the excursion. + +Packed as closely as possible, with the children to fill up odd corners, +the cart proceeds on its way groaning and creaking, while its inmates +roar with continued laughter, especially when an unusually big jolt has +jostled them together. + +Having arrived at their destination, the carpets are spread out, and +while some prepare and lay out the appetizing viands, others disport +themselves in the fields, and return laden with flowers and with great +yellow marigolds stuck in their hair. + +The repast may consist of such _hors-d'oeuvres_ as salted sardines, +black olives, caviar, and salad of _tchiros_, or dried mackerel. This +mackerel is the fish that in spring-time migrates from the +Mediterranean, where it has spawned, into the Black Sea, and is in such +an emaciated condition that the expression "thin as a _tchiros_" is used +in Turkey to designate a person of extreme leanness. Nevertheless, it is +caught and dried in the sun in such large quantities that the fields +over which they are suspended look blue from a distance. They are sold +by the pair, or "married couples," as the vendors cry out, and are +grilled, shredded, and prepared into salad with oil and vinegar, and the +tender leaves of the cummin (_tereot_). + +Next to the _hors-d'oeuvres_ follow _dolmaz_ or rissoles of rice, +raisins, and pine-nuts, seasoned with oil, and wrapped and boiled in +vine-leaves. _Keftez_ or meat rissoles come next, and then the fruits of +the season, such as strawberries, cherries, and plums, or, should it be +autumn, grapes, peaches, melons, water-melons, figs, etc. Cheese is +frequently eaten with these fruits. _Hoshaf_, or the sweetened water in +which fruit has been stewed, is generally drunk during meals, and when +the humble repast is over, coffee is prepared, and served round in +little cups which will barely hold an ounce. + +Turkish coffee owes its excellence to the beans being newly roasted and +newly ground. The grinding is done with a small machine, which +pulverizes the beans very finely. The coffee is prepared in a special +brass pot, the bottom of which is wider than the top. A teaspoonful is +put in for every cup required, and the water is gently brought to a +simmer over a slow fire. The coffee is allowed to rise thrice, and after +resting the pot for a minute for the grounds to settle, it is poured out +into the cups and drunk while quite hot, with or without sugar. The cups +containing a creamy foam are the most recherche. The dregs are not +drunk. The illustration on the cover of this book shows a Kafedji in the +act of preparing coffee. + +Before and after partaking of food, hands are washed, and this is all +the more necessary, as meals are eaten with the fingers, the party +sitting round a low tray, and dipping into a common dish. Should the +hostess desire to confer a special attention on a guest, she takes up a +dainty morsel in her fingers, and exclaiming _Buyrum_ (Welcome), places +it gently into the guest's mouth. It would be the grossest insult to +refuse. Cigarettes invariably follow, and then comes the lounging and +the sleeping, and the return home with the lingering rays of the setting +sun. + +Accompanying the _Arabas_ large parties of Turkish women and children +may often be seen riding astride on donkeys, with donkey-drivers at +their heels. No Oriental or Turkish lady would think of riding +otherwise, and it is reported that quite a sensation was created when a +European lady was first seen riding on a side-saddle. The conclusion was +that the unfortunate creature had lost a leg, and people wondered how +she could keep on with only the other. + +But perhaps the pleasantest method of locomotion is by _caik_--that +daintiest of all boats that float on the surface of the waters. Slender +and tapering, its side view may be compared to a half-bent long-bow, and +when looked upon from above to two such bows lying opposite each other, +string to string. A picture of a heavy sort of _caik_, used for ferrying +passengers across the Golden Horn, may be seen in the frontispiece. A +_caik_ is about 20 feet long by 4 feet broad in the middle; it is +constructed with slender boards, and is only decked at the bows and the +stern. The boatman sits on a seat in the middle of the boat, and its two +to four passengers on cushions in the bottom, while a servant sits +cross-legged on the raised stern. The oars are long and slender, with a +peculiar bulge at the upper extremity to balance them. They are fixed to +the rowlock peg by leather thongs, which the boatman continually +greases. He is clad in a shirt of transparent gauze, with long hanging +sleeves, and bordered round the open chest with a scalloping of +needlework. His feet are bare, his ample trousers are of white cotton, +and his shaven head is only partially covered by a red fez with tassels +of purple silk. At each stroke of the oars the arrowy boat flies and +skims the waters like a thing of life. Yet, though swift and graceful, +the _caik_ is not so safe nor commodious as an ordinary boat, and in +this practical age the _barka_ is rapidly replacing it. + +Friday, the Turkish Sunday, is _par excellence_ the day for excursions +during the summer to Geuk-sou or the Heavenly Waters, a lovely spot on +the Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus. A rivulet there discharges itself +into