The Pacha's carriage—The coachman an Irishman—Christmas
day in Angora—The celebrities of the town—A society of
thieves—Fire in Sivrisa—The Turks and the Armenians—So-called
fanaticism—Ten Pachas in Angora in four years—Cases of
litigation—Arrears—The firman of November, 1875—The famine in
Angora—Deaths during the famine—The goats died—A Mohammedan
divine—The Russian Ambassador and the secret societies—The
English newspapers and the Bulgarian atrocities—A Turk values
his nose quite as much as a Christian—Suleiman Effendi's
wife—The Turkish law about property—A dinner with a Turkish
gentleman—A mixture of nationalities—My host and his
digestion—Spirits refresh the stomach—The Prophet and the old
woman in Mecca—There are no old women in heaven.
The Pacha's carriage was a funny-looking old vehicle. It gave me the
idea of a broken-down four-wheeler, which had been taken to pieces
and converted into an Irish car. There were no springs. My bones were
nearly dislocated as we drove down the main street, to the Consul's
house.
The coachman turned out to be not an Englishman, but an Irishman. He
had lost all signs of the native drollery. Four years spent in Turkey
seemed to have taken the life out of him. He had been sent home to
Ireland during the previous summer, to buy some carriage-horses for his
master. On returning with his purchases, a storm arose in the Bay of
Biscay. The captain of the vessel had been obliged to order the crew
to throw the horses overboard. This, and the absence of all female
society, had weighed upon Paddy's mind. He only brightened up for one
moment when the Consul, giving him a glass of whisky, desired him to
drink it in honour of Ould Ireland and of Christmas Day. For it was
Christmas Day in Angora, and the Consul's good wife was busily engaged
in all the mysteries of the _cuisine_.
"You are going to dine with us to-night?" said the hospitable
gentleman. "Nay, you must," he added. "We are to have a turkey stuffed
with chestnuts, and my wife is busy teaching the Turkish servants how
to make a plum-pudding. You will also meet some of the celebrities of
Angora."
At dinner one of the guests—if I remember right, an Armenian—did not
seem to share the opinions which the Pacha had expressed that morning
with reference to the quiet and good order in the city.
It appeared, according to this person, that there is a vagabond
society, a society of thieves, in Angora, which preys upon Turks and
Christians. The members of this society go at night to different
houses, and, knocking at the door, order the proprietors, under
threat of assassination, to draw the bolts. The inhabitants, who are
frightened to death, frequently open the door. The thieves, entering,
eat what they find in the house, and afterwards make the proprietor
give them a sum of money.
"Yes," remarked another guest, "the worst of it is that several of the
chief people in the town are said to be mixed up in this society."
A great fire had taken place in Sivrisa, a short time before. Damage
had been done to the Christian inhabitants to the amount of thirty
million piastres. The Turks did not willingly receive the Armenians
into their houses, but when they did so, subsequently threw their
mattresses out of the window, saying that they had been defiled by the
contact of a _giaour's_ body. This was mentioned to show the fanaticism
of the Turks.
However, during my subsequent travels in Armenia, the impression
gradually dawned upon my mind that the Turks were, first of all, very
wise not to wish to receive the Armenians into their houses; and,
secondly, if they had been good-natured enough to do so, to destroy the
mattresses after the departure of their guests. The Armenians in their
habits of body are filthy to the last degree. Their houses and clothes
are infested with vermin. The Turks, on the contrary, are much cleaner,
and are most particular about the use of the bath. An Englishman
would not be pleased if his house became filled with what it is not
here necessary to mention. If he did under such circumstances admit
strangers, he would probably destroy their bedding the moment that they
departed.
One of the visitors now remarked that there had been ten Pachas in four
years in Angora, and that this frequent removal of officials was one of
the causes which had led to the decadence of the country.
"Yes," said another, "a Pacha never feels sure of his place. Another
evil here is the delay in settling cases of litigation. The arrears
are enormous, and although in November, 1875, a firman from the
sultan called attention to this matter, and ordered all law cases
to be settled at once, nothing has been done to carry the edict into
execution. If when the Authorities find that they have a good man as
a Pacha, they would leave him for say ten years in office, we should
advance much more rapidly than at present."
I next heard that Angora had not recovered from the effects of the
famine which had devastated the neighbourhood in 1873-74, the amount
of taxes owing by the inhabitants to the Government amounting to
more than a million and a half Turkish pounds. The arrears of taxes
owing previous to 1872 had been cancelled, some being as much as ten,
twelve, and twenty years due. Previous to cancelling the arrears, the
Government had put up to auction the right of collecting the entire
sum; but, as many of the inhabitants had emigrated, no one ventured to
bid.
