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.