the latter, and hundreds of boats may be seen shooting towards it +from all directions. A vast concourse of people meet and sit on rugs or +low stools, making _kef_ under the shade of superb Oriental plane-trees +which abound on that spot, and while sipping coffee or smoking +hubble-bubbles, they watch the various performances going on for their +benefit. Here is a Punch and Judy show, called _cara-geuz_, or the black +eye, closely resembling our own, and equally popular with the children. +There goes a _Pomak_ with a huge Olympian bear, fastened through the +nose with a ring; it has been trained to dance at the sound of a +tambourine played by its master, and then to go round with it for +coppers. Children are always delighted with the bear-show, but the +street-dogs set up a tremendous barking, and their cry of alarm is so +peculiar and distinctive that one can always tell from the sound when a +bear is in sight. + +There is frequently also on these occasions an open-air theatrical +performance on an improvised stage, but the acting is coarse and vulgar, +and admission is generally limited to men. + +Of course at this, as at every open-air gathering, vendors of eatables +and temperance drinks abound. + +Among them I may enumerate _yiaourtgis_ or sellers of that curdled milk, +resembling curds, which is now so largely advocated in this country for +promoting longevity. It is sold in little bowls, carried in two wooden +trays, which are suspended like a pair of scales on either side of a +yoke thrown over the shoulders. _Dondulmagis_ or ice-cream vendors, who +also carry their burden over the shoulders, one side containing the +ice-cream box wrapped in folds and folds of snow-white sheeting, and the +other a polished brass receptacle for spoons, cups, and saucers, and +water to wash them after use. + +A brazier with live coal may also be seen, on which heads of Indian corn +are roasted, and greedily munched by the purchasers. _Hoshaf_ and +_sherbet_, or syrup vendors, are also there, with a stand for bottles +and glasses, and an ingenious contrivance for revolving, by means of +dropping water, a small wheel or paddle, the flaps of which strike +against a glass and produce a merry jingling sound which draws +attention. + +The charm of this concourse of people is the primitive orderly enjoyment +of outdoor life, without the disgraceful accompaniments of drunkenness. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FAITH OF ISLAM + + +A peep at Turkey cannot be complete without a passing reference to the +religious beliefs of its people, but space will only allow me to mention +those of Mahomedans. + +Broadly speaking, without counting Arabia, there are 13,000,000 +Mahomedans or Moslems, as they are also called; 12,000,000 Christians; +and 1,000,000 Jews and members of other persuasions. In Asiatic Turkey, +Mahomedans form the majority, but only the minority in European Turkey. + +Moslems are the followers of Mahomet, who was born in Mecca, Arabia, in +the year 569 of our era, and declared himself to be the Prophet of God, +sent to introduce a fuller revelation of Him, which was to supersede +Judaism and Christianity. + +The Koran, which was the great book of his faith, was declared to have +been revealed to him by the Archangel Gabriel. The Koran claims to be +the completion of the Law and the Gospel, and it proclaims Mahomet to be +the last and greatest of the line of prophets, among whom is included +Jesus Christ, but whose divinity is denied. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AHMED I.] + +The new faith, which received the name of Islam, implying submission to +God, was a protest against the heathenish practices of his countrymen in +Arabia, and the worship of the Saints and the Virgin Mary among the +Christians. The corner-stone was the unity of God, and its leading dogma +was expressed in the formula, "_La illah il Allah_" ("There is no God +but God"), to which was added, "_Mohamet Resoul Allah_" ("Mahomet is the +Prophet of God"). + +In addition to the unity of God, Moslems believe in the existence of +good and evil spirits, in the efficacy of prayer, and in a future life +with its rewards or punishments. + +Prayer with them is homage which the worshippers are required to offer +five times a day, according to a fixed ritual, with prescribed +genuflections, prostrations, and touching of the ground with the +forehead. + +When the hour of prayer arrives they will suspend their occupations, +spread a rug facing Mecca, and pray wherever they happen to be, shaming +Christians by their disregard of ridicule. + +The summons to pray or to attend the mosque is made by the _muezzim_ or +crier, who ascends the minaret or tower, attached to the mosque (see +frontispiece), and from its balcony proclaims the Unity of God, and +invites believers to prayer, as follows: "Come to prayers, come to +prayers. God is great. There is no God but God." To which, at dawn of +day, the exhortation is added: "Prayer is better than sleep, prayer is +better than sleep." + +Before prayer Turks wash their hands, feet, and faces, and remove the +shoes from off their feet. Lines of fountains are found outside the +mosques for these ablutions. The head of the worshipper remains covered. + +Among the observances enjoined upon Moslems are those of charity, +fasting, and pilgrimage. + +They are bidden