There were 18,000 deaths in the neighbourhood of the town during the
famine, and 25,000 people died subsequently in consequence of its
effect. The chief trade of the district is in goats' hair, 60 per
cent. of the goats, sheep, and cattle had perished. Children had been
deserted and left in the streets; some instances of babies being eaten
by their parents were brought to light.
The following morning I received a visit from a relative of my host,
Hadji Taifik Effendi. It is said that he will one day be the head
of the Mussulman faith. I found this Mohammedan divine excessively
bellicose in his ideas; he eagerly desired war.
"Why so?" I inquired.
"Because an open enemy is better than a poisoner in your house.
Because war must come some day, and it is better to get rid of a
cancer by sacrificing a limb.[10] Russian agents have been doing their
best to sow discord amongst the inhabitants of our provinces; this
they did during peace time and whilst a Russian ambassador was at
Constantinople."
"Yes," said my host, "and an ambassador who is himself a prime mover in
the secret societies which are agitating Europe. The Russian Government
pretends to be alarmed at the secret societies, but it is the hot-bed
of all the secret societies in the world.[11] You may depend upon it,"
he continued, "that the massacres which occurred in Bulgaria had been
planned long before the outbreak. Our regular troops had been purposely
sent to other parts of the empire. The Russian authorities were well
aware of what was about to take place, and were delighted at the effect
which it had upon public opinion in England. One thing, however, I
cannot understand, and this is why your newspapers always published
the accounts of the Bulgarian women and children who were slaughtered,
and never went into any particulars about the Turkish women who were
massacred by the Bulgarians, or about our soldiers whose noses were
cut off, and who were mutilated by the insurgents in the Herzegovina.
A Turk values his nose quite as much as a Christian," he added.
I now learned that Hadji Taifik Effendi had five wives, but that
Suleiman Effendi only possessed one. She was the widow of a rich
inhabitant of the town, and one day seeing Suleiman pass her windows,
was struck by his appearance. She sent an old woman, as intermediary,
to him. The marriage was arranged; the lady bringing all her late
husband's fortune to her new spouse.
The Turkish law about the distribution of property after a man's death
is rather curious. If a man dies leaving a daughter, but if at the
same time he has a brother, the daughter and his brother divide the
property. Should he leave two daughters and a brother, each girl takes
a quarter, his brother the half; if he has one son and a brother, the
brother is left out altogether, and the son takes everything.
That evening I received an invitation to dine with a Turkish gentleman.
My host was one of the guests; we went together to the place of
entertainment. There was a strange mixture of nationalities, comprising
Turks, Armenians, an Italian doctor, a certain M. Gasparini, who had
been for some years in Angora, and was a great favourite with the
inhabitants; Greeks, a Bulgarian, and our Consul, who is a Scotchman.
We passed through a courtyard which surrounded the house. It was
illuminated with paper lanterns of various patterns. Presently I found
myself in a room surrounded by divans. The guests were all assembled.
In the centre of the apartment was a table. On it were placed bottles
of red and white wine of Armenian manufacture, raki, mastic, brandy,
and liqueurs, whilst biscuits, nuts and filberts, with sardines, were
on little dishes interspersed amidst the decanters. My host, who was
a stout and very dark man, pouring out a bumper, insisted upon all the
company joining him in his libations, then, turning to M. Gasparini, he
complained about the state of his digestion.
"Well, if you will drink so much," said the doctor, "you ought not to
expect to feel well."
"Spirits," said the fat Turk; "I like spirits—they refresh my stomach,
and I become cheerful. Send me some medicine," he added.
"There is no good treating these Turks," said the doctor to me, in
Italian. "They mix up everything together, wine, spirits, physic,
&c., and then expect to get well. If they would only carry out their
prophet's injunctions, and leave off drinking wine, they would enjoy
much better health."
"Did you ever hear the story of the prophet and the old women in
Mecca?" said one of the guests who was listening to the conversation.
"No, what is it?"
"Well," observed the visitor, "there is a tradition that one day an
old woman came to the Prophet and said, 'Oh! only true Prophet of God,
when I die, to which particular heaven shall I be sent?' The Prophet,
who was continually being bothered by similar questions, and" (aside
to the doctor) "whose digestion on that particular occasion was very
likely out of order, replied gruffly, 'Go away, go away! There are no
old women in heaven.' Upon this the aged dame left the house crying. In
a short time the Prophet's domicile was surrounded by all the ancient
females in Mecca. Their cries became so loud that they attracted
Mahomet's attention; he went out to them. 'Oh, holy Prophet! holy
prophet!' they cried. 'Well, what do you want?' 'You have said that
there are no old women in heaven. Whatever shall we do?' The Prophet
was not in the least nonplussed for an answer. 'Quite true,' said
Mahomet, 'quite true, I said so. There are no old women in heaven; they
all become young so soon as they arrive there!'"