to lay aside one-tenth of their income for religious or +charitable purposes. Their fasting takes place during the holy month of +Ramazan, and lasts from morning twilight to sunset. Abstinence from +food, drink, and smoking must be total. At sunset a gun announces that +the day is over, and feasting commences and lasts all night. The day is +thus transformed to night, and the night to day. + +The pilgrimage enjoined is to Mecca, and has to be performed by every +Moslem at least once in his lifetime, either in person or by proxy. He +then acquires the title of _Hadji_, or Pilgrim, which he prefixes to his +name. The shrine or temple visited at Mecca is called the _Caaba_, and +tradition records that it was there Hagar discovered the well Zem Zem, +which saved Ishmael's life, and that the latter, assisted by Abraham, +built a tabernacle. An angel brought the corner-stone, which all +pilgrims go and kiss. It was originally of crystalline whiteness, but is +now coal-black, owing to its absorption of the sins of worshipping +pilgrims. On the Day of Judgment it will testify in favour of those who +kissed it, whether men or women. + +The first mosque was built by Mahomet in Medina, and was of a very +simple structure. But as his successors grew wealthier and more +powerful, they vied with one another in the magnificence of the +buildings erected for God's worship. They were more or less on the model +of the Greek churches around them, lofty, and surmounted with a circular +dome imitating the canopy of the sky. The dome is covered with lead and +on the spike that crowns it is a gilt crescent. The apex of each minaret +is also covered with lead and tipped with gold. The dome and the +minarets standing side by side remind one of the umbrella pine-tree and +the cypress--so characteristic of an Eastern landscape. + +The interior of a mosque is a mixture of simplicity and grandeur. The +dome is supported by columns, which, in the case of the mosque of Sultan +Achmet, represented in the illustration facing this chapter, are inlaid +with coloured tiles, and decorated with verses from the Koran. The +sunlight streams in from the numerous windows encircling the dome, or +from those on the walls of the mosque, many of which are of beautiful +stained glass, but without figures of any kind, as Moslems consider this +would be breaking the commandment relating to images. + +All mosques point toward Mecca, and at the Mecca end stands a _mihrab_, +or niche, from which the _imam_ conducts the devotions. Beside it, +supported by pillars, is a terrace for the choir, which consists +entirely of men. They chant, seated cross-legged on rugs. South of the +_mihrab_ is the _minber_, or pulpit, from which prayers and addresses +are delivered on Fridays. The pulpit in Sultan Achmet's mosque (see +illustration) is a masterpiece in marble, and a copy of that in Mecca. +Stands for Korans, shaped like the letter X, and inlaid with +tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl, are placed about the building for +public reading, and from the roof hang chandeliers on which are attached +numerous lamps fed with olive oil. Interspersed among the lamps are +ostrich-eggs and glass-ball ornaments. + +Mosques are not seated, but mats and carpets are laid on the stone floor +for the use of the faithful. "The luxurious inhabitant of the East, who +in his _selamlik_ is wont to recline on cushions, does not pass into the +House of God to tenant a crimson-lined and well-padded pew; he takes his +place among the crowd--the _effendi_ stands beside the water-carrier, +the _bey_ near the charcoal-vendor--he is but one item among many; he +arrogates to himself no honour in the temple where all men are as one +family." + +There is a mistaken idea that Moslems consider that women have no souls, +and need not perform devotions. The Koran is explicit to the contrary. +They may not worship in the mosques with the men, but groups of them are +met, worshipping apart, and during the Ramazan special services are held +for women. + +Among the various Orders of Dervishes, or Moslem Monks, are those of the +Ruffai Order, or Howlers, illustrated in Chapter XI. They are the most +fanatical, and meet in a rectangular building to perform their +devotions, the idea being to produce such an ecstasy of the soul as will +separate it from the body and enable it to contemplate God. + +Their sheik, or chief, takes his seat on a carpet, while his followers +sit in front of him and repeat passages from the Koran. They then stand +and repeat their formula of faith, "_La illah_," etc., bending forward +and backward at each syllable. This recital, which is at first slow, +becomes more and more rapid, until you can only distinguish the +syllables _il_ and _lah_. The sheik then stamps his foot, and the +Dervishes, growing frantic, quicken their swinging motion, shouting +_lah_, and interposing every now and then the exclamation _Hu yia hu_, +implying "He, O He" (is God). The ninety-nine names or attributes of God +are then recited, while the sheik counts the ninety-nine beads of his +chaplet. + +When the last bead is reached their fury knows no bounds, and, holding +each other's hands in a circle, they swing forwards and backwards until +they foam at the mouth, and, falling exhausted to the ground, lie in an +apparent trance. This they claim to be spiritual ecstasy! + +Another sect, the Mevlevis, find this ecstasy in whirling until they +sink exhausted. The third Order the Bektashis, who are the most +tolerant, maintain that the contemplation of God can be best attained by +their carrying out their motto, "Keep thy tongue, thy hand, and thy +heart," and by the observance of His precepts. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +GAMES + + +The Turk is too indolent by nature to care for any sports requiring +physical exertion, and he would rather be a spectator than take an +active part in them. There is, besides, a feeling among those that have +reached the age of manhood, especially if they are holding some +Government office, that their dignity would be lowered if they were seen +engaged at play. + +A very interesting and pretty sport is the _djirat_. Two companies of +horsemen, armed with muffled lances, or in some places the stalks of +palm-leaves, give each other chase. The pursuers hurl their missiles +when at full speed, and those assailed endeavour to avoid the stroke or +to capture the weapon. + +Watching ram-fights is a favourite recreation, and crowds gather round +the village green to witness these huge creatures, with their long +crumpled horns, dashing at each other at full speed. Their heads strike +with a resounding thud, and you expect that a skull or two will be +broken, but no, it is only fun, and the rams caper gracefully back, to +return again to the charge. + +Cock-fights are likewise in repute, and in Cyprus a spur is grafted on +to the crest of the bird, giving it the appearance of a sort of winged +unicorn. + +Professional wrestling is much enjoyed. The two contending parties or +_pehlivans_, as they are called, are frequently a negro and a white man; +their attire is nothing but a leather pair of drawers. Their bodies are +smeared over and made slippery with abundance of olive-oil. The struggle +commences by their measuring distances and touching each other's +shoulders; then they manoeuvre about and dodge each other, and finally +come to grips, until the stronger forces his opponent to the ground. +Turkish wrestlers are so celebrated that they often find their way to +this country. + +Another entertainment is the "Shadow Pantomime." This performance +consists in throwing shadows of little cardboard figures against a +curtain, on the other side of which the spectators are seated. The +exhibitors, carefully hidden from sight, work their marionettes with +strings and wires, and are clever in making them move and bow, strike +each other, and perform all sorts of feats and somersaults, while a +ventriloquist makes them carry on the most animated conversation. + +Horse-racing is seldom indulged in in Turkey, except among European +residents. An effort made several years ago to introduce racing failed, +because, it is alleged, foreign jockeys dared to allow their horses to +beat the Sultan's stud. Occasionally, however, Turks get up children's +races; they strap the youngsters to the saddle, give them the reins, and +speed the horses off with a tremendous swipe. + +Fox-hunting is not only unheard of, but is prohibited as cruel, and a +Spanish bull-fight was attempted last year for the first time, only on +the understanding that no blood would be shed. + +Football has recently come somewhat into fashion, but it is only +occasionally that the real game is played. Departure from rule is +preferred to its observance, and often the game consists of mere kicking +of the ball from one to another. This is done with great swagger and +conceit, but without any of the true sporting dash. + +Tennis is played to some extent, and bicycling is fairly popular, but +principally because it allows the rider to show off. + +There are some keen sportsmen among the Turks; and hunting the wild boar +offers lively sport coupled with a zest of danger, as these savage +animals, if not killed outright, often turn and rip their assailants +with their powerful tusks. + +The "gentle art" of fishing is largely indulged in as a recreation, and +the Bosphorus yields excellent sport. The favourite fishing there is +that of the _lufer_, which weighs from 1 to 3 pounds, and is caught by +night, with bright lamps throwing down a beam of light from the boat +into the water. A peculiar hook, soldered to a sinker, which is +brightened with mercury, is used. Gourmet fishers often take a brazier, +with live coals, in the boat, and grill and eat the fish as soon as +it is secured. + +[Illustration: A HOWLING DERVISH.] + +Chess--that most antiquated of games--is known under the name of +_satrach_, and differs somewhat from our own, but is as highly +scientific. However sceptical we may be about the story in the "Arabian +Nights" of the monkey which played chess with a Grand Vizier, I can +vouch for the accuracy of one regarding an Armenian banker who played it +with Sultan Aziz. The stakes were properties belonging to the Crown, and +so successful was the banker that, finally, his landed possessions +extended from the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. + +Backgammon is a favourite game; draughts differs slightly from our own, +and there is a peculiar form of it played with pebbles, on a checkered +board traced on a stone. + +Cards are played to some extent, but as gambling and games of chance are +forbidden by the Koran, cards are looked upon with suspicion, and their +use discouraged. So also is betting, which ensnares young and old in our +own country. + +Among games for boys I may mention top-spinning. Turkish tops are made +from hard wood, turned in a lathe, and painted with bands of various +colours. They are spun with the thumb and the finger, or with a string, +and then kept in motion with a whip and cord. A point in the game is to +direct the top so that it should bump against the opponent's, and topple +it over. + +Kite-flying is popular, and in early spring hundreds of kites may be +seen flying from the terraces over the house-tops. They are shaped like +our own, and are made with bright-coloured paper, with long tails of +paper strips. Little splints of wood or cane are attached to the tail +for the purpose of entangling and capturing other kites. This is done by +manoeuvring them about, letting them drop momentarily or rise +suddenly, so as to swoop over their adversary and capture it. When these +air-ships have boarded, both the fliers pull in the string as rapidly as +possible, and it sometimes happens that the vanquished kite is after all +the victor. + +Hop-scotch is as ancient as the hills, and is played in Turkey in much +the same way as with us. So also are marbles and tip-cat, with the same +risks, in the case of tip-cat, to the eyes of beholders as in this +country. + +Walnuts enter largely into the composition of boys' games. One of these +consists in rolling them down a sloping board, each boy playing in turn. +The person who hits any of the nuts on the floor appropriates all he can +gather. The game goes on, each player retiring when his stock of walnuts +is exhausted. Another game is that of placing the walnuts in a ring, and +throwing (not rolling) other nuts at them from a distance. All displaced +walnuts belong to the displacer. + +Knifey, or _bitchak_, as it is called in Turkey, is popular among girls +as well as boys. They sit in a circle on the village green, and, placing +an open pocket-knife on the back of their hand, throw it up in the air +so that it shall on descending stick in the ground. Knuckle-bones is +allied to the above, and is played with five bones, as with us, and with +much the same variations. + +_Pendavola_, or five pebbles, is the Greek name of knuckle-bones, when +played with stones instead of bones. Both the above games date back to +remote antiquity, and exist in some form with every nation. + +A practice indulged in by boys and young men is that of bird-catching by +means of nets, snares, or bird-lime twigs. + +In autumn, when Nature shows the first hectic flushes of decay, and +birds know that winter will soon be upon them, innumerable flocks +traverse the regions around Constantinople on their way south. Quails +arrive by scores of thousands, and, exhausted with their flight over the +Black Sea, they alight near the mouth of the Bosphorus, and are easily +caught in nets, and served on the tables of even the poorest +inhabitants. + +Smaller birds also, such as bullfinches, goldfinches, and other finches, +linnets and the like, are on the wing, and to secure them bird-lime +twigs are placed on an isolated tree, or one improvised for the +occasion, and a booth is constructed near it, in which boys hide and +watch unobserved. Some half-dozen birds of various kinds are tied by the +leg to a long string, one end of which is held by the occupants of the +booth, and when a flock of birds is seen in the air these decoys are +made to rise. Their chirping attracts the attention of the birds +overhead, and, alighting on the tree, the great majority are glued to +the twigs. The best are put in cages and sold as song-birds; the +remainder are killed, and strung with twine through their bills, they +are sold for food. Roasted and mixed with _pillaf_, the national rice +dish, they are most savoury. + +In contrast to this inhospitable reception of Nature's winged songsters +while travelling through the land, it it pleasant to visit the +bird-market, and there see venerable Turks opening their purses and +buying as many of these captives as they can afford. They then throw +open the prison-doors, and as the birds fly skyward with chirps of +delight, the faces of the liberators grow radiant with satisfaction. + +My list of games and sports is by no means exhausted, but I must close +it by referring to stone-throwing, which, although not exactly a game, +is in universal practice among boys, and even girls. To such an extent +is it carried that dogs attacking you will often disregard a stick, but, +remembering their sad experiences with stones, will take to their heels +when you stoop to pick up one. + +The writer himself still carries a lively impression of a fight carried +on with these missiles. The scene of this skirmish, which took place +when he was a boy, was near the seashore of a village on the Bosphorus, +where he and one or two English boys met a squad of Turkish children. +The latter took refuge behind a row of Turkish houses, and stones were +thrown by both parties over the roofs. They fell fast and thick from the +unseen foe, until at last one, doubtless thrown "at a venture," hit the +writer on the head, and made the impression already referred to. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DOGS + + +Everybody has heard of Turkish dogs, and I am sure you will consider +this book incomplete if I pass them over in silence. + +Their origin is shrouded in mystery, but naturalists would probably find +them allied to the wolf and the jackal. + +Tradition, however, has it that they originated in Tartary, and followed +the Mongolians and Turks across the steppes, gorging themselves on the +carnage of a thousand battle-fields, and finally settling down with the +conquerors. + +How much truth there is in this gruesome legend it is impossible to say, +but the fact remains that wherever the Turk is found, there, too, the +ubiquitous _kiopek_, or _skilo_, is seen. Nor does it seem to exist +north of Vienna--that outermost ring of Turkish invasion. Dogs, very +like _skilos_, are to be met in Hungary; you have no doubt of their +existence when you cross the Danube into Servia; they are numerous in +Bulgaria, and you fall into the thick of them when you reach +Constantinople, where until recently they were supposed to number +80,000. + +In size and appearance they resemble the short-haired Scotch collie, but +without the sharpness of nose, and their ears are shorter. With all the +instincts of the nomad--unkempt, unkept, and owning no master--their +home is the street, where they are born and die, a boon and a bane to +mankind. They are the former because they are the scavengers--sometimes +the only scavengers--that clean the streets of the refuse thrown into +them, and which would otherwise putrefy and breed disease. They are the +latter because they collect at night over refuse-heaps, and fight, bark, +and yell over the disputed possession of coveted morsels. Their noise +disturbs your slumbers and irritates your nerves. Then, lying as they do +in the street, you might in the darkness stumble against one, and +experience in return something hard and sharp, which would send you +howling in your turn. + +But _skilos_ do not thrive on refuse alone; they hang about butchers' +shops, and are plentiful near the Sultan's palace-kitchens and soldiers' +barracks, where remains of food are dispensed to them. At the Ministry +of War, in Stamboul, a special man is employed to give them fragments of +the soldiers' bread. These he carries in a capacious hamper on his back, +and, holding a thick stick in his hand, he proceeds to the public +square, where hundreds of dogs await and surround him. His first action +is to clear a wide circle with his stick around him, and then he +suddenly empties the contents of his hamper. A rush and charge of +_skilos_ follows. They tumble over one another in that hissing sea of +dogs, but do not seem to mind, provided they can seize a fragment of +bread and bolt away. There is strategy, however, even in dogdom, and +some, more cunning and fleet-footed than others, do not join in the +scrimmage, but quietly await the result at some point of vantage, and, +spotting any dog that retires laden with spoil, pursue it, and snatch +away its prize. + +Yet, with all their habits of the tramp, they seem imbued with a sense +of order, and come to an agreement among themselves as to what streets +groups of them are to occupy. Woe to the dog that dares to overstep the +assigned boundaries. On one condition alone is he allowed to cross +through another district--that of lowering his flag--_i.e._, that he +puts his tail under his legs, keeps his head submissively low, and walks +in the middle of the street, while all the dogs of the quarter rend the +air with their barking. + +You must not conclude from what precedes that _skilos_ are devoid of +finer feelings and even chivalry. The following incident, related by a +friend, regarding one with which I was acquainted, proves the contrary. +When a pup, Carabash (black head), as he was called, was picked up in +the street, and coddled in a comfortable home. On growing up, he was +provided with a kennel in the garden. One frosty morning, when the snow +was lying thick on the ground, Carabash was discovered sleeping outside +the kennel, which he had surrendered to an emaciated bitch. The intruder +was driven away, but next morning was again found in occupancy, and was +gruffly expelled. Carabash seemed vexed, and refused to eat his food. On +the third morning the strange dog was again found in the kennel, and was +this time thrashed out of the premises. She went, like Eve from +Paradise, but her Adam followed, took up his residence with her under +the shelter of an old tombstone in the Turkish Cemetery, and never again +returned to his comfortable home. Their descendants live in the cemetery +to this day. + +Such romantic incidents would doubtless have met with recognition on +behalf of the whole race of dogs in the days of Haroun-al-Raschid, or +other heroes of the "Arabian Nights," but the Young Turkey party of +to-day are not to be moved by such considerations. They are practical +men, and, desiring to cleanse the streets of Constantinople of a +recognized nuisance, they decreed the extermination of _skilos_. But, +taking into consideration the Moslem abhorrence of taking away animal +life, a curious compromise was made. They were to be banished to a large +enclosure at the city walls. A special forceps was invented for the +purpose of trapping them, and at dead of night municipal officers +gripped the sleeping dogs by the neck or the body, and pitched them into +a cart, which conveyed them to their so-called "hotel." Terrible fights +occurred there between dogs already in residency and new arrivals, but +it frequently happened that kind-hearted Turks waylaid the carts and +liberated the captives. + +Within their enclosure the dogs were fed and received water at the +expense of the State, a grant of L5,000 a year having been voted in +Parliament for their maintenance; but soon the space allotted them +proved inadequate, and their cries and smells became so horrible that it +was decided to move them to another locality. + +A little uninhabited island, called Oxya, about fifteen miles from the +city, was selected for the purpose, and 30,000 were transported to it. +But the island had no water, and the supply of bread was difficult and +irregular, and the result was that six months after their transportation +only one solitary dog, of which I have the photograph, survived to tell +the tale. + +Discouraged by their want of success, Government has, I understand, now +given up the attempt to exterminate the _skilos_, and any of my readers +who happen to visit Constantinople will probably have the pleasure of +forming their acquaintance. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE GALATA BRIDGE AND THE BAZAARS + + +An attempt has been made in these pages to conduct the reader over the +domains of the Sultan of Turkey, and to introduce him to some of his +subjects, but there is perhaps no better place in the world for getting +a panoramic view of the various races depicted than on the bridge which +spans the Golden Horn, and joins Stamboul with the Galata quarter of +Constantinople (see frontispiece). Nor can you find the various products +of the Empire exhibited within a more suitable compass than in the +bazaars of Stamboul. + +It is computed that no less than twenty million persons pass over the +bridge in the course of a year--_i.e._, about 50,000 daily. The races +there represented are too numerous to mention. Each wears its +distinctive dress, and foot and head gear, and the contrast of design +and colour is wonderful, and not limited to women, as in a European +crowd. Here comes an Albanian in white petticoats and crimson sash +bristling with pistols; there goes an Embassy _cavass_ resplendent in +scarlet; there is an _Ulema_, or high ecclesiastic, with green turban +and flowing robes of white, and another dressed in magenta and a white +turban; soldiers in khaki or in pale blue come next, and Young Turk +officers all spick and span in new uniforms. A Whirling Dervish, with +tall, conical, brown head-dress then moves majestically along, followed +by a Bedouin, with camel-hair mantle over his shoulders, and silken +kerchief over his head. Alongside him is an M.P. from Arabia, with +flowing green coat, and white cap with green turban around it, +indicating consanguinity with Mahomet. As for representatives of the +other sex, you see groups shuffling along in soft yellow boots, and +dragging loose overshoes--overshoes which often prove serviceable +weapons of attack to any Turkish woman who has been insulted. + +The Turkish ladies' dress is frequently bright-coloured, and a white +veil is thrown over the head and face, but sometimes the dress itself is +used for that purpose. The fashion, however, is prevailing that black +should be used, and the women look like silhouettes flitting along. + +Should it happen to be a Friday, sounds of military music greet your +ear, and you hear the tramp of infantry as the Sultan's soldiers march +along to line the streets through which he must pass on his way to +mosque. + +Nothing can rival the physical appearance, dogged perseverance, and +power of endurance of the soldiers streaming before you, and the +prancing steeds ridden by the officers excite your admiration. + +But another sound, less musical, may disturb your ear, and a horde of +half-naked savages appear, carrying on poles what you would call a +garden-pump, but which is really a fire-engine. A man carrying the +hose-nozzle precedes, and as they tear along, shouting "_Sagh ol!_" +("Clear out"; literally, "Keep yourself uninjured!"), you imagine a band +of maniacs has been let loose. + +There is now a regular fire-brigade in Constantinople, available where +the streets are wide enough to permit its use, but you will not wonder +that under the old system conflagrations sometimes destroyed thousands +of houses at a time, and still do so in quarters where the streets are +too narrow and the houses of wood. + +Ambulating vendors of all sorts are also to be found on the bridge, +advertising their goods in loud falsetto notes, or sometimes singing +metrical eulogies over them. _Hamals_, and porters, too, of every +description, are there, conveying their burdens, and Turkish sailors, +whose duty it is to police the bridge, while at either end are men clad +in long white shirts, without pockets, to collect the toll, and not +pocket it. And as if to connect the new with the old order of +administration, a motorbus, with the words "Progres" emblazoned upon it, +traverses the bridge with passengers, while British-built steamers moor +on pontoons attached to the bridge, and convey travellers to the +villages of the Bosphorus and other suburbs. + +Crossing the bridge, you arrive at Stamboul, the Turkish quarter, and +enter into a long street, arched over, and with numerous windows. It is +called the _Missir Tcharchi_, or Egyptian Spice Bazaar, owing to the +drugs and spices sold in it. It is dark and badly ventilated; its +odours overpower you, but you see there a display of drugs and perfumes +never dreamt of before, and gathered from all parts of the empire. Each +shop within the bazaar is known by its special sign--a ship, a broom, a +bird's-cage, the model of a mosque, a flag, bows and arrows, and so +on--while its occupant sits, like a spider in his den, inviting you into +his parlour. + +Among the articles offered are musk and seraglio pastilles, +frankincense, cedar-wood, and other perfume-emitting substances which +Turks delight in throwing on the brazier to scent their apartments; otto +of roses, produced in Bulgaria, rose-water, patchuli, jessamine, and +other native fragrant oils, with which to perfume their person. Rouge, +native hair-dyes, and henna for improving the complexion, painting the +eyebrows until they meet, or staining the nails and finger-tips; +corrosive sublimate, that deadly poison, for giving a flash to the eye; +red and black pepper, and all sorts of condiments; seeds of the +"love-in-the-mist" to protect _yiaourt_ and pastry from the evil-eye; +gum mastic from the island of Chio, which women love to chew and chew +for hours, and children to blow into bubbles; herbal and quack medicines +of all kinds, and even gall-stones from an ass to renew the vigour of +youth. Nearer the sea are several streets, roofed with glass, called the +_Yemish_, or fruit-bazaar, where dried fruits and nuts of every +description are to be found. Among its peculiarities are fruit-pastes of +plum, apricot, quince, mulberry, etc., which have been mashed, +sun-dried, and rolled into thin long sheets; grape-juice, thickened with +flour; unfermented grape-treacle; and honey from Angora, unrivalled for +the whiteness of its comb. + +The Wood-turners' bazaar gives you an insight into the native method of +turning, which is performed with a bow in one hand and a chisel in the +other, while the big toe supplies a third hand for holding the object in +position. The Brass-turners' bazaar provides you with _samovars_, or +special brass urns, for boiling water and preparing tea, and _mangals_, +or braziers, for holding ignited charcoal to warm houses. + +The main bazaars consist of a labyrinth of streets and alleys, arched +over with masonry, and pierced with numerous domes from which the light +enters. They extend over a surface of more than a mile, and their +windings are so intricate that a traveller may easily lose his way. + +Articles of every description, new and old, may be found there. Whole +streets, for instance, are reserved for boots, shoes, and slippers of +all kinds, shapes, and colours: soft yellow ones for Turkish women; +patent-leather ones, with overshoes, for men; red shoes with turned-up +points for Anatolians; sandals for Albanians; Parisian ones for those +dressed _a la Francaise_; slippers of softest native tanned leather; +slippers embroidered with seed-pearls and jewels, etc. Another street is +reserved for silks from Brusa, Damascus, Syria, etc., another for pipes, +hubble-bubbles, amber mouthpieces etc. Another, styled Manchester +Street, is stocked with cotton prints, of flashy colours and designs, +made specially for the East. + +In the heart of the bazaar is the _bezesten_, an inner bazaar, with +gorgeous carpets from all parts of the land, diamonds, pearls, +turquoises, and all manner of precious stones; old armour, antiquities, +curios, and relics of all kinds. + +But the _muezzim's_ cry now reverberates through the bazaar; the sun is +setting, and the gates are to be closed. You rise to depart, but the +crowds, the sights, the colours, the noises, the smells, the various +costumes around--these will be there on the morrow as they have been in +the past, and they will still in the future allure and charm all those +who come in contact with the bewitching East. + +BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD + + * * * * * + +LIST OF VOLUMES IN THE PEEPS AT MANY LANDS AND CITIES SERIES + +EACH CONTAINING 12 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BELGIUM + BURMA + CANADA + CEYLON + CHINA + CORSICA + DENMARK + EDINBURGH + EGYPT + ENGLAND + FINLAND + FRANCE + GERMANY + GREECE + HOLLAND + HOLY LAND + ICELAND + INDIA + IRELAND + ITALY + JAMAICA + JAPAN + KOREA + MOROCCO + NEW ZEALAND + NORWAY + PARIS + PORTUGAL + RUSSIA + SCOTLAND + SIAM + SOUTH AFRICA + SOUTH SEAS + SPAIN + SWITZERLAND + + +A LARGER VOLUME IN THE SAME STYLE + + THE WORLD + +Containing 37 full-page illustrations in colour + + PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK + SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. + + AGENTS + + AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + 64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE,, NEW YORK + + AUSTRALASIA OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + 205 FLINDERS LANE, MELBOURNE + + CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD. + ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE, 70 BOND STREET, TORONTO + + INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD. + MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY + 309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Turkey, by Julius R